CHAPTER XVIII
Pall Mall, North Side, Past Buildings
Daniel Graham's Houses
Approximate site now occupied by Nos. 9, 11 and 12
Pall Mall
In 1740 Daniel Graham, described as 'His
Majesty's Apothecary', (ref. 1) petitioned the Crown for
an extension of his leasehold interest in three old
houses on the north side of Pall Mall. In his
report the Surveyor General stated that the existing buildings were 'now pulling down in Order
to be rebuilt', (ref. 2) and the ratebooks indicate that this
was done in 1740–1. The three new houses may
be identified in Coney's street elevation (pocket,
drawing B). They were demolished in c. 1818 for
the formation of Waterloo Place. (ref. 3)
Daniel Graham occupied the centre house from
Christmas 1741 until 1780, and other members of
his family occupied it (except in 1793–4) until
1799. From 1800 until 1802 William Cobbett
was the ratepayer. (ref. 3) No evidence has been found
to suggest that Daniel Graham was related to
James Graham, the quack doctor who occupied
part of Schomberg House.
The westerly house was occupied from 1748 to
1751 by Lord Falmouth, and from 1752 to 1758
by Daniel Graham. Thomas Graham occupied
the easterly house from 1742 to 1761. (ref. 3)
The three house-fronts in this late-Palladian
group were individually articulated, but together
formed a composition with a centrepiece and
wings, each house being four storeys high and three
windows wide. The ground-storey openings
were round-arched, those of the middle house
being dressed with rustics. The upper part of the
front contained two storeys and was underlined by
a pedestal, with a blind balustrade below the
central window of the middle house, which was
dressed with an architrave, shaped jambs, and a
triangular pediment resting on consoles. The
other windows in the middle house were framed
with eared architraves, broken by keyblocks, and
this treatment was repeated in the central window
of each storey in the wing houses. A cornice
underlined the windows of the fourth, or attic
storey, which was finished with a second cornice,
stopped and carried up as a triangular pediment
over the round-arched central window in the
middle house. Coney shows that a fifth storey had
been added to the east wing house.
Nos. 16–17 Pall Mall
In 1833–4 the two houses on this site were
demolished (ref. 3) and rebuilt to the design of (Sir)
Charles Barry, (ref. 4) whose plans have survived
amongst the records of the Crown Estate Office (ref. 5)
(Plate 271a, 271b). The Crown lessee was Thomas
Ashton of Pall Mall, tailor. (ref. 6) In 1845 No. 16
became the offices of the Imperial Fire Assurance
Company, and both houses were subsequently
occupied by the West End Stock Exchange. (ref. 7) In
1901 the ground-floor elevation was altered by
the insertion of shop windows, (ref. 8) and both houses
were demolished in 1913. (ref. 9)
This pair of houses, built with mirrored plans
and a uniform elevation, contained shops and
counting-houses on the ground floor, kitchens and
staff rooms in the basement, and four floors of
living accommodation. Barry's front elevation
was as revolutionary in its break with the late
Georgian tradition as were his club-houses, and
although this design has had little attention from
art historians of the period, it must have had considerable influence on early Victorian street
architecture. The ground storey was treated as a
rusticated arcade of six bays, with a doorcase set in
each end bay and shop-fronts in the others. A
balustraded balcony, supported by mutule-trusses,
underlined the upper part of the front, which contained six tall flat-arched recesses with plain bandarchitraves, each recess framing a second- and
third-storey window. The top storey was an attic,
boldly treated with six oblong windows ranged
between console brackets which supported the
modillioned cornice, and the front was finished
with a tall balustrade having urns over the
pedestal-dies.
No. 25 Pall Mall: Andrew Millar's
House
Amongst the Adam drawings at Sir John
Soane's Museum there is a group of plans,
elevations and ceiling designs for a house for
Andrew Millar, esquire, in Pall Mall (Plate 221);
one of these drawings is dated 1765 and another
1766. (ref. 10) The ratebooks show that at Christmas
1766 Andrew Millar became the occupant of a
newly built house which was later numbered 25
Pall Mall, and that he remained there until 1768.
The simple front designed by Adam for Andrew
Millar's house can be seen in Coney's elevation
(pocket, drawing B) and, in sharp perspective, in
Thomas Shotter Boys's view of Pall Mall. It is
clear that the house was built, or refashioned by
Adam, to a plan that mirrored the one reproduced on Plate 221a, for while the plan shows the
doorway in the west opening of the Pall Mall
front, Coney and Boys show it in the east. The
Adam front was four storeys high and three windows wide, all the openings being plain except
those of the second, or principal storey. The
round-arched doorway had a Doric doorcase, with
plain-shafted columns on pedestal-blocks supporting an entablature composed of a frieze,
ornamented with paterae and fluting, and a cornice returned to form a triangular pediment. A
wave-scroll band finished the ground storey and a
pedestal underlined the second-storey windows,
each of which was dressed with a moulded architrave, plain narrow frieze, and a cornice. Between the third and fourth storeys was a narrow
dentilled cornice, and the front was finished with
an open balustrade.
Andrew Millar was probably the publisher of
that name, whose productions included Johnson's
Dictionary and the Histories of Robertson and
Hume; he died in 1768. (ref. 11) In 1826 the house was
occupied by John Gibson Lockhart, whose fatherin-law, Sir Walter Scott, stayed there in the
autumn of 1826. (fn. a) In the 1830's the house was
occupied by Sir John Macdonald, AdjutantGeneral at the Horse Guards. (ref. 12)
It is not known when the house was demolished.
