The men of Victorian
times frequently spent their time at their clubs where they
conducted business, visited with friends, dined, drank and
gambled. Two of the most famous were Brook's Club and
White's Club. Here in My Study you will find a short
history of both these clubs. You will also find biographies of
some of the more famous men of Victorian Times.
White's
Club
White's Club located
at Nos. 37-38 St. James' Street, London is the oldest and most
splendid of the St. James' clubs. White's has it's origins in
White's Chocolate House, which opened in 1693 in premises which
would later become Boodle's Club, on the west side of it's
present site. In 1711, the house was destroyed by a fire which
began in the gaming room, known as Hell. In that same year
Francis White's widow, Elizabeth, allowed a gentleman called
Heidegger to use the premises as a centre for the sale of
tickets to his ridottos, masquerades and balls which were
fashionable amongst 18th century society. So heavy was the
gaming at White's Chocolate House that the Earl of Oxford,
Robert Harley, never passed by White's without bestowing a curse
upon it, calling it "the bane of half the English nobility." In
1736, White's began to operate as a private club, rather than a
public chocolate house. The earliest records date from 1763,
when White's moved back into it's original premises, rebuilt
after the fire. At that time, the club had eighty-two members,
with the first entries made into the infamous Betting Book
dating from the same year. A few of the original members were
the Duke of Devonshire, the Earls of Cholmondeley, Chesterfield
and Rockingham, Sir John Cope, Bubb Dodington and Colley Cibber.
By 1775, membership had been limited to one hundred fifty-one,
with annual subscription set at ten guineas. In 1781, membership
was raised to three hundred members and the club moved to a
larger house in St. James' Street. In 1797, membership was again
raised, this time to four hundred, and a few new club rules were
added, such as the one which set the price of dinner at ten
shillings and sixpence per head, with dinner to be "on the Table
at Six O'clock, the Bill to be brought at nine." In 1811, the
bow window was constructed by a gentleman named Martindale and
set into the middle of the club's facade, the front door being
moved to the left. It was in this window that Beau Brummell sat
and held court until his downfall in 1816, passing judgement on
passersby with his inner circle seated beside him - the Duke of
Argyll, Lords Alvanley, Sefton, Worcester and Foley, "Poodle"
Byng, "Ball" Hughes and Sir Lumley Skeffington. While everyone
who passed the window could be seen by this group, so could
they, in turn, be seen by the passersby. However, Brummell's
stringent rule made the recognition of, or greeting of, any
passerby a breach of his personal etiquette.
In 1812, the club was taken over by George Ragget, who made his
fortune there. In 1814, the number of members was five hundred,
with the waiting list of potential members growing steadily.
When not gaming, eating or setting fashion trends, the members
of White's penned their entries into the Betting Book, wagering
on everything from matters of life and death to such triflings
as whose wife would be the first to beget an heir, who would
marry or die first and which young lady would succumb to the
charms of various club members. No subject was deemed too absurd
to wager upon. During a rain shower, Lord Arlington once wagered
three thousand pounds upon which of two raindrops would reach
the bottom of a window pane first. Walpole wrote on 21 March
1755: "A man dropped down dead at the door and was carried in;
the club immediately made bets whether he was dead or not, and
when they were going to bleed him the wagerers for his death
interposed, and said that doing so would affect the fairness of
the bet."
Regular gaming went on in the club's card rooms with Whist being
the game of choice at the club. Die hard players wore special
costumes in order to protect their clothing. Frieze coats were
worn over street clothes and a type of leather mitten was pulled
over immaculately starched white cuffs. The overhead lighting
was combated by wearing broad brimmed, straw hats, which also
served to hide a player's expression.
Until 1845, no form of tobacco save for snuff was used at the
club and, when the smoking of cigars became fashionable, many
older members disapproved. Still, by the late 19th century,
White's Club had seven hundred and fifty members and, in 1927,
the members purchased the club outright, overseeing management
themselves.
Brook's
Club
Brook's
was founded in 1764 by William Almack and was moved to its
present location in October of 1778 under the management of
William Brooks who was a money lender and wine merchant. In
addition to its reputation of being a political club Brook's, located at No.
60 St. James' Street in London, has had a colorful history.
When
Brooks died in poverty, the club members buried his body beneath
St. James' Street without telling his creditors.
Over the centuries members of Brook's have included the Dukes of
Richmond, Grafton, Portland, Devonshire and Wellington; Lords
Brougham, Bessborough, Palmerston and Selwyn; Mr. Beau Brummell
and the Prince Regent.
