ATHENAEUM CLUB EsT.1824

LONDON

The Athenaeum Club in 2006 as viewed from the south-east

The Athenaeum Club in 1830.

The Athenaeum Club, usually just referred to as the Athenaeum, is a notable London club with its Clubhouse located at 107 Pall Mall, London, England, at the corner of Waterloo Place.

It is noted for its large library, and for a bas-relief frieze decorating the club house exterior. It was long regarded as a clergymen's club and today includes Cabinet Ministers, senior civil servants, Peers of the Realm and senior bishops amongst its members.

The club's facilities include a dining room, a smoking room and a suite of bedrooms. A notable feature of the Club's clock which hangs above the stairs is that it has two figure sevens and no figure eight, the reason for which is uncertain.

Contents • 1 History • 2 Notable members • 3 References • 4 Footnotes • 5 External links

History John Wilson Croker, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and some friends founded the club in 1824 for individuals known for scientific, literary or artistic accomplishments as well as patrons of these endeavours. Sir Thomas Lawrence designed the club crest: a head of Athena inside an oval surrounded by the legend "ATHENÆUM CLUB·PALL MALL".

The club house was designed in Neoclassical taste by Decimus Burton. The main entrance and the front of the house on Waterloo Place has a Doric portico with paired columns. There is a continuous balustrade on the piano nobile, the main floor above the ground floor, with an outstanding but costly frieze copied from the Parthenon above. A statue of Pallas Athene by Edward Hodges Baily stands above the porch. The original design was for two storeys; the third was added later. Croker directed the later work, resisting pressure from some members (in those pre-refrigeration days) that an ice-house be part of the scheme; hence the rhyme:

I'm John Wilson Croker,

I do as I please, instead of an Ice-House

I give you a... Frieze!

For many years The Athenaeum Club was widely seen to represent the peak of London's clubland for the public intellectual. Most members of the Athenaeum were men of inherited wealth and status, but, under Rule II, the club additionally admitted men "... of distinguished eminence in Science, Literature, or the Arts, or for Public Service". The admission of men who

had gained their social position through intellectual influence and achievement rather than by title or money gave the club an unusual diversity of membership.

The membership of the Athenaeum was originally limited to one thousand, and the waiting list was always long. The cost of the magnificent premises had resulted in a deficit of some £20,000 and 200 supernumerary members were elected in 1832 to restore the finances.

By 1838 the Club was again in straitened circumstances after undertaking expensive remedial action because of the damage caused by the gas lighting. (It was one of the earliest buildings to be lit by this means). To alleviate the situation, 160 supernumeraries were admitted to ordinary membership and an additional forty brought forward from the waiting list. These "forty thieves", as they became known, included Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin. In 1886 the clubhouse was lit by electricity, a relative innovation for London buildings.

In 1853, Charles Manby Smith noted the importance of the club - "... from having been wise enough to join the grocer's Plum-pudding Club, they shall end by becoming prosperous enough to join the Whittington Club, or the Gresham Club, or the Athenaeum Club, or the Travellers' Club; or the House of Commons, or the House of Lords either."

In 2002 The Members Voted To Admit Women... Because Of The Afghanistan War After 9/11 -- Macedonians In Afghanistan Always Been Target Of This Club For Their Faces And Noses ..HINT: GAALDON (1822- 1911) / FATHER OF EUGENICS (WWW.GALTON.ORG) & MEMBER OF THE ATHENAEUM CLUB. The Real Destination Should Have Been RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA Home Of 15 Terrorists! This Club Financed Hitler In World War 2 That Lead To The Needless Murder Of 70 Million Europeans & 6 Million Jews!