No. 29 Pall Mall: The Royal Exchange Assurance
In 1792–3 the house on this site was demolished
and rebuilt, and in 1794 the Royal Exchange
Assurance became the occupants. (ref. 3) Coney (pocket,
drawing B) shows that the new building had a fine
neo-classical front of stone, four storeys high and
three windows wide. The ground storey was
coursed with horizontal channels and contained
three straight-headed recesses in which the roundarched windows and central doorway were placed,
the latter being approached through a porch of
fluted Doric columns, raised on plain pedestals and
supporting an entablature decorated with ox skulls
between the triglyphs. The middle second-storey
window, which opened on to a trellis-patterned
balcony over the porch, was dressed with a
moulded architrave, plain frieze, and a cornice
resting on consoles. The side windows, and those
in the third storey, were set in plain openings, and
between the storeys was a long panel lettered
'ROYAL EXCHANGE ASSURANCE'. The fourth
storey was a richly treated attic, with downwardtapering pilasters placed between the three windows, the middle window being set within an arch,
below a lugged tablet. A cornice and blockingcourse, broken forward over each tapering pilaster,
finished this interesting front, the lower part of
which was the subject of one of Soane's lecture
diagrams. (ref. 13)
This building was rebuilt in 1884–5 to the
designs of George Aitchison. (ref. 14)
The Royal Exchange Assurance remained in
occupation until 1907. (ref. 7) In 1925 the building
was acquired by the Junior Carlton Club for the
formation of a ladies' annexe. (ref. 15)
Sir Hugh Palliser's House and Adair
House
Occupied part of the site of the Junior Carlton Club
A house for Sir Hugh Palliser in Pall Mall is
included in a list published in 1815 of the buildings
'designed and erected' by John Johnson (1732–
1814). (ref. 16)
Palliser became the occupant of this house in
1777; (ref. 3) he was at that time one of the Lords of the
Admiralty and in 1778 he was promoted Vice-Admiral. In that year his insubordinate conduct
to Admiral Keppel in an abortive action with the
French fleet in the Channel provoked an outcry
in the newspapers and his house in Pall Mall was
gutted by the mob. He was subsequently acquitted
by a packed court-martial, but was not restored to
the offices which he had resigned in anticipation
of his trial. (ref. 11)
It seems likely that John Johnson's work for
Palliser consisted of the repair of the damage to
the house rather than a complete rebuilding, for
the ratebooks record no change in the assessment
either immediately before or during Palliser's
occupancy, which lasted until 1780. (ref. 3)
The house was subsequently occupied from
1828 to 1839 by George Spence, (ref. 3) probably the
jurist and pioneer of Chancery reform. (ref. 11) It was
demolished in 1866 to make way for the Junior
Carlton Club. (ref. 17)
Coney (pocket, drawing B) shows a house with
a tall and narrow front, five storeys high and two
windows wide, built, presumably, of brick. The
ground storey was arcaded, the west arch framing
the doorway. A bandcourse marked the first-floor
level and a moulded cornice extended below the
fifth storey, or attic. All the upper windows had
gauged flat arches and were furnished with doublehung sashes.
The Pall Mall front of the adjoining house to
the west, known as Adair House, was generally
similar to that of its neighbour, and in both houses
the main cornice and attic storey were identical,
but below the cornice Adair House had three
lofty storeys, each containing three sashed windows with flat gauged arches. The house was
demolished in 1885–6 for the extension of the
Junior Carlton Club. (ref. 18)
No. 46 Pall Mall: The Cocoa Tree
Club
The house which formerly stood on this site,
now occupied by the Army and Navy Club
annexe, was occupied from 1757 until between
1787 and 1793 by the Cocoa Tree Club, whose
full history is described on page 461. Coney's
drawing (pocket, drawing B) suggests that No. 46
was a late seventeenth-century house with a fourstoreyed front, the ground storey containing a
shop-front and each upper storey three tall sashed
windows and a narrow recess on the west side.
The floor levels were marked by raised bandcourses and the front was finished with a plain
parapet.
Nos. 49–51 (consec.) Pall Mall:
Almack's, Brooks's, Boodle's,
the Macaroni Club, the Ladies' Club,
Goostre's
From 1762 until his death in 1781 the central
figure in the history of London clubs was William
Almack, whose origin and career have been inaccurately related by many writers. Confusion
existed in Almack's own lifetime, for in 1765
Gilly Williams clearly thought that Almack was a
Scot, (ref. 19) and in 1811 this error was handsomely
embellished by the statement that Almack's real
name was 'M'Caul', and that he had changed it
because he found that in England a Scots name
prejudiced his business. (ref. 20) Almack was in fact
almost certainly of Yorkshire origin, and the
theory that this was an assumed name is undoubtedly false. In the will of his brother John
Almack (died 1762) there is a legacy to his
married sister, Ann Tebb, who lived at Sand Hutton in the parish of Thirsk, Yorkshire; (ref. 21) and
William Almack later bequeathed an annuity of
twenty pounds to his niece Ann Tebb. (ref. 22) The
parish registers of Thirsk show that the Almack
family had been established there since 1629. (ref. 23)
William Almack married Elizabeth Cullen,
sister of the famous Scottish physician, Dr. William Cullen. (ref. 24) It has frequently been stated (ref. 25)
that Almack was valet to the Duke of Hamilton
and that his bride was waiting maid to the
Duchess, and although no first-hand evidence has
been discovered, this statement may very well be
true. Elizabeth Cullen's father was factor to
James, fifth Duke of Hamilton, and her brother
William was the Duke's physician and accompanied him on a visit to London in 1742. The
Duke's death in March 1742/3 prevented Dr.
William Cullen from 'receiving the rewards due
to his services' and he shortly afterwards removed
to Glasgow. (ref. 26) By May 1746 his sister Elizabeth
(who by this time had married William Almack)
was established in London. (ref. 27) There appears,
therefore, to be no reason to doubt that Almack
began his career in the Duke of Hamilton's service ; this and the fact that he had a Scottish wife
would explain the prevalence of the notion that he
was himself a Scot. (fn. b)
From 1754 to 1759 William Almack kept a
licensed coffee house in Curzon Street; (ref. 28) the fact
that it was licensed by the Justices implies that it
was open to all comers and was not a private
subscription house. On 7 September 1759 he
obtained a licence 'to keep a common Alehouse or
Victualling-house' in Pall Mall (ref. 29) and the ratebooks confirm that this tavern, which stood on the
north side of Pall Mall on the site now occupied by
No. 49, was opened by Almack in the latter part
of 1759. The house had been very recently
erected by Henry Holland of Fulham, bricklayer
(the father of the architect), (ref. 30) and on 2 February
1760 Elizabeth Wimberley of Woodmansterne,
Surrey, granted to Holland a sixty-three-year lease
of the house from Christmas 1759 at a rent of
£105. (ref. 31)
Figure 59:
Nos. 49–51 (consec.) Pall Mall and Almack's Assembly Rooms, King Street, layout plan. Based on
Horwood's map 1792–9
According to Coney (pocket, drawing B), this
house had a more striking front than its neighbours.
The ground storey contained a shop-front of three
bays, flanked by doorways, and the two-storeyed
upper part was dressed with plain-shafted pilasters,
forming a centrepiece of three bays flanked by
single bays. An iron balcony extended across the
front at first-floor level, where the middle window
had a round-arched head, and an enriched band
continued between the pilasters at second-floor
level. The crowning entablature had a modillioned cornice and was surmounted by a plain
parapet.