Many of the members frequented the gaming room
playing at hazard and faro. Like its counterpart White's, Brooks
has its Betting Books and in far greater numbers. If a fire had
not interfered with its archives White's would by now have three
books, while Brooks has over ten. The Betting Books of Brooks
not only record bets made but the outcome of play at the tables
as well.
Today, you can take a tour of the premises including the
infamous card room and library which has red walls, deep leather
furniture, wall-to-wall book cases, Napoleon's death mask and
the original oil paintings of members of the Society of
Dilettante many which were done by Reynolds. You may also peruse
the ephemera of the Prince Regent whose portrait hangs on the
first landing. A few facts unfettered infer this gentleman wore
a gentler mask. For instance, he kept most promises he made.
Also, he could evince an affectionate nature, as is evidenced by
his fondness for driving out with his young niece, the Princess
Victoria. Prinny also did "behind the scenes" favors, one of
which occurred at Brooks. The great author Sheridan had been
blackballed from membership three times by George Selwyn, who
used the fact that his father had been on the stage against
Sheridan. At his fourth try at membership, the Prince of Wales
took it upon himself to strike up a conversation with Selwyn in
the hallway while the voting was in progress, thus ensuring that
Sheridan became a member at last.
George
Bryan *Beau* Brummell
George Bryan Brummell
(known as the Monarch of the Mode) was born on June 7, 1778 and
educated at Eton and Oxford. Brummell attained significant fame
because of his dandyish ways. He was an intimate of the Prince
Regent (later George IV), and as such influenced men of society
to wear dark, simply cut clothes and elaborate neckwear. He is
also credited with having set the fashion for trousers rather
than breeches. Having quarreled with the Prince, and deeply in
debt from gambling, Brummell fled to France, where he lived for
14 years in poverty and squalor. He died insane in a hospital at
Caen. George's love of fashion and interest in personal
appearance inspired the nickname Beau; and by the early 1900s,
the name Beau Brummell was itself a byword for any man who gives
exaggerated attention to personal appearance
William
Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt
was born in London on 2 April 1827. He is still the least well
known and appreciated member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
although he was the only one to remain faithful to its
principles. Hunt lacked the magnetism of Rossetti or the sheer
natural talent of Millais but he made up for it with pure
determination and it was Hunt who kept the Brotherhood going
though difficult times and he was frequently referred to as its
President.
For Hunt life was always hard. This was in part due to poverty
and in part due to his constant agonizing over his work. His
origins were humble and he received little encouragement from
his family. He started work as clerk at the age of 12 and at
first could only paint in his spare time. After two unsuccessful
attempts he was accepted as a probationer at the Royal Academy
School in 1844. Here Hunt met Millais, the infant prodigy of the
Schools and in 1848 Hunt introduced Rossetti to Millais and thus
bringing about the formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
It was also Hunt who introduced the Brotherhood to the writings
of Ruskin.
He achieved his first public success with The Light of the World
(1854). His paintings are characterized by hard color, minute
detail, and an emphasis on moral or social symbolism; their
moral earnestness made them extremely popular in Victorian
England. He spent two years in Syria and Palestine painting
biblical scenes, such as The Scapegoat (1855), depicting the
outcast animal on the shores of the Dead Sea. His
autobiographical Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood (1905) is the basic sourcebook of the movement.
For Hunt the painstaking technique of the Pre-Raphaelite style
meant months of incessant labor to finish one picture. He
believed that great art could only be the result of hard work,
and all his life he struggled to finish his pictures, sometimes
taking five or even ten years to complete. In 1863 he wrote 'I
am so weary of work! ... I can't get anything finished. I work
and work until I feel my brain as dry as a bit of old cork, but
completion slips away from me.'
More so than any of the others Hunt represented the serious,
moralizing side of the movement. He was a religious man, and
believed that art must be 'the hand maid in the cause of justice
and truth'. With his red hair and bushy beard he was likened to
an old Testament prophet but was also cheerful irreverent
companion in his early years. Out of all the movement it was
Hunt who produced the most religious works.
