Boodle's

Boodle's club

Boodle's is a London gentlemen's club, founded in 1762 at 49-51 Pall Mall, London by Lord Shelburne the future Marquess of Lansdowne and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the club came to be known after the name of its head waiter Edward Boodle.

In 1782 Boodle's took over the "Savoir Vivre" club house at 28 St. James's Street, London and has been located there ever since.

The club-house was designed by John Crunden in 1775 and the ground floor was refurbished by John Buonarotti Papworth between 1821 and 1834.

Notable members

• Beau Brummell, fashion icon
• 5th Duke of Devonshire, politician
• Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond (who is said to have based his fictional club 'Blades' on Boodles)
• Charles Fox, politician
• Edward Gibbon the historian
• David Hume, philosopher
• David Niven, actor
• John Profumo, politician and charity worker
• Adam Smith the economist
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, soldier and Prime Minister
• William Wilberforce, reformer

It is reputed that Beau Brummell's last bet took place at the Club before he fled the country to France. Four members have been awarded the VC.

Sir Winston Churchill was one of the few people to be elected to honorary membership.

Adam Smith, a member of Boodle's, is the face on the Bank of England's £20 note.

In fiction

Of J. K. Stanford's George Hysteron-Proteron, said to be a member of Boodle's, a real-life member wrote in 1944: "I see the author mentions Boodle's. I don't know if he is a member here but there are six George Proterons sitting round me in the smoking-room at the moment."

Other

• Boodle's Orange Fool is a traditional club dish.
• Boodle's is the second oldest club in the world, the oldest being White's.

See also

• List of London's gentlemen's clubs

References

• H.M. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 (1997) ISBN 0-300-07207-4

External links

• Architectural history, plans, and elevations - from the Survey of London online