In July 1762 Holland assigned his lease to
Almack, who immediately mortgaged it to Holland for £1630. (ref. 32) The reason for this mortgage
probably was that in the summer of 1762 Holland
was engaged in work for Almack in the adjoining
house, whose site is now occupied by No. 50 Pall
Mall. This work formed part of the important
developments which were proceeding on the site of
the two houses (Nos. 50–51) immediately to the
west of Almack's tavern (fig. 59). This ground had
belonged to the Bond family since at least 1688, (ref. 33)
and had probably been the site of Sir Thomas
Bond's house in Pall Mall. (ref. 34) It consisted of a
rectangular strip 60 feet wide and 260 feet long
extending between King Street and Pall Mall,
with frontages to both these streets. In 1757 the
Bond property was heavily encumbered with
debts and was described as consisting 'chiefly of old
houses that were greatly decayed'. A Chancery
suit between Sir Charles Bond and his creditors
was in progress, and after a court order for a sale,
the freehold was conveyed on 24 November 1759
to John Phillips of St. George's, Hanover Square,
carpenter, for £5000. (ref. 33)
John Phillips was a master carpenter who in
March 1751/2 had contracted to execute the
carpentry of the Radcliffe Camera at Oxford. (ref. 30)
He had also developed land in Charles Street,
Mayfair, where his workshop is reputed to have
been situated. (ref. 35) In this speculation in King Street
and Pall Mall he appears to have acted in agreement or partnership with Joseph Dixon of St.
James's, mason, and Richard Dixon of St.
George's, Hanover Square, carpenter, to each of
whom he granted a number of building leases
between 1760 and 1765. By the latter year the
entire area appears to have been rebuilt.
On 14 February 1760 John Phillips granted to
Joseph Dixon two 999-year leases of the ground
fronting Pall Mall. The plot immediately adjoining the west side of Almack's tavern had a frontage of thirty-four feet, and is now occupied by
No. 50 Pall Mall. The other plot, now occupied
by No. 51 Pall Mall, had a frontage of nineteen
feet (ref. 33) and was bounded on its west side by a passage
seven feet wide (then called King's Place and now
Pall Mall Place) leading from Pall Mall to King
Street. At its north and south ends this passage
was (and still is) covered at first-floor level by the
buildings in King Street and Pall Mall. The
ground in the centre of the east side of the passage
was divided into six plots, and on 13 July 1765
Phillips granted three 993-year leases of the three
messuages 'erected or then erecting thereon' to
Richard Dixon. (ref. 36) The southernmost plot was
leased on the same day and for the same term by
Phillips at the direction of Joseph Dixon (who
probably built the house) to Colonel John Scott. (ref. 37)
The two northernmost plots were similarly leased
to Thomas Morton, bricklayer. (ref. 38) The whole of
the frontage of Phillips's ground to King Street
was occupied by Almack's Assembly Rooms (see
page 304).
In February and July 1760 Joseph Dixon
mortgaged the leases of the two plots facing Pall
Mall (Nos. 50–51), presumably in order to meet
his building expenses, and in January 1762 he
agreed to lease the easterly of the two houses
(No. 50), which adjoined Almack's tavern, to
Henry Holland, senior, for twenty-one years from
Michaelmas 1762 at a rent of £240. (ref. 33) Between
February and August 1762 carpenter's work
totalling £416 6s. 7¾d. was done at this house 'for
Mr. Holland at Mr. Almacks in Pall Mall per
John Phillips and George Shakespear'. (ref. 39) By the
autumn of 1762 the building of the two houses
was probably completed, for on 17 September
Joseph Dixon assigned his 999-year term in both
houses to John Scott, described as of St. George's,
Hanover Square, esquire, for £4200. (ref. 33) With the
consent of Henry Holland, Scott then leased the
easterly house (No. 50) to William Almack for
twenty-one years from Michaelmas 1762; (ref. 40) he
retained the westerly house (No. 51) for his own
occupation. (ref. 3)
Coney (pocket, drawing B) shows that the ground
storey of No. 50 contained a handsome shop-front
of five arch-headed bays set in a Doric colonnade.
At No. 51, the ground storey was treated as a rusticated arcade of three bays, the west arch opening
to King's (Pall Mall) Place. Above, both housefronts were alike, each having a plain wall face
with two tiers of three windows, finished with a
modillioned cornice and a balustraded parapet.
No. 50 had been heightened by the addition of two
garret storeys in the roof.
On 23 June 1764 Robert Mylne 'attended Mr.
Almack on a bow window to his house in Pall
Mall'. (ref. 41) It is not known to which of Almack's
two houses this refers, but this bow window (if it
was in fact built) may have been the prototype of
the later bow windows at White's and Boodle's.
From 1762 to about 1776 the three houses
(whose sites are now numbered 49–51 consec.) on
the north side of Pall Mall occupied by Almack
and Scott were the pivot of fashionable club life
in London. Several clubs met in rooms provided
by Almack in his two houses (Nos. 49–50), and
from 1773 to 1787 Scott's house (No. 51) was
occupied by Goostree's. By 1788 all three houses
were in private or commercial use, and this rapid
decline may be attributed in large part to the
greatly superior accommodation provided in St.
James's Street by the new clubs now known as
Brooks's and Boodle's, both of which originated at
Almack's houses in Pall Mall.
William Almack died in 1781; the later history
of his family is described on page 306.
Almack's first club
Between September 1759 and January 1762
Almack's establishment at No. 49 appears to have
been an ordinary licensed house open to all
comers. A letter from Horace Walpole to the
Hon. Henry Seymour Conway, dated 10 April
1761, contains one of the few contemporary
references to Almack at this period, and indicates
that he was already known for the dinners for
which he and Edward Boodle later became
famous: 'Poor Sir Harry Ballendene is dead; he
made a great dinner at Almack's for the house of
Drummond, drank very hard, caught a violent
fever, and died in a very few days.' (ref. 42)
In January 1762 a private 'Society' was
established in the house (fn. c) (No. 50) adjoining the
tavern; this was the first of Almack's clubs, and
was the immediate precursor of two of the greatest
clubs in St. James's Street, Brooks's and Boodle's.
It appears to have been formed in opposition, perhaps for political reasons, to White's (then often
called Arthur's), for rule 12 as originally drafted
forbad any member of Almack's from membership
of any other London club, 'nor of what is at
present called Arthur's or by whatever Name that
Society or Club may be afterwards called, neither
of new or old club or any other belonging to it'.
In February 1763 this rule was altered and made
even more emphatic: 'If any Member of this
Society becomes a Member of Arthur's or a
Candidate for Arthur's, he is of Course struck out
of this Society.' (ref. 43) The record book of the new
society was kept by Almack as a statement of the
terms on which he agreed to provide for the social
needs of the members, and it has fortunately survived amongst the records of Boodle's. The first
entry, dated 1 January 1762, states that 'William
Almack has taken the large new House West of
his now dwelling House in Pall Mall for the sole
use of a Society Established upon the following
Rules.' Until 10 February 1762 membership was
to be open to anyone signing his name in the book;
thereafter election was to be by ballot, which was
always to be held 'in Parliament Time' and one
black ball excluded; the total membership was to
be limited to 250. After 10 February the members were to appoint thirteen managers, 'each of
whom are to have a power to keep order and make
the Rules of the Society to be observed'; they
were to serve for one year and then each manager
was 'to appoint a Successor for the ensuing Year'.
