Memberships were gained by nomination and ballot with birth and
family connections the most important prerequisites for admission. The
exlusive clubs were located on St. James's Street where no lady was to be
seen walking or driving down without being thought "fast" or causing a
scandal. The clubs offered gentlemen a sanctum from home life. Business
meetings were often carried out there. Mostly members entertained
themselves gambling and placing bets of any kind. Card games included
faro, Macao, whist and hazard were often played for high stakes, and dice
games were the favoirte form of gambling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gentlemen's Clubs
Established in 1693 at 4 Chesterfield Street in Mayfair by
an Italian immigrant Francesco Bianco. It began as a hot
chocolate emporium and was called Mrs. White’s Chocolate
House. It didn’t make the transition into an exclusive club
until the early 18th century and became a notorious gambling
house. In fact those who frequented the club were called “the
gamesters of White’s.” Jonathan Swift referred to White’s as
the “bane of half the English nobility.”
In 1778 White’s moved to 37-38 St. James’s Street and in
In 1778 White’s moved to 37-38 St. James’s Street and in
1783 it was known as the unofficial headquarters of the Tory party, while Brooks’s was the Whigs’ club. The establishment consisted of three stories, a basement and a dormered attic. In 1778 the front door was moved to the side to allow the addition of the bow window.
Members were elected by ballot which consisted of dropping
Members were elected by ballot which consisted of dropping
either a white ball for approval or a black ball to indicated exclusion.
It took only one single black ball to deny a man admission to the club.
The betting book recorded most members’ bets, with entries
ranging from sporting events and political development, especially
during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Social bets
included whether a friend would marry or whom. Tens of thousands
of pounds changed hands over frivolous bets or the turn of a card.
For instance, Charles James Fox lost £140,000 by age of 25. One of the
more outrageous bets involved Lord Alvanley who bet a friend £3000 as to which of two
raindrops on the bow window would reach the bottom of the pane first. Such bets could lead to financial disaster.
Horace Walpole reported that “Lord Stavordale, no yet one-and-twenty, lost
Horace Walpole reported that “Lord Stavordale, no yet one-and-twenty, lost
eleven thousand last Tuesday, but recovered it by one great hand at hazard: he
swore a great oath – `now, if I had been playing deep, I might have won
millions’.”
The bow window was built in 1811 by moving the front door to the second
end window on the ground floor. Inside, a table was place before it with seating
reserved for the most socially influential men in the club. This was first given to
George Brummell as he was the “arbiter elegantiarum” and his cronies, like Lord
Alvanley.
Souces:
Kloester, Jennifer. Georgette Heyer's Regency World. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2010, p. 118-125.
Porter, Roy. English Society in the 18th Century. London: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1990, p. 238.
Woodley, A. "London Culbs." the Regency Collection. Jan. 2010. 12 Dec. 2016 .
White's
