Clubs
The Nerve Centers of British Society
by Jim Skipper
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The British club was and is considered by many to be the bastion of British culture and refinement, the heart and soul of the world of politics, arts and sciences. At the beginning of Victoria's reign, every man of society belonged to one of approximately 25 clubs mostly located in London's West End.
The origin of the club is vague, but the seeds for the clubs were planted in the 17th century. Coffee houses began cropping up around London, the first one perhaps being at Oxford. At Cambridge, it was once said that "a man might pick up more useful knowledge in a coffee house than he would by applying himself to his books for a month." One famous club, White's, began as White's Chocloate Shop.
These coffee and chocolate shops became regular meeting places for groups of friends and colleagues, often meeting together to discuss mutual interests away from work, school or home. In time, these meeting seem to have become formalized and meeting places set aside for the exclusive use of members of the club. The term "club" was apparently first used at Oxford to refer to those who regularly met at Tillyard's.
By the nineteenth century, clubs had become formalized, with their own buildings, bylaws and staff. Clubs tended to organize around specific callings, such as the Athenaeum, whose members were "literary gents," such as Dickens and Thackeray, or the Army and Navy Club, which drew its membership from military officers.
Membership in a club was by invitation only and determined by a vote of the members. Votes were yeah or nay indicated by means of dropping a white or black ball into a recepticle, hence the term "blackballing." In some clubs, a single black ball was sufficient to prevent membership. Some clubs went to some effor to be exclusive, having extensive, sometimes vague guidelines for who were acceptable as members. White's was so exclusive that neither Louis Napoleon nor Count D'Orsay were ever able to be elected as members.
As the great men of society were associates in their clubs, it was in clubs than many great decisions were made. Matters of state might be discussed more openly in a club than in Parliament. One's contact with a club was sure to be helpful in one's advances in politics and society, although, to some degree, one already had to be noted in politics or society to be accepted to a club.
The clubhouse was typically a grand structure, with many of the great clubs built on or near Pall Mall. The basic clubhouse consisted of a foyer, a library, a dining room, a smoking room, game room (cards and/or billiards), a stranger's room to host guests, and bedrooms to provide temporary or permanent lodging for members. Some more "modern" clubs reserved separate portions of the club for the entertaining of ladies, usually accessible by a separate entrance.
Clubs were often the sole social life of some members, usually bachelor's who were comfortably well-off, typically men with incomes of not more than 1000 pounds annually. Such a bachelor mighr rise late in the morning for a stroll, arriving at the club in time for lunch. After lunching, he might whil away the afternoon reading the papers or browsing the library. In the evening, he would return home to dress for dinner, taken at the club, and afterward play cards and drink brandy until late. Ah, the life of leisure. Phileus Fogg, from Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is just this sort of bachelor, a noted member of the Reform Club. Another noted literary club member was Mycroft Holmes, brother to Sherlock, whose life outside of work revolved around the Diogenes Club.
In game terms, the Game Master should decide if the player's characters are suited to be members of one of the various clubs. It may be useful to invent a club suited to the characters (an example is given below). In GURPS terms, membership in a club conveys the Claim to Hospitality advantage, from 2 to 5 points, depending on the club. The character will always be welcome at his clubhouse and may have opportunity to call on other members whom he might have the good fortune to encounter in his travels. By the same token, the character may be called upon by other members for some small aid.
The Melange Club is a club well-suited for Victorian characters who are at least middle class. It is a very modern club, devoting a large portion of the house to rooms wherein ladies and guests may be entertained. The founder of the club is Sir Edwerd Huntington, an eccentric gentleman of means who enjoys extensive travel around the globe and dabbles in science. He formed the club as a haven for those like himself who have a thirst for adventure and knowledge.
To be eligible for membership, a man must have travelled to an exotic location or had some remarkable adventure, which must be told before a quorum of the members, or must have invented a remarkable device or made an important scietific discovery.
Women are not eligible to become members, but may be "associates" of the club. The Ladies' Entrance is on Charles Street and leads to a suite of rooms on the second floor.
The club house has a grand foyer, a main dining room and a Strangers' Dining Room, a library decorated with artifacts from around the globe, a game room with card tables on one half of the room and billiard tables in the other half. There is also a Quiet Room. The third floor consists of bedrooms, many of which are permanently alloted to members whose frequent travels leave them little need for permanent house.
Members were required to have travelled out of the British Isles to a distance of 500 miles from London. It is an austere club whose members are given to reading, meditation and dozing, but little conversation.
Members of this club had dealings with the East, particularly India, and usually had lived there for some time. The members were known to be eccentric. The club had a no smoking policy until 1864.
This club catered to diplomats and in 1860 became the permanent residence of the French ambassador. The clubhouse had two dining rooms, bedrooms for the members and teo octagonal rooms - one on the first floor noted for being decorated in lavish 18th century style.
This club was founded as a place were members would have no restrictions as to the use of tobacco, unlike other clubs that had no smoking rules, or that limited smoking to a special room.
A club primarily for public-school men, nicknamed the Creche. Members tended to be younger than the typical club population. A portion of the club was set aside for ladies, via a private entrance on Brick Street.
A pleasnt social club with bedrooms for members.
A young man's club limited to bachelors. Ladies could be introduced as visitors, but only if they were eligible for introduction at court.
A politcal club for Conservatives, founded by the Duke of Wellington.
One of the finest club houses in the world, built in 1851. It spanned 80 feet on Pall Mall and 100 feet on St. James Square. Originally an Army only club, it began accepting Navy officers at the request of the Iron Duke.
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