The rules of the society could only be changed by
the unanimous vote of at least thirty members.
The annual subscription was to be two guineas,
to be paid 'to Almack for the House'. Almack
was to take in all the London and some foreign
newspapers; dinner (at eight shillings) was 'to be
allways upon the Table' at a quarter past four
o'clock and supper (at six shillings) at 'a Quarter
before Eleven'; a bottle of port cost half a crown.
Almack was to order the food 'without any
directions from any body', and members might
'speak for any Dish, cheap or Dear', but the
prices were not to exceed those at the Smyrna
coffee house. Members' friends could only be
entertained in the first room facing the street on
the ground floor, where they could have 'tea,
coffee or chocolate, but no Meat or Wine nor can
there be any Gaming or Cards in that Room'.
Gambling amongst the members was to be limited
to a maximum of nine guineas per rubber or
session. (ref. 43)
Eighty-eight gentlemen, none of whom appears
to have been a member of White's, paid subscriptions for 1762, and the appointment of
thirteen managers for the period February 1763 to
February 1764 is recorded. (ref. 43)
In March 1764 this club appears to have been
superseded by or to have divided itself into two
separate societies which are now Brooks's and
Boodle's. The reason for this rearrangement is
not known, but it may have been connected with
members' differing political affiliations, or with the
desire of some of them to gamble more heavily
than the rules of 1762 permitted. So far as
Almack himself was concerned, the change was
clearly an important one, for in the autumn of
1764 he did not renew his tavern licence, and in
August The Gentleman's Magazine reported that
'Almack's is no longer to be used as a public
tavern but is to be set apart for the reception of a
set of gentlemen, who are to meet after the manner of the minority at Wildman's. (fn. d) These
societies, 'tis believed, will endeavour to distinguish themselves by their zeal for the public
good.' (ref. 45)
The establishment of Brooks's
The club which is now Brooks's in St. James's
Street was founded in 1764, (ref. 46) and until its removal to the present club-house in 1778 it met in
Almack's former tavern (No. 49) in Pall Mall.
During the whole of this period Almack was the
proprietor, the subscriptions were paid to him (ref. 47)
and the club was known as Almack's. But from
1771 to 17/8 the rates for the house were paid by
'Brooks and Ellis', (ref. 3) who were presumably
Almack's partners, or more probably employees,
and responsible for the day-to-day running of the
club. From the time of its removal to its present
house in St. James's Street the club has been
known as Brooks's.
There were twenty-seven foundation members
of this club, and a further 141 were elected by
ballot in 1764. The original rules of 1764 forbad
membership of any other London club except 'old'
White's, but this rule was quickly repealed, certainly before 1772. (ref. 46) Heavy gambling immediately became prevalent (ref. 48) and in 1770 Horace
Walpole commented that 'the gaming at Almack's
which has taken the pas of White's, is worthy the
decline of our Empire, or Commonwealth. . . .
The young men of the age lose five, ten, fifteen
thousand pounds in an evening there.' (ref. 49) At the
age of sixteen Charles James Fox was elected a
member in 1765 and much of his reckless gambling and betting took place at Almack's. (ref. 50)
Edward Gibbon became a member in 1776 and in
a letter of that year he describes the use which he
made of the club: 'Town grows empty and this
house, where I have passed very agreable [sic]
hours, is the only place which still unites the flower
of the English youth. The style of living though
somewhat expensive is exceedingly pleasant and
notwithstanding the rage of play I have found
more entertaining and even rational society here
than in any other Club to which I belong.' (ref. 51)
Very little is known of William Brooks, and
nothing of Ellis, who appears to have ceased to
have any connexion with the club after its removal
to St. James's Street in 1778. Brooks described
himself as of Pall Mall, gentleman, (ref. 52) and between
1775 and 1778 he owned but did not occupy a
house on the east side of Berkeley Street. (ref. 53) He
lent large sums of money to the club gamblers,
who disliked him but found him too useful to
ignore. In a letter probably dated August 1775
George Selwyn describes Brooks's activities:
'Richard [Fitzpatrick] won last night 1,300
ostensible, besides what he pocketed to keep a corps
de reserve unknown to Brooks. For Brooks lent
him 2,300, and then laments the state of the house.
He duns me for three hundred, of which I am
determined to give him but two; as he knows so
well where to get the other hundred, which is that
Richard owes me, but seems determined that I
shall not have. Charles [James Fox] is winning
more, and the quinze table is now at its height. I
have set down Brooks to be the completest composition of knave and fool that ever was, to which
I may add liar.' (ref. 54) Richard Tickell gives much the
same picture:
'And, know, I've bought the best champagne
from Brooks,
From liberal Brooks, whose speculative skill
Is hasty credit, and a distant bill;
Who, nursed in clubs, disdains a vulgar trade,
Exults to trust and blushes to be paid.' (ref. 55)
In September 1777 Brooks acquired from
Henry Holland the younger of Hertford Street,
gentleman, the site of the present club-house on
the corner of Park Place and St. James's Street (ref. 56)
and opened his club there in October 1778. (ref. 57) In
a letter of September 1778 James Hare says:
'Brookes is to open his house in St. James's Street
next month, it is to consist of as many of the
present members of Almack's as choose to put
their names down'; and in the following month
'Brooks opens his house in St. James's Street this
month. He invites all or as many as please to come
from the Club in Pall [Mall], and Almack desires
us to stay with him, but as there can be no reason
for preferring a bad old house to a good new one, I
imagine Brookes will be victorious.' (ref. 58) This
prophecy was fulfilled, for there are no references
to Almack's club in Pall Mall after 1778.
Brooks did not enjoy his triumph for long, for
he is said to have died in poverty in 1782. (ref. 48) He
may perhaps be identified with the William Brooks
of St. George's, Hanover Square, to whose widow,
Priscilla, letters of administration were granted in
October 1782. (ref. 59) Sheridan wrote the following
lines on seeing Brooks's funeral:
'Alas! that Brookes, returned to dust,
Should pay at length the debt that we,
Averse to parchment, mortgage, trust,
Shall pay when forced,—as well as he.
And die so poor, too! He whose trade
Such profit cleared by draught and deed,
Though pigeons called him murmuring
Brookes,
And dipped their bills in him at need.' (ref. 60)
Brooks's club-house in St. James's Street stands
in the parish of St. George's, Hanover Square, and
its later history will be described in a future volume
of the Survey of London.
The house in Pall Mall (No. 49) vacated by
Brooks in 1778 was occupied from 1779 to 1786
by James Carr, who then moved to No. 87 St.
