Sunday, March 12, 2017

Boodle's

From Geri Walton:
Boodle’s was a gentlemen’s club founded in London in 1762 by the future Marquess of Lansdowne and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, William Petty, the Earl of Shelburne. It was established for like-minded men to meet, exchange, and discuss political issues and ideas. However, Boodle’s took its name from its head waiter, Edward Boodle, who also began to manage it shortly after it was opened. William Wilberforce belonged to Boodle’s, as well as four other clubs, and he claimed, “nothing could be more luxurious than the style of these clubs … you chatted, played at cards, or gambled as you pleased.”

The club opened at 49-51 Pall Mall, and, in 1782, it moved into 28 St. James’s Street, a spot occupied by the Savoir Vivre club. The building was designed by architect John Cruden in 1765 and soon cited as “the most interesting architectural object [on] St. James’s Street.” Between 1821-1824 alterations to Boodle’s ground floor were made by architect John Buonarotti Papworth and included a comfortable reading room. (Read more.)
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