SIR FRANCIS GALTON (GAALDON)- EUGENICS 1

NOTABLE MEMBERS This is a small selection of the notable men who have belonged to the club:

Lobby hall, 1845

• The Earl of Aberdeen • Augustus Agar, naval hero • Matthew Arnold • H.H. Asquith • Andrew Geddes Bain geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer • Owen Barfield (1898-1997) philosopher, poet, etymologist, and solicitor • J. M. Barrie • Louis Lucien Bonaparte, linguist

• L.J.F. BRIMBLE, BOTANIST AND EDITOR OF NATURE MAGAZINE

• James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce (1838-1922), jurist, historian and politician • Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet • William Burges (1827-1881), architect and designer • Lord (Alec) Broers • Oscar Browning politician, historian (1837–1923) • Thomas Campbell (poet) • WINSTON CHURCHILL • John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge (1820-1894) • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle • Joseph Conrad • Lord Curzon, MP, Viceroy of India, and British Foreign Secretary

• CHARLES DARWIN • Charles Dickens • Isaac D'Israeli • T. S. Eliot poet • Michael Faraday • John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher • Sir William Galloway (1840-1927) mining engineer, Professor of Mining at University

College of Wales • Victoria Glendinning • Alec Guiness • Henry Hallam historian, Commissioner of Stamps (1826) • Thomas Hardy • Cardinal Basil Hume • Roy Jenkins Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary • Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston (1874-1938), Tutor of the Last Emperor of China • Charles Kemble

• RUDYARD KIPLING, POET LAUREATE • H. F. B. Lynch, traveller and businessman • Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) • Lord Robert Montagu (1825-1902) • Thomas Moore (poet) • Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1871), President of the Geological Society and the

Royal Geographical Society. • George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron Nugent (1789-1850) • Lord Palmerston • Harry St John Philby archaeologist and Arabist • Michael Polanyi • Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, Neurologist & neuroscientist • Cecil Rhodes • Emile Victor Rieu • Jimmy Savile

• Sir Walter Scott writer • Idries Shah, author on Sufism (1924-1996) • Richard 'Conversation' Sharp, critic, merchant and politician • Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) • Walter Starkie • James Joseph Sylvester, Mathematician • Sir Jethro Teall, geologist and petrologist • William Makepeace Thackeray author • Arnold J. Toynbee historian • Professor Rick Trainor, Principal of King's College London • Anthony Trollope, author • J.M.W. Turner, painter • Anthony Blunt • Sir Barnes Wallis, engineer (1887-1979) • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) • W. B. Yeats poet

References • Phiz, London at Dinner, or Where to Dine, (London: Robert Hardwick, 1858) ('Phiz' was

a pseudonym of Hablot Knight Browne) • Frank Richard Cowell, The Athenaeum: Club and Social Life in London, 1824-1974,

(London: Heinemann, 1975) ISBN 0-435-32010-6

Footnotes 1. ^ "The Athenæum. Administrative/Biographical history.". AIM25: Archives in London

and the M25 area. October 2003. Retrieved 8 February 2012. 2. ^ Smith, Charles Manby, Curiosities of London Life, or Phases, Physiological and Social

of the Great Metropolis (1853) online at Victorian London - Publications - Social Investigation/Journalism - Curiosities of London Life, or Phases, Physiological and Social of the Great Metropolis, by Charles Manby Smith, 1853: UNFASHIONABLE CLUBS (accessed 14 January 2008)

External links • Official Website of the Athenaeum Club • Guide to the archives of the Athenaeum Club • List of London's gentlemen's clubs • Interesting debate in the House of Lord's May 2002 re the Sex Discrimination Bill and

women members of Clubs • List of prominent Victorian era members of the Athenaeum Club • Map showing location of the club (streetmap.co.uk)

1. THE EARL OF ABERDEEN 2. AUGUSTUS AGAR, NAVAL HERO 3. MATTHEW ARNOLD 4. H.H. ASQUITH 5. ANDREW GEDDES BAIN GEOLOGIST, ROAD ENGINEER, PALAEONTOLOGIST