James's Street. (ref. 3) From 1787 to 1790 it was
occupied by Thomas Nelson and (for part of this
period) Peter Wilder, who were sub-tenants of
William Almack's widow and son. (ref. 61) In 1790 the
house was described as 'Almack's Hotel'. (ref. 62) From
1796 until the early 1820's it was occupied by the
firm of Ransom and Morland, and from 1822 to
1832 by the Travellers' Club. From 1841 to
1845 part of the house was occupied by the London Library. The freehold of the house had been
acquired in 1785 by William Almack's son, (ref. 63) and
it subsequently passed to Elizabeth Pitcairn, William Almack's daughter. (ref. 64) By her will (proved
1844) she bequeathed the house to her nephew,
the Rev. Augustus Campbell, Rector of Liverpool, (ref. 65) who died in 1870. The house was sold by
the latter's trustees in 1894 and it was demolished
shortly afterwards. (ref. 66) The present building on the
site is described on page 343.
The establishment of Boodle's
Edward Boodle was the third son of John
Boodle of the Three Tuns, Oswestry, Shropshire,
and was baptized at Oswestry on 14 May 1722. (ref. 67)
From 1761 or 1762 until 1764 he was apparently
manager of the Virtue Club, which is referred to
by John Wilkes in March 1764 as 'in its primary
institution, intended for the support of the Earl of
Bute; though now . . . more agreeable to the idea
of a Virtue Club, it is one of the principal rules
and orders that no Scot shall be admitted into that
society'. (ref. 68) This may conceivably be a reference to
the club established by Almack in January 1762
(see above).
Boodle is known to have been in partnership
with William Almack, (ref. 69) probably between 1764
and 1768. The present Boodle's Club in St.
James's Street possesses two manuscript books, one
kept by Boodle and the other by his successor, Benjamin Harding, as statements of the terms on which
they agreed successively to provide for the social
needs of the members of the club; each book contains a list of rules and names of subscribers, but the
first few pages of Boodle's book are missing. The
rules in Harding's book are (apart from additions
made after Boodle's death) virtually identical with
those in Boodle's, and they are said to have been
'Agreed upon the first of March 1764 by a
Majority of the Managers for that Year.' It may
therefore be inferred almost with certainty that
this entry was copied from Boodle's book, and that
Boodle undertook the management of this club at
that date.
The rules in Boodle's book are based on those
contained in Almack's book dated 1 January 1762
(see above), and many of them are copied verbatim. This similarity makes it clear that Boodle's
club was either a continuation or an off-shoot
under new management and slightly altered rules
of the club which Almack had established in
January 1762. It met in the house which the
latter had occupied from January 1762 to February 1764, i.e., No. 50 Pall Mall, next door to
the house (No. 49) which from 1759 to 1764 was
Almack's tavern and from 1764 to 1778 housed
Almack's club, before its removal under William
Brooks to St. James's Street.
The most important difference between the
rules of January 1762 and those of March 1764
was the omission in the latter of any limitation
on gaming. In 1766 the number of annually
appointed managers was reduced from thirteen to
six, and a board of six controlled the club until
1879; from 1881 to 1896 there were five
managers, and in the following year the club
became a members' club.
In addition to running his club, Boodle also
catered for private dinner parties, and the convivial entertainment which he provided has been
described by William Hickey in his Memoirs.
'Robert Mitford . . . was a near relation of the Mr.
Boodle (fn. e) who from having squandered away a
handsome fortune was reduced to the necessity of
accepting the management of one of the fashionable gaming houses in Pall Mall which bore his
name, being called "Boodle's", and to this Mr.
Boodle I was introduced by Mitford, after which
introduction I spent many a jovial night at his
house. At the time my acquaintance with him
commenced he was nearly sixty years of age [sic],
and notwithstanding he had lived very freely, had
still a good constitution, and was of a remarkably
cheerful disposition. He was never happy unless
he had a parcel of young people about him. I made
one of upwards of a dozen who usually supped
twice a week in Pall Mall, where he gave us as
much champagne, burgundy and claret as we
chose, the table being covered with every variety
in the way of eating. Nothing delighted him more
than sitting out the boys, as he called it. Indeed,
his head was so strong that he generally succeeded
in so doing, and when he perceived his young
guests began to flag, or become drowsy, he would
get up, lock the door of the room, and putting the
key in his pocket, strike up the song of " 'Tis not
yet day" etc. His companionable qualities were
extraordinary, and I certainly have passed more
happy and jovial nights in his back parlour in Pall
Mall than in any other house in London.' (ref. 71) This
description is of a private dinner and not of life at
Boodle's club, of which neither Robert Mitford
nor William Hickey were members.
The partnership between Almack and Boodle
probably came to an end in 1768, for in that year
Boodle succeeded Almack as the ratepayer for
No. 50, and in March 1768 Boodle is known to
have held a sub-lease of the house from Almack. (ref. 72)
Contemporary references to the club become
much more frequent. Edward Gibbon first mentions Boodle's in a letter of 18 April 1768, and
he subsequently became a member of the club;
starting in December 1769 he wrote much of his
correspondence there, (ref. 73) and in 1770 he was one of
the managers. (ref. 74)
Boodle died at his house in Pall Mall on
8 February 1772, (ref. 75) and was buried in Chipping
Ongar churchyard. (ref. 76) By his will, which suggests
that he was a bachelor, (ref. 70) he left all his estate to his
two sisters Margaret and Jane Boodle for their
lives, and named his brother John Boodle of
Ongar, apothecary, his sole executor. At a
general meeting of the club held on 13 February
it was unanimously resolved that 'Ben Harding
shall succeed the late Mr. Boodle in the House and
Business, and shall be supported therein'. (ref. 77) On
22 February John Boodle assigned the residue of
Edward Boodle's lease from Almack to Benjamin
Harding of St. Anne's, Westminster, vintner. (ref. 78)
In spite of the change of proprietor the club continued to be known as Boodle's.
In 1778 Benjamin Harding bought from John
Scott's executors the residue of the term of 999
years which Joseph Dixon had granted to Scott in
1762 (ref. 33) (see page 329). At a general meeting of
the club held on 14 June 1782 it was resolved
'That Harding do take Mr. Kenney's House in
Saint James's Street for their Use'. (ref. 77) This refers
to the house on the east side of St. James's Street to
which Boodle's removed in the following year (ref. 3)
and which it has occupied ever since. The house
had been built in 1775–6 for the short-lived
Savoir Vivre Club (see page 441).
After the departure of Harding and his club
from No. 50 Pall Mall in 1783 the house was
occupied by Messrs. Hammersley and Co. for a
number of years, (ref. 3) and was subsequently demolished.
