Oxford and Cambridge Club
Encyclopedia
| Founded | 1821 (United University Club United University Club The United University Club was a London gentlemen's club, founded in 1821. It occupied the purpose-built University Club House, at 1, Suffolk Street, London, England, from 1826 until 1971.-Formation and membership:... ); 1830 (Oxford and Cambridge Club) |
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| Home Page | www.oxfordandcambridgeclub.co.uk |
| Address | 71-77 Pall Mall Pall Mall, London Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the... |
| Clubhouse occupied since | 1837 |
| Club established for | Oxford and Cambridge graduates |
Pall Mall, London
Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The clubhouse was designed for the membership by architect Sir Robert Smirke
Robert Smirke (architect)
Sir Robert Smirke was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture his best known building in that style is the British Museum, though he also designed using other architectural styles...
and completed towards the end of 1837. It was founded for members of the universities of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. In 1989, the club's Crown lease was extended until 2087, and major refurbishment of the accommodation was carried out in 1996.
History
Eight years after the foundation of the original United University ClubUnited University Club
The United University Club was a London gentlemen's club, founded in 1821. It occupied the purpose-built University Club House, at 1, Suffolk Street, London, England, from 1826 until 1971.-Formation and membership:...
in 1821, the waiting list had become inconveniently long; so it was decided to form a second club. On 17 May 1830, Lord Palmerston
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
, who had been on the original committee of the United University, presided over a meeting in the British Coffee House in Cockspur Street in 1830 to discuss the project.
The new club, called simply the Oxford and Cambridge University Club, took temporary premises at what is now 18 (today's numbering) St James's Square. In 1835 the decision was taken to build a new club in Pall Mall on a Crown lease. William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
's name appears in the earliest list of members that has survived (1833). He was on the general committee when the clubhouse was being built, but his chief concern was that all the staff should be able to go to church on Sundays. He pressed the matter at meeting after meeting until a pew was reserved at St Philip's Church, Regent Street
Regent Street
Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...
, and the servants were told they might use it. Gladstone resigned his membership in 1842, but the club accounts show "Pew Rent for Servants £8/8/0" until 1858.
Clubland was disturbed in those days by disputes about whether or not smoking should be allowed. When the Oxford and Cambridge proposed a smoking room for the new building, fifty members summoned a special meeting and tried to get the decision reversed. They were defeated by just fifteen votes. Further disputes arose when gas lighting
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
arrived and the motion to put it throughout the club was defeated, it only going into the basement and mezzanine floors. When electric lighting was to be introduced, members succeeded in getting a Standing Order passed that any member dining might call for a candle at his table. This Order is still in force.
The Oxford and Cambridge boasts one of the best club libraries in London, and even with some sales of unwanted accumulations, over 20,000 volumes remain to form a well-balanced and very usable collection. During the Second World War a landmine fell into the kitchen, but failed to explode.
By the middle of the 1960s clubland generally was in the financial doldrums, and the Oxford and Cambridge was no exception. The members were not rich, predominantly middle-class, and the middle classes in Britain had begun to experience a revolution of declining expectations. In an attempt to boost the membership (and therefore increase the income) some "fairly desperate" expedients were tried. Wives and daughters would be permitted to become associate members, and they could propose and second other women who might have no connection with any male member of the club at all. More "drastic" was the 1971 innovation, when it was decided that graduates of any university, whether in Britain or overseas, should be eligible for membership. Later the same year the old United University Club abandoned its struggle with declining circumstances and voted to merge with the Oxford and Cambridge. The joint club, however, reverted to being for Oxford and Cambridge men only - plus, as lady associates, Oxford and Cambridge women and close female relatives of members. This partially reversed the aforementioned "outrages".
In the late 1970's, the club had continuous difficulties with Westminster City Council over various infestations. As a result, the club began to retain a cat upon the premises and subsequently, the vermin ceased to be a problem.
The Club's separate membership policies for men and women came under attack in the mid 1990s. In February 1995, a statement signed by the heads of more than 70 Oxford and Cambridge colleges, two vice chancellors
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
, and Oxford's chancellor, declared that the two universities were disassociating from the Club "because of what they call[ed] its 'offensive' and 'discriminatory' policies to women". Dr Peter North
Peter North (academic)
Sir Peter Machin North, CBE QC FBA was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1984–2005 and Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, England from 1993–1997...
