The Gridiron Club (Oxford University)
Encyclopedia
The Gridiron Club, popularly referred to as the The Grid, is a club, only open to male students at the University of Oxford
. In the past, most of its membership attended certain private schools, and whilst this is no longer a criterion for membership it is still largely true.
It was founded in 1884 and, as for many beefsteak clubs
of the 18th and 19th centuries, the traditional grilling gridiron is the club's symbol, appearing on both its members' tie of white gridirons on an Oxford blue field and on the sign outside its current premises in The Golden Cross
. The Grid is referred to in many published works, including Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited
and Ferdinand Mount
's "Cold Cream: My Early Life and Other Mistakes".
The Grid's equivalent Cambridge
club is the Pitt Club
. Several other universities also have comparable establishments, including the Skull and Bones
at Yale
, the Pacifica House at Brown
and the Porcellian Club
at Harvard. The Grid maintains reciprocal relations with Cambridge's Pitt Club.
Notable former members of the club include author John le Carré
, Lord Bath
and Lord Michael Pratt
(a former Secretary of the Grid). Prime Minister David Cameron
was President of the Grid in 1987.
The Grid has a Board of Trustees, the members of which are usually former members of the club. At any time there is at least one 'Senior Member' who supervises the running of the Club by an undergraduate Committee consisting of President, Treasurer, Secretary and a small number of other members co-opted 'without portfolio'. The Senior Members are, by tradition, dons within Oxford University. During the undergraduate years of Boris Johnson
, David Cameron
and George Osborne
, the Senior Members of the Grid were (concurrently) the distinguished historians Jeremy Catto
of Oriel College
and Maurice Keen
of Balliol.
Both Sports Newscaster Sally Jones
and Lord Salisbury's
daughter Lady Georgiana Campbell gained notoriety by standing for election to the all-male club at separate times, the former disguised in male clothing.
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...
. In the past, most of its membership attended certain private schools, and whilst this is no longer a criterion for membership it is still largely true.
It was founded in 1884 and, as for many beefsteak clubs
Beefsteak Club
Beefsteak Club is the name, nickname and historically common misnomer applied by sources to several 18th and 19th century male dining clubs that celebrated the beefsteak as a symbol of patriotic and often Whig concepts of liberty and prosperity....
of the 18th and 19th centuries, the traditional grilling gridiron is the club's symbol, appearing on both its members' tie of white gridirons on an Oxford blue field and on the sign outside its current premises in The Golden Cross
Golden Cross, Oxford
Golden Cross is a shopping arcade in central Oxford, England. The original structure on the site dates from 1193, when it was called Maugershall after the then owner, and consisted of shops with an inn on the upper storeys...
. The Grid is referred to in many published works, including Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. Waugh wrote that the novel "deals with what is theologically termed 'the operation of Grace', that is to say, the unmerited and unilateral act of love by...
and Ferdinand Mount
Ferdinand Mount
Sir William Robert Ferdinand Mount, 3rd Baronet , usually known as Ferdinand Mount, is a British writer and novelist, columnist for The Sunday Times and commentator on politics, and Conservative Party politician...
's "Cold Cream: My Early Life and Other Mistakes".
The Grid's equivalent 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...
club is the Pitt Club
Pitt Club
The University Pitt Club, popularly referred to as the Pitt Club, is a club, only open to male students at the University of Cambridge. In the past, most of its membership attended certain private schools, and whilst this is no longer a criterion for membership it is still largely true...
. Several other universities also have comparable establishments, including the Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
, the Pacifica House at Brown
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and the Porcellian Club
Porcellian Club
The Porcellian Club is a men's-only final club at Harvard University, sometimes called the Porc or the P.C. The year of founding is usually given as 1791, when a group began meeting under the name "the Argonauts," or as 1794, the year of the roast pig dinner at which the club, known first as "the...
at Harvard. The Grid maintains reciprocal relations with Cambridge's Pitt Club.
Notable former members of the club include author John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
, Lord Bath
Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath
Alexander George Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath , styled Viscount Weymouth between 1946 and 1992, is an English politician, artist and author...
and Lord Michael Pratt
Lord Michael Pratt
Lord Michael John Henry Pratt was a scion of the British aristocracy. An eccentric, he is best known as the author of several historical books.-Birth and ancestors:...
(a former Secretary of the Grid). Prime Minister David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
was President of the Grid in 1987.
The Grid has a Board of Trustees, the members of which are usually former members of the club. At any time there is at least one 'Senior Member' who supervises the running of the Club by an undergraduate Committee consisting of President, Treasurer, Secretary and a small number of other members co-opted 'without portfolio'. The Senior Members are, by tradition, dons within Oxford University. During the undergraduate years of Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
and George Osborne
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in...
, the Senior Members of the Grid were (concurrently) the distinguished historians Jeremy Catto
Jeremy Catto
Dr Robert Jeremy Adam Inch Catto was, until 2006, the Rhodes Fellow and Tutor in Modern History, Oriel College, Oxford, where he was also Senior Dean. He holds a Master's degree and a doctorate His research interests lie in the politics and religion of later medieval England...
of Oriel College
Oriel College
Oriel College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford...
and Maurice Keen
Maurice Keen
Maurice Hugh Keen is a British historian specialising in the Middle Ages. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, where he lectured in Medieval history from 1961-2000.In 1984 he won the Wolfson History Prize for his book Chivalry....
of Balliol.
Both Sports Newscaster Sally Jones
Sally Jones
Sally Jones is a British television news and sports presenter, later writing freelance on education and sport for newspapers and magazines including the Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph.- Education :...
and Lord Salisbury's
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, PC, DL , is a British Conservative politician. During the 1990s, he was Leader of the House of Lords under his courtesy title of Viscount Cranborne...
daughter Lady Georgiana Campbell gained notoriety by standing for election to the all-male club at separate times, the former disguised in male clothing.