The Macaroni Club
The first known reference to the Macaroni
Club is in one of Horace Walpole's letters dated
6 February 1764, in which he describes it as 'composed of all the travelled young men who wear
long curls and spying-glasses'. (ref. 79) By December of
the same year the club was well established, and
according to Walpole had 'quite absorbed Arthur's,
for you know old fools will hobble after young
ones'. (ref. 80) A contemporary magazine gives an
account of the Macaronis: 'Our young travellers,
who generally catch the follies of the countries
they visit, judged that the title of Macaroni was
very applicable to a clever fellow; and accordingly,
to distinguish themselves as such, they instituted a
club under this denomination, the members of
which were supposed to be the standards of taste in
polite learning, the fine arts, and the genteel
sciences; and fashion, amongst the other constituent parts of taste, became an object of their
attention.' (ref. 81) Another account states that macaroni 'was far from being universally known in this
country till the commencement of the last peace
[1763]: when . . . it was imported by our Connoscenti in eating, as an improvement to their
subscription-table at Almack's. In time, the
subscribers to those dinners became to be distinguished by the title of Maceronies; and, as the
meeting was composed of the younger and gayer
part of our nobility and gentry, who, at the same
time that they gave into the luxuries of eating,
went equally into the extravagances of dress; the
word Macaroni then changed its meaning to that
of a person who exceeded the ordinary bounds of
fashion; and it is now [1772] justly used as a term
of reproach to all ranks of people, indifferently,
who fall into this absurdity.' (ref. 82)
The newspapers and correspondence of the
later 1760's and early 1770's abound with
references to the Macaronis, but by 1772 London
society seems to have tired of their absurdities of
dress and manner; they were 'coxcombs', (ref. 81) and by
December of that year 'the scholar, the printer
and the engraver' had 'entered into a confederacy
to hunt down those heterogeneous animals, who
call themselves Macaronies, and have been so very
successful, that few are now to be seen'. (ref. 83) One of
the last references specifically to the Macaroni
Club is contained in a letter of Horace Walpole
dated 27 July 1773: 'I was in London yesterday,
where there is scarce a soul but Maccaronis lolling
out of windows at Almack's like carpets to be
dusted. . .,' (ref. 84)
It is not known which of Almack's two houses
in Pall Mall was used by the Macaroni Club, but
since there appears to be no connexion between it
and Edward Boodle, the presumption must be that
it met at No. 49, the former tavern also occupied
from 1764 to 1778 by Almack's Club (now
Brooks's).
The Ladies' Club or Coterie
From 1769 to 1771 Almack provided accommodation for a club composed of members of both
sexes. The club first met on 17 December
1769 (ref. 82) and soon attracted a great deal of attention.
On 6 May 1770 Horace Walpole recorded that
'There is a new institution that begins to make,
and if it proceeds, will make a considerable noise.
It is a club of both sexes to be erected at Almac's,
on the model of that of the men of White's. Mrs.
Fitzroy, Lady Pembroke, Mrs. Meynell, Lady
Molyneux, Miss Pelham, and Miss Loyd, are the
foundresses. I am ashamed to say I am of so young
and fashionable a society.' (ref. 85) The most important
rules were that all members were admitted by
ballot and 'the ladies shall ballot for men, and men
for ladies'; (ref. 86) thus 'no lady can exclude a lady, or
gentleman a gentleman'. (ref. 87) The subscription was
five guineas; dinner was to be on the table at halfpast four in the afternoon, price eight shillings
'exclusive of the wine, which the men are to pay'. (ref. 86)
Members met 'every morning, either to play
cards, chat, or do whatever else they please. An
ordinary is provided for as many as choose to dine,
and a supper to be constantly on the table by
eleven at night; after supper they play loo. . . .' (ref. 88)
By September 1770 this very exclusive club
possessed 123 members, including five dukes. (ref. 86) It
is not certain in which of Almack's two houses in
Pall Mall it met; Mrs. Elizabeth Harris placed it
at Boodle's (No. 50) (ref. 88) but an undated letter of the
Hon. Mrs. Boscawen says that it met 'for the
present, at certain rooms of Almack's, who for
another year is to provide a private house . .,' (ref. 87)
By December 1771 it had moved to the house in
Albemarle Street (ref. 89) which had in 1764 been used
by Thomas Wildman to accommodate a political
club formed in opposition to the Earl of Bute (ref. 90) (see
page 330n.). It remained there under the management of Robert Sutton until 1775, when it moved
to a house in Arlington Street under the management of James Cullen of Greek Street, Soho,
upholsterer. The last meeting of the club was held
on 4 December 1777. Cullen was left heavily in
debt and the Chancery suit which he subsequently
brought against certain members contains valuable
information about the way in which such shortlived proprietary clubs were managed. (ref. 91)
Goostree's
On 17 September 1762 Joseph Dixon, of St.
James's, mason, assigned his 999-year term in the
two houses which he had recently built on the
west side of Almack's tavern in Pall Mall to
Colonel John Scott (see page 329). The easterly
of these two houses (whose site is now occupied by
No. 50) was subsequently occupied by Boodle's,
and the westerly (No. 51) was retained by Scott
for his own occupation. (ref. 3)
Colonel (later Major-General) John Scott was
the son of David Scott of Scotstarvit, advocate, and
a distant relative of the Dukes of Buccleuch. (ref. 92) He
was a member of Parliament for Fife from 1768
until his death in 1775; (ref. 93) his eldest daughter,
Henrietta, married the Marquis of Titchfield
(later fourth Duke of Portland) in 1795, (ref. 94)
(fn. f) and
his youngest daughter, Joan, married George
Canning in 1800. (ref. 11) He died at Balcomie, Fife, on
7 December 1775. (ref. 96)
Scott was an extremely heavy gambler during
the early years of the reign of George III, and
George Selwyn's correspondence contains frequent references to his successes. (ref. 97)
The Gentleman's Magazine states that he had 'an evenness of
temper that nothing could warp, and a judgment
in play superior to most', and narrates that on the
evening on which he heard that his wife had been
delivered of a daughter he doubled his stakes 'in
order to make a fortune for this girl', and that after
losing £8000 his luck turned and by seven o'clock
the next morning he had won £15,000. (ref. 98) His
daughter Joan, who married Canning, is said to
have been 'worth £100,000'. (ref. 99)
The west side of Scott's house fronted King's
Place (now Pall Mall Place), and in 1765 he purchased the southernmost house on the east side of
King's Place and laid it together with his house in
Pall Mall. (ref. 33) In 1768–9 Henry Holland carried
out joiner's, carpenter's and plasterer's work
costing some £500 'for Col. Scotts at his House in
Pall Mall' ; (ref. 100) it is not clear whether this refers to
Henry Holland senior or junior. The schedule
attached to a deed of 1773 shows that the house
was handsomely fitted up. The library was hung
with 'straw coloured paper' and contained a
marble chimneypiece; the dining parlour contained a Siena marble chimneypiece, the sides
carved in wood with friezes. In 'the large drawing
room' there was 'a statuary marble Chimney
piece supported with Corinthian columns and
most elegantly carved. A statuary hearth, the
room hung with pea green paper and an elegant
gilt border, the ceiling finely ornamented with
Stucco and a coving, the windows shutters, doors,
etc., most elegantly carved.' The front drawing
room had 'an elegant stucco cornice' and was
'hung with blue paper, gilt mouldings and richly
painted in partitions'. The 'back drawing room'
had 'an elegant stucco ceiling and the room hung
with Crimson flock paper'. (ref. 33)
In 1773 Scott ceased to occupy the house and
for a lump sum payment of £2100 leased it for
ten years to the partners of the London Exchange
Banking Company, who were acting on behalf of
the 'Members and Principal Managers of a Club
or Society called . . . the New Club at Goostree's
in Pall Mall'. In 1773 these managers were Lord
Garlies, Sir John Stepney, baronet, the Hon. Charles
Dillon, Giles Earl, Charles Fielding and Thomas
Hodges. In 1774 they were the Marquis of Carmarthen, James, Lord Grimston, Francis, Lord
Beauchamp, Sir Charles Bingham, baronet, Sir
Francis Holborn, baronet, and the Hon. Thomas
Noel. (ref. 33) The ratebooks show James Goostree as
the occupant of the house from 1773 to 1787,
except for the years 1782–4, when Ann Shillito
appears.
