WORLD'S OLDEST CLUB

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 10, 13 January 1927, Page 7

WORLD'S OLDEST CLUB

"WHITE'S" TO BE SOLD

OFFER TO THE MEMBERS.

Tho oldest club in the world— White's, in Sfc. Jamos's street—which since-1697 has been the resort of manyfamous men, is to enter upon, new ownership. The -present lease of the club has only five yoars to run, and cannot bo renewed, and the landlord, ■who is a member, has offered the premises to his fellow-members on terms which, if agreed to/will bring'the club into their possession as a freehold property. A statement that tho club was to be floated as a company has been/ officially denied. - f A member of the club informed a\ Press representative that a circular had been issued to members by a sub-com-mittee, which includes the Earl of Ellesmere, Earl Fitzwilliam, and Lord Leconflold, in which the following passages appear:—

"As the present lease of-the club premises has only five years to run and cannot be renewed, tho committee has approached the landlord as to selling the freehold to the club. An offer has been made by him to sell for £100,000 (£50,00 at once and £50,000 by March, 1927), and the landlord asks for a reply without .undue delay.. "It is proposed that the offer of an issue of debentures for this sum, carrying 3 per cent, interest and 1 per cent, sinking fund by drawings, be made to the members,'this being the best method of providing the amount. If this offer meets with success the club will become tho'freehold property of the members, together with all the records, including the betting books. .The committee need but remind members that if this opportunity is lost, in five years' time- tho club, the oldest in the worldand with tho greatest historical associations, will cease to exist." ' ".-White's," said the member, ','is one of tho few members' clubs in London. We are not a proprietary club. Tho landlord, who is a member, wished to sell for personal reasons, and took the only course he desired—offered the club premises, to his fellow-mem-bers.? He could have realised a much bigger figure; by putting them on the open» market. You may regard'the 3 per cent, debenture as being a purely sentimental proposition. It merely means that members among themselves are going to buy their club, and the proviso as to 3 per cent, 'is the way of avoiding asking them tolgive a subscription. There is no question of a limited liability company^being formed." 1 That is definite." , , A FAMOUS BESO^T. Clubland's historians credit White's with be.ing the first of all clubs. Ofig.inally a chocolato house, it was opened in 1697; and when^ White died' he left his widow .with, a fortune and a thriving ;b'usiness v She. .allow.cd. Heidegger; the eccentric entrepreneur, who figured in. the Chelsea pageant, to arrange balls and masquerades there, and these made it more than ever a fashion resort. Gradually it became the recognised venue for the "bucks" of town to come and arrange their,,bets, so that "The Betting Book.of '-White's," which the Hon. Algernon. ,Bo'urke edited thirty four years ago" in two portly volumes, teems with all sorts of quaint entries — as to whether "the Duchess Dowager of- Marlborough' would survive' the Duchess Dowager of Cleveland," or how many; members of .Parliament would die within the twelvemonth. - April 28, „1733, saw the premises burned down, and tho real'club was founded with a ballot election .and an extra subscription, of a guinea a year for "a good cook." Thoro'were later changes of premises,.'but its fame was established, and Pojie and Swift mention the celebrities of the day as re;' sorting'there, and Hogarth indicates it in Plate IV. of his "Rake's Progress." Later a Young, Club was set up as a kind' of "prep" for the senior club, and Chatham was. only'one of a long list of peers and statesmen on the members' roll of'each. Sir Thomas Rumbold,' a century and a half ago, began his ,career as a bootblack at White's, and eventually became Governor of Madras.