White's

Status

White's is the oldest gentleman's club in London, founded in 1693, and widely considered one of the most exclusive. Notable current members include Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Conrad Black and Tom Stacey. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron was formerly a member for fifteen years but resigned in 2008, despite his father Ian Cameron having previously been the club's chairman, over the club's refusal to admit women. White's continues to maintain its standards as an establishment exclusively for gentlemen; brief exceptions were made for the visits by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991, and 2016. White's is a member of the Association of London Clubs.

History

The club was originally established at 4 Chesterfield Street, off Curzon Street in Mayfair, in 1693 by an Italian immigrant named Francesco Bianco as a hot chocolate emporium under the name Mrs. White's Chocolate House. Tickets were sold to the productions at King's Theatre and Royal Drury Lane Theatre as a side-business. White's quickly made the transition from teashop to exclusive club and in the early 18th century, it was notorious as a gambling house; those who frequented it were known as "the gamesters of White's." The club gained a reputation for both its exclusivity and the often raffish behaviour of its members. Jonathan Swift referred to White's as the "bane of half the English nobility."

In 1778 it moved to 37–38 St James's Street. From 1783 it was the unofficial headquarters of the Tory party, while the Whigs' club Brooks's was just down the road. A few apolitical and affable gentlemen managed to belong to both. The new architecture featured a bow window on the ground floor. In the later 18th century, the table directly in front of it became a seat of distinction, the throne of the most socially influential men in the club. This belonged to the arbiter elegantiarum, Beau Brummell, until he removed to the Continent in 1816, when Lord Alvanley took the place of honour. It was here that Alvanley bet a friend £3,000 as to which of two raindrops would first reach the bottom of a pane of the bow window. It is not recorded whether he won his bet. Later, the spot was reserved for the use of the 1st Duke of Wellington until his death in 1852.

Alvanley's was not the most eccentric bet in White's famous betting book. Some of those entries were on sports, but more often on political developments, especially during the chaotic years of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. A good many were social bets, such as whether a friend would marry this year, or whom.

The club declines to admit female members, however one of its best known chefs from the early 1900s was Rosa Lewis, a model for the central character in the BBC television series The Duchess of Duke Street.

There were two American members in the interwar period, one of whom was a General in the U.S. Army. Current American members include diplomat Edward Streator.

Prince Charles held his stag night at the club before his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. His eldest son, Prince William was entered as a member of the club shortly after his birth.

Clubhouse

The clubhouse is located at 37–38 St James's Street in the City of Westminster and is a Grade I listed building. Originally built in 1674 and then rebuilt in 1787-88, probably by James Wyatt, it was further altered in 1811 and the frontage was remodelled by Lockyer in 1852. Constructed of Portland stone with a slate roof it possesses the Victorian version of a Palladian façade with some French motifs. The buildings consists of three storeys, a basement and a dormered attic. In the late 1970s, the exterior was painted azure with white trim. The Club bar is more compact than that of other clubs. An amusing description of it and the rationale behind its size may be found in Chapter Ten of the spy novel The Sixth Column (1951) by Peter Fleming (brother of Ian Fleming). The Club is thinly disguised as "Black's".

Whilst the club does not have members' accommodation, facilities include a private dining room and a billiards room. The menu revolves around the best of British game: grouse, partridge, wild salmon, gull’s eggs, potted shrimps, smoked eel and smoked trout. There is also a vegetarian option, but it is unpopular. In one seven-year period, only three vegetarian portions were sold.

Notable former members

Henry St John, 5th Viscount Bolingbroke (1820–1899)

Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, KB (1708–1759)

George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll, GCH, PC (1768–1839)

William Philip Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton (1772–1838)

Beau Brummell (1778–1840)

William Arden, 2nd Baron Alvanley (1789–1849)

George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1806–1886)

Ernest Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury (1811–1896)

Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1813–1894)

Thomas Bateson, 1st Baron Deramore (1819–1890)

Rainald Knightley, 1st Baron Knightley (1819–1895)

William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster (1824–1901)

Valentine Browne, 4th Earl of Kenmare (1825–1905)

Henry Sturt, 1st Baron Alington (1825–1904)

Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Baron Allendale (1829–1907)

Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork (1829–1904)

Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster (1830–1910)

Allen Bathurst, 6th Earl Bathurst (1832–1892)

Frederick Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol (1834–1907)

Richard Grosvenor, 1st Baron Stalbridge (1837–1912)

Montague Guest, (1839–1909)

Henry Chaplin, 1st Viscount Chaplin (1840–1923)

The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII (1841–1910)

Archibald Acheson, 4th Earl of Gosford (1841–1922)