In 1775 James Goostree, described as of Pall
Mall, vintner, agreed with Scott for the purchase
of the latter's long leasehold interest in the house
for £3150, payment to be made in four equal
annual instalments; Goostree duly paid the four
instalments (although in 1777 he mortgaged the
house for the full purchase money of £3150) and
in 1778 he became possessed of the residue of the
999-year term. In July 1776 he also bought for
£2100 the residue of the ten-year sub-lease held by
the managers of the club. (ref. 33)
The only plausible explanation for this last
transaction (by which Goostree undertook a considerable extra expense over and above his purchase
of the long lease from Scott) is that the 'New Club
at Goostree's' had come to an end and that the
managers wished to dispose of their interest in the
house. The wealthy young men who were
members of the club had already given several
lavish entertainments comparable with those of
the Savoir Vivre Club (ref. 101) and it appears at least
possible that when the Savoir Vivre Club moved
into its splendid new house in St. James's Street in
the spring of 1776 (see page 442), the members of
Goostree's also migrated thither.
Later references to the entertainments given by
fashionable West End clubs do not mention Goostree's, which in the 1780's enjoyed an entirely
different reputation. In a letter dated 29 December 1781 James Hare refers to this apparently reconstituted Goostree's: 'There are two Clubs
lately formed, both consisting of young men, and
chiefly of different parties in politics. Goostree's
is a small society of young men in opposition, and
they are very nice in their admissions; as they
discourage gaming as much as possible, their Club
will not do any harm to Brookes's, and probably
not subsist a great while.' (ref. 102)
(fn. g) William Pitt the
younger is said to have been the founder of this
society, (ref. 103) which consisted of some twenty-five
members. They were 'for the most part . . . young
men who had passed together through the University, and whom the general election of 1780
had brought at the same time into public life. Pitt
was an habitual frequenter of the club at Goostree's, supping there every night during the winter
of 1780–1. Here their intimacy increased every
day.' William Wilberforce, the philanthropist, was
a member, and he has recorded of Pitt that 'we
played a good deal at Goostree's, and I well
remember the intense earnestness which he displayed when joining in those games of chance. He
perceived their increasing fascination, and soon
after suddenly abandoned them for ever.' (ref. 104) Pitt
himself (who had recently been called to the Bar)
refers to Goostree's in a letter of 29 August 1781:
'I shall return to town with the fullest intention of
devoting myself to Westminster Hall and getting
as much money as I can, notwithstanding such
avocations as the House of Commons, and (which
is a much more dangerous one) Goostree's
itself.' (ref. 105)
Goostree's appears to have continued until
1787. (ref. 3) On 22 February of that year James Goostree sold the house by auction at Christie's to
George Nicol of the Strand, bookseller, for
£2047. (ref. 33)
No, 52 Pall Mall: Dodsley's Bookshop: The Shakespeare Gallery: The British
Institiution
Site later occupied by the Marlborough (Windham)
Club
In 1738 Robert Dodsley (1703–64), dramatist
and minor poet, (ref. 11) established himself in business as
a bookseller at the house later numbered 52 Pall
Mall. (ref. 3) This house had been built in 1726–7 by
William Pickering, citizen and painter, under a
building lease for sixty-one years, from James
Tichborne, the ground landlord. (ref. 106) From 1730 to
1737 the house was occupied by Sir William
Yonge, baronet and politician. (ref. 107) Dodsley was
soon engaged in an extensive trade, both as a bookseller and publisher, and his shop became a
recognized meeting-place for many of the literary
figures of the day. On one of Dr. Johnson's visits
to the shop Robert Dodsley suggested to him the
compilation of an English dictionary. 'Johnson
seemed at first to catch at the proposition but, after
a pause, said, in his abrupt decisive manner, "I
believe I shall not undertake it!'" Later, however,
he claimed that 'Dodsley first mentioned to me
the scheme of an English dictionary; but I had
long thought of it.' (ref. 108) Like other contemporary
booksellers, Dodsley traded under a sign marking
his literary connexion—in his case the sign of
Tully's Head, set up, it was said, out of his regard
for Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Robert Dodsley retired in 1759 and his brother
James took over the business; (ref. 11) he retired from the
retail trade in 1787, (ref. 3) perhaps because the lease
originally granted to William Pickering had expired. James Dodsley continued as a wholesale
bookseller and publisher in other premises on the
same side of Pall Mall, but further towards St.
James's Street. (ref. 107)
The house was then taken by Benjamin
Vandergucht (died 1794), the painter and picture
dealer, (ref. 11) on an eighty-year lease at a rent of £120
per annum, from Sir Henry Tichborne, baronet,
the grandson of James Tichborne. The site was
described as having a frontage of twenty-five
feet to Pall Mall, and extending backwards a hundred and twenty-two feet to Angel Court, with
King's Place, now Pall Mall Place, on the east
side. (ref. 109)
Vandergucht retained the house for only one
year and in June 1788 he assigned his lease to John
and Josiah Boydell of Cheapside, printsellers. (ref. 110)
Alderman John Boydell (1719–1804) had
made his fortune as an engraver and printseller and
in 1787 ventured upon what was to be the most
important enterprise of his life—the preparation
of a series of engraved illustrations of Shakespeare's
plays, after pictures expressly painted for the work
by the foremost English artists. On 13 February
1787 Sir Joshua Reynolds wrote to the Duke of
Rutland that 'the greatest news relating to virtu is
Alderman Boydel's scheme of having pictures and
prints taken from those pictures of the most
interesting scenes of Shakespear, by which all the
painters and engravers find engagements for eight
or ten years; he wishes me to do eight pictures, but
I have engaged only for one. (fn. h) He has insested
[sic] on my taking earnest money, and to my great
surprise left upon my table five hundred pounds—
to have as much more as I shall demand.' (ref. 111)
Some of the most celebrated painters of the day,
George Romney, Henry Fuseli, Benjamin West,
Angelica Kauffmann, Robert Smirke, John Opie
and Boydell's own nephew and partner, Josiah
Boydell, were also commissioned. (ref. 112) The premises
in Pall Mall were taken by John and Josiah Boydell in 1788 and rebuilt as an exhibition gallery to
house the paintings when completed.