Like Rossetti, Hunt fell victim to the femmes fatale, the
beautiful red-haired model Annie Miller. With typical
evangelical and high minded zeal, Hunt tried to reform her and
to even marry her but both ended in failure. Hunt remained a
bachelor until 1865 when he married Fanny Waugh. After her
premature death he married Fanny's sister, Edith, in 1875 but
since this was still illegal in England took place abroad. This
taint of illegality, however, hung over Hunt like a cloud and
eventually became an obsession for his widow. Many people find
the atmosphere and morbid repression surrounding Hunt's work
morbid and gloomy but, unlike Rossetti, he was a man of his age
and class.
Later in his career his financial problems came to an end. In
1854 on a trip to the Middle East he began 'The Finding of the
Saviour in the Temple' but it was not completed until 1860. This
was in part due to Hunt finding suitable models difficult to
come by and in the end used models from his own studio. After
completion the eminent dealer, Ernest Gambert, bought the piece
for the unheard of amount of 5500 pounds he sold painting for
even greater amounts.
Hunt died in Kensington, London on September 7, 1910.
William
Morris
William Morris was a
man of enormous talent and industry who is remembered as a poet,
an artist, a designer, a businessman and a socialist reformer.
He was born in Walthamstow, then a village, and moved to a grand
residence there called Water House at the age of 14 - this has
since become the William Morris Gallery.
Growing up, Morris loved the romantic chivalry and simplicity of
anything medieval (later he said he felt he'd been born out of
his time). He read Walter Scott; his parents even got him a pony
so he could play knight. He was happy and even spoiled, though
quite temperamental. Much later his daughter Jenny was diagnosed
with epilepsy, and he often wondered if some of his 'rages'
weren't epilepsy (or Tourettes) related. He was particularly
close to a sister, Emma, at least until she got married. Later,
he wrote poetry inspired by Chaucer, Tennyson, Keats and
Browning.
He studied at Oxford with the intention of becoming a clergyman,
but while there he met Edward Coley Burne-Jones, also studying
for the church, and they both began to turn towards art. They
were persuaded by Rossetti to give up the studies and become
artists. Morris did a year in architectural practice of G. E.
Street, and then turned to painting. However, he soon found that
his metier was design.
Morris met Jane Burden, who was modeling for Rossetti. She and
her sister were local shop girls, born poor, as were a number of
the Pre-Raphaelite women. Morris painted Jane as Isolde
(medieval wife of King Mark who falls in love with Tristan) in
his only known canvas. He wrote, "I cannot paint you, but I love
you."
While Morris was courting Jane, he had her and her sister learn
to weave. The first years of their marriage were quite happy.
Their two daughters, Jenny and May, were born. Morris was
obviously a devoted father, referring to them in letters as "the
littles." Their daughter May became a leading weaver in England.
The cooperative attempt to decorate his new house (the Red
House, built by Philip Webb) at Bexleyheath, south east of
London, lead to the setting up of the firm Morris, Marshall,
Faulkner and Co. The partners were Morris, Burne-Jones, Rossetti,
Ford Madox Brown, Philip Webb, Charles Faulkner, and Peter Paul
Marshall, a surveyor. The firm was set up as a 'company of Fine
Art Workmen', designing and producing (or at least supervising
the production of) furniture, wallpaper, murals, tapestry work,
stained glass windows, metalwork, tapestries, and smaller works
such as tiles and embroidery. It started in 8 Lion Square,
London, where there was sufficient space for workshops,
showrooms, and a kiln in the basement for tile production. The
firm later became simply Morris and Co. when Morris, always
blessed with a private income, bought out the other partners.
Morris's wallpapers were his best-known output, with complex
designs incorporating plants, flowers and birds. Philip
Webb designed much of the furniture, metalwork, and many tiles.
For stained glass, Morris generally designed the backgrounds and
Burne-Jones drew most of the figures, with Rossetti and Ford
Madox Brown also contributing designs. Burne-Jones also
collaborated with Morris on tapestries, designed many tiles, and
drew for the books produced by the Kelmscott Press, founded by
Morris in 1891. Morris was described by Walter Crane as being
'the first to approach the craft of practical printing from the
point of view of the artist'. The most important book of the
Press was the Kelmscott Chaucer, which has been described as the
most beautiful book to be produced since the Renaissance. This
had typography and borders by Morris, with 87 illustrations by
Burne-Jones. Other artists working as designers for the
Kelmscott Press included C. M. Gere, Arthur Gaskin, and E. H.
New, all from the Birmingham School of Art, and the Birmingham
illustrators were in general much influenced by Morris's books.
Morris provided a key stimulus to the Arts and Crafts movement,
and was in part responsible for a number of important craft
workshops established in the Cotswold area.