Charles Wynn-Carington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire (1843–1928)

Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham (1843–1919)

Lord Claud Hamilton (1843–1925)

John Beresford, 5th Marquess of Waterford (1844–1895)

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (1845–1927)

Edward Digby, 10th Baron Digby (1846–1920)

Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife (1849–1912)

The Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850–1942)

John Lonsdale, 1st Baron Armaghdale (1850–1924)

William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth (1851–1936)

Walter Long, 1st Viscount Long (1854-1924)

Archibald Grove (1855-1920)

Charles William Mills, 2nd Baron Hillingdon (1855-1919)

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland (1857-1943)

Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington (1860-1940)

Charles Edward Hill-Trevor, 3rd Baron Trevor (1863–1950)

Wilfrid Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple (1867–1939)

Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire (1868-1938)

Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (1868-1937)

J. E. B. Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone (1868–1947)

George Gibbs, 1st Baron Wraxall (1873–1931)

Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne (1873-1939)

Major General Sir Stewart Menzies, KCB, KCMG, DSO, MC (1890–1968)

Arthur Robert Mills, 3rd Baron Hillingdon (1891–1952)

Sir Lionel Fraser (1895–1965)

Oswald Mosley (1896–1980)

Brendan Bracken, 1st Viscount Bracken (1901–1958)

Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)

Captain Philip Dunne, MC (1904–1965)

Loel Guinness (1906–1988)

David Niven (1909–1983)

Randolph Churchill (1911–1968)

Arthur Ponsonby, 11th Earl of Bessborough (1912–2002)

Squadron Leader Christopher "Jack" Riddle, RAF (1914–2009)

Peter Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson of Ewell, PC, QC (1919–2006)

Christopher Soames (1920–1987)

Sir William Dugdale, 2nd Baronet (1922–2014)

Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl, ID (1923–1999)

Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie (1933–2006)

Anthony Brand, 6th Viscount Hampden (1937–2008)

David Cameron (until 2008)

Michael Onslow, 7th Earl of Onslow (1938–2011)

David Hatendi (1953-2012)

Henry Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe (1924–2013)

Sir Run Run Shaw (1907–2014)

Sir Jocelyn Stevens, CVO (1932–2014)

John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, DL, JP (1926–2014)

Marcus Kimball, Baron Kimball, DL (1928-2014)

Prince Rupert zu Loewenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (1933-2014)

John Beresford, 8th Marquess of Waterford (1933–2015)

William Murray, 8th Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield, DL, JP (1930-2015)

Notable current members

David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, KT, GCVO, PC (1926)

Col. John Slim, 2nd Viscount Slim, OBE, DL (1927)

Michael Sandberg, Baron Sandberg, CBE (1927)

David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort (1928)

Sir Jack Stewart-Clark, Bt. (1929)

Hon. Edward Streator (1930)

John Savile, 8th Earl of Mexborough (1931)

Sir Ian Rankin, Bt. (1932)

William Weir, 3rd Viscount Weir (1933)

John Denison-Pender, 3rd Baron Pender (1933)

Sir John "Chips" Keswick (1940)

Shane Gough, 5th Viscount Gough (1941)

Sir Simon Robertson (1941)

Myles Ponsonby, 12th Earl of Bessborough (born 1941)

Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch (1942)

Norman Lamont (1942)

Conrad Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, KSG (1944)

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, PC, DL (1946)

HRH The Prince of Wales (1948)

Adam Fleming (1948)

Peter St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn, QPM (1958)

Brooks Newmark, MP (1958)

Sir Richard Osborn, Bt. (1958)

Simon Marquis, 3rd Earl of Woolton (1958)

Sir Nigel Burney, Bt. (1959)

Hon. Rupert Soames, OBE (1959)

Nicholas Biddulph, 5th Baron Biddulph (1959)

Geordie Greig (1960)

James Newdegate, 4th Viscount Daventry (1960)

Sir Richard Kleinwort, Bt., DL (1960)

David Faber (1961)

Piers Butler, 18th Viscount Mountgarret (1961)

Sir Charles Burrell, Bt. (1962)

Edward Stanley, 19th Earl of Derby, DL (1962)

Charles Hay, 16th Earl of Kinnoull (1962)

Sir Francis Brooke, Bt. (1963)

Sir Richard FitzHerbert, Bt. (1963)

Charles Vivian, 7th Baron Vivian (1966)

George Bingham, 8th Earl of Lucan (1967)

Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll (1968)

Clifton Wrottesley, 6th Baron Wrottesley (1968)

Jay Hambro (1974)

Ashton Clanfield, Viscount Clanfield (1976)

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (1982)

In popular culture

Diana Gabaldon in her historical Lord John series.