AND EXPLORER 6. OWEN BARFIELD (1898-1997) PHILOSOPHER, POET, ETYMOLOGIST, AND

SOLICITOR 7. J. M. BARRIE 8. LOUIS LUCIEN BONAPARTE, LINGUIST 9. L.J.F. BRIMBLE, BOTANIST AND EDITOR OF NATURE MAGAZINE 10. JAMES BRYCE, 1ST VISCOUNT BRYCE (1838-1922), JURIST, HISTORIAN AND

POLITICIAN 11. SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, 5TH BARONET 12. WILLIAM BURGES (1827-1881), ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER 13. LORD (ALEC) BROERS 14. OSCAR BROWNING POLITICIAN, HISTORIAN (1837–1923) 15. THOMAS CAMPBELL (POET) 16. WINSTON CHURCHILL 17. JOHN DUKE COLERIDGE, 1ST BARON COLERIDGE (1820-1894) 18. SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE 19. JOSEPH CONRAD 20. LORD CURZON, MP, VICEROY OF INDIA, AND BRITISH FOREIGN

SECRETARY 21. CHARLES DARWIN 22. CHARLES DICKENS 23. ISAAC D'ISRAELI 24. T. S. ELIOT POET 25. MICHAEL FARADAY 26. JOHN FISHER, 1ST BARON FISHER 27. SIR WILLIAM GALLOWAY (1840-1927) MINING ENGINEER, PROFESSOR OF

MINING AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES 28. VICTORIA GLENDINNING 29. ALEC GUINESS 30. HENRY HALLAM HISTORIAN, COMMISSIONER OF STAMPS (1826) 31. THOMAS HARDY 32. CARDINAL BASIL HUME 33. ROY JENKINS CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER AND HOME SECRETARY 34. SIR REGINALD FLEMING JOHNSTON (1874-1938), TUTOR OF THE LAST

EMPEROR OF CHINA 35. CHARLES KEMBLE 36. RUDYARD KIPLING, POET LAUREATE 37. H. F. B. LYNCH, TRAVELLER AND BUSINESSMAN 38. WALTER DE LA MARE (1873-1956) 39. LORD ROBERT MONTAGU (1825-1902) 40. THOMAS MOORE (POET)

41. SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON (1792-1871), PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY AND THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

42. GEORGE NUGENT-GRENVILLE, 2ND BARON NUGENT (1789-1850) 43. LORD PALMERSTON 44. HARRY ST JOHN PHILBY ARCHAEOLOGIST AND ARABIST 45. MICHAEL POLANYI 46. VILAYANUR S. RAMACHANDRAN, NEUROLOGIST & NEUROSCIENTIST 47. CECIL RHODES 48. EMILE VICTOR RIEU 49. JIMMY SAVILE 50. SIR WALTER SCOTT WRITER 51. IDRIES SHAH, AUTHOR ON SUFISM (1924-1996) 52. RICHARD 'CONVERSATION' SHARP, CRITIC, MERCHANT AND POLITICIAN 53. HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903) 54. WALTER STARKIE 55. JAMES JOSEPH SYLVESTER, MATHEMATICIAN 56. SIR JETHRO TEALL, GEOLOGIST AND PETROLOGIST 57. WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY AUTHOR 58. ARNOLD J. TOYNBEE HISTORIAN 59. PROFESSOR RICK TRAINOR, PRINCIPAL OF KING'S COLLEGE LONDON 60. ANTHONY TROLLOPE, AUTHOR 61. J.M.W. TURNER, PAINTER 62. ANTHONY BLUNT 63. SIR BARNES WALLIS, ENGINEER (1887-1979) 64. ARTHUR WELLESLEY, 1ST DUKE OF WELLINGTON (1769-1852) 65. W. B. YEATS POET

SIR FRANCIS GALTON (1822 -1911 - "GAALDON") = NUCLEAR TERRORIST!

FATHER OF EUGENICS AND SOCIAL DARWINISM FOR SOMALIA'S DIAMONDS AND GOLD