, the vice chancellor of Oxford, stated at the time that the "'university council has asked the law department to consider our legal position in relation to the use of the universities' names and our coats of arms'". Four months later, the Club voted to allow lady associate members "access to the main staircase and the library", provided they pay an extra fee of £100. In February 1996, members of the club voted to admit women as full members.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark became the club's first Honorary Lady Member in 1997.
In 1971, the name had become the United Oxford and Cambridge University Club, but in 2001, it reverted to the Oxford and Cambridge Club.
There are over 3,500 members worldwide.
As of 2009, the membership subscription costs £900 per year, with a £480 rate for younger members. The club does not charge an entrance fee.
Notable members
- Clement AttleeClement AttleeClement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
- Lord BlakeRobert Blake, Baron BlakeRobert Norman William Blake, Baron Blake was an English historian. He is best known for his 1966 biography of Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, and for The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill, which grew out of his 1968 Ford lectures...
- Benazir BhuttoBenazir BhuttoBenazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
- Anthony BullAnthony BullAnthony Bull CBE CStJ was a British transport engineer and was president of the Institute of Transport.-Background and education:...
- George CanningGeorge CanningGeorge Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...
- Sir Raymond CarrRaymond CarrSir Albert Raymond Maillard Carr FBA FRHS FRSL , known as Raymond Carr, is an English historian specializing in the history of Spain, Latin America, and Sweden who was Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford, from 1968 to 1987....
- William Cavendish, 7th Duke of DevonshireWilliam Cavendish, 7th Duke of DevonshireWilliam Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire KG, PC , styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as The Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was a British landowner, benefactor and politician.-Background and education:Cavendish was the son of William Cavendish, eldest...
- Sir J.E. Eardley-Wilmot, BartSir John Eardley-Wilmot, 2nd BaronetSir John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot, 2nd Baronet was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.He served as Member of Parliament for South Warwickshire from 1874 to 1885.Sir John E...
- Edward VIIEdward VII of the United KingdomEdward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
- William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
- Charles Grey, 2nd Earl GreyCharles Grey, 2nd Earl GreyCharles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC , known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 22 November 1830 to 16 July 1834. A member of the Whig Party, he backed significant reform of the British government and was among the...
- Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
- General Sir John Hackett
- William HarcourtWilliam Vernon Harcourt (politician)Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of...
- Lord HoughtonRichard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron HoughtonRichard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton FRS was an English poet, patron of literature and politician.-Background and education:...
- Roy JenkinsRoy JenkinsRoy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
(honorary member) - Anthony Kelly
- Granville Leveson-GowerGranville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl GranvilleGranville George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville KG, PC FRS , styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman...
- Harold MacmillanHarold MacmillanMaurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
- Queen Margrethe II of DenmarkMargrethe II of DenmarkMargrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
- Sir John Mowbray, 1st BaronetSir John Mowbray, 1st BaronetSir John Robert Mowbray, 1st Baronet PC , known as John Cornish until 1847, was a British Conservative politician and long-serving Member of Parliament, eventually serving as Father of the House.-Biography:...
- Heston Orchard
- Chris PattenChris PattenChristopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC , is the last Governor of British Hong Kong, a former British Conservative politician, and the current chairman of the BBC Trust....
(honorary member) - Prince Philip, Duke of EdinburghPrince Philip, Duke of EdinburghPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
(honorary member) - Stuart PiggottStuart PiggottStuart Ernest Piggott CBE was a British archaeologist best known for his work on prehistoric Wessex.Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, Piggott was educated at Churcher's College and on leaving school in 1927 took up a post as assistant at Reading Museum where he developed an expertise in Neolithic...
- Martin Rees, Baron Rees of LudlowMartin Rees, Baron Rees of LudlowMartin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, OM, FRS is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has been Astronomer Royal since 1995 and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge since 2004...
- Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonHenry Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(honorary member) - Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and EdinburghPrince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and EdinburghPrince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh was a member of the British Royal Family, a great-grandson of George II and nephew of George III.-Early life:...
- Baron WolfendenJohn Wolfenden, Baron WolfendenJohn Frederick Wolfenden, Baron Wolfenden, CBE was a British educationalist probably best remembered for chairing the Wolfenden report recommending the decriminalisation of homosexuality, which was published in 1957...
- Rev. Charles WordsworthCharles WordsworthThe Reverend Charles Wordsworth, M.A. was bishop of Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane in Scotland. He was a classical scholar, and taught at a public schools in England and Scotland...