The architect of the Shakespeare Gallery was
George Dance the younger, Clerk of the City
Works, with whom John Boydell, already an alderman and later to be Lord Mayor, was probably
well acquainted. Although the stone-built front
(Plate 43a, 43b) was of modest dimensions, its effect
was monumental and perfectly expressive of the
building's purpose. Neo-classical in spirit and
eclectic in style, it was a composition of two stages,
the lower being dominated by a large roundarched opening. The upper stage, which was
bounded by paired pilasters and finished with a
triangular pediment, featured a recess containing a
sculptured group. Dance's care for detail was
everywhere in evidence. The unmoulded arch of
the lower stage sprang from wide piers, each
pierced with a tall and narrow window, and
finished with an impost composed of a deep fascia
and a simple cornice. This impost was continued
across the arched opening to form a transom,
bearing the inscription 'SHAKESPEARE GALLERY',
with a pair of glazed doors and side lights below,
and a simple radial fanlight in the lunette above.
Each spandrel was adorned with a carving of a lyre
within a ribboned wreath, and this stage finished
with a panelled bandcourse, forming a plinth for
the upper stage. Here, the paired pilasters had
plain shafts and 'Ammonite' capitals (an early use
of this favourite Regency motif, so much in
evidence at Brighton). The entablature was Doric
in feeling, being composed of a deep architrave,
narrow frieze, and a boldly profiled cornice
returned to form a flat-pitched pediment. The
almost square recess between the pilasters contained Thomas Banks's group in high relief, for
which he was paid 500 guineas, (ref. 113) representing
Shakespeare, reclining against a rock, between the
Dramatic Muse and the Genius of Painting, the
panelled pedestal below Shakespeare being inscribed 'He was a Man, take him for all in all, I
shall not look upon his like again.' (ref. 114)
(fn. i)
The three exhibition rooms were on the first
floor (Plate 43c), placed one behind another and
forming an intercommunicating suite. The north
room was forty-one feet long, and the middle
room (into the centre of which rose the staircase)
and the south room were each approximately
thirty-seven feet long. All three rooms were
twenty-three feet wide. The total area of wall
space available for the exhibition of pictures was
over four thousand square feet. (ref. 116)
The gallery was opened in June 1789 (ref. 113) and
then contained 34 pictures. (ref. 117) By 1791 there
were 65 pictures and by 1802 there were 162.
There were also two reliefs by the then fashionable sculptress, Anne Seymour Damer, one of
'Antony and Cleopatra' and the other of 'Coriolanus'. (ref. 115) The Shakespeare Gallery soon became a
landmark in the literary and artistic life of London and the success of the venture encouraged
similar grandiose schemes. A drawing dated 1790
by Francis Wheatley in the Victoria and Albert
Museum shows the two Boydells receiving the
Dukes of York and Clarence, amid a fashionable
assembly.
The whole enterprise seems to have been conducted by Alderman Boydell in a most generous
and open-handed spirit. It appears from the
preface to the catalogue of 1789, and from other
independent evidence, that his chief aim was the
establishment of a school of English history
painting, and although the theatrical type of historical picture produced under Boydell's patronage
might not seem to have been a very inspiring
result, yet the Shakespeare Gallery was the
most ambitious scheme of art patronage of the
day. Boydell's enterprise was, however, attacked
as being nothing but a profit-making venture.
Gillray's caricatures of the Alderman worshipping
the Genius of Avarice and mutilating pictures in
the gallery in order to attract public attention, are
evidence of the contemporary agitation. (ref. 118)
The publication of the engravings began in
1791. (ref. 113) Boydell's total outlay exceeded
£100,000 and when, in his later years, the French
wars closed the Continental market for English
prints, a market which he himself had done so
much to expand, he found himself in financial
difficulties. In 1804 he obtained a private Act
of Parliament allowing him to dispose of the
Shakespeare Gallery and his other property by
lottery. (ref. 119)
John Boydell died on 12 December 1804,
before the draw had taken place but not before
every one of the twenty-two thousand tickets had
been sold. The lottery took place on 28 January
1805. The chief prize, the Shakespeare Gallery
and its contents, fell to a Mr. William Tassie,
modeller, of Leicester Fields, who put the property
up for auction. The collection of pictures
and the two reliefs by Anne Damer realized
£6181 18s. 6d., while the sculpture group by
Banks was reserved as a monument for the Alderman's tomb. (ref. 11) It remained, however, as part of
the façade until the demolition of the building in
1868–9. It was then removed to Stratford-uponAvon and was erected in 1870 or early in 1871 in
New Place Garden, where it still stands. (ref. 120)
The lease of the gallery building was purchased
in September 1805 by the Directors of the British
Institution for £4500. (ref. 121) The British Institution
'for promoting the Fine Arts under the patronage
of his majesty' had been founded in the previous
June. (ref. 122) It was a private venture of a group of
subscribers who proposed to hold exhibitions of the
works of living and dead artists, awarding premiums to contemporary works of special merit. (ref. 123)
Necessary repairs and minor alterations cost
£750 and the first exhibition opened early in
1806. (ref. 124) From then on there were two annual
exhibitions, one of works of living artists, for sale,
and the other a loan exhibition of old masters.
Occasionally the institution held memorial exhibitions, such as the Reynolds exhibition of 1813. (ref. 125)
Students were allowed to copy the works on loan,
and prizes were given for original works both in
painting and sculpture. (ref. 126) The winter exhibitions by modern artists became increasingly popular. The first exhibition contained 257 works; in
1830 511 works were exhibited and by 1855 the
total reached 588. (ref. 127) An entrance fee of one
shilling was charged and, out of the profits and
subscriptions, the directors occasionally purchased
pictures for the national collections. (ref. 128)
In the 1860's the British Institution was in
decline and in 1868 the gallery building was sold
to the Marlborough Club (ref. 129) and demolished
shortly afterwards. The history of the present
building on the site of the gallery is described on
page 343. The remaining funds of the Institution
were handed over to the Charity Commissioners
for the foundation of British Institution Scholarships, and the loan exhibitions of old masters were
subsequently continued by the Royal Academy. (ref. 126)
No. 59 Pall Mall: The Smyrna Coffee
House
A deed of 1733/4 records that the Smyrna
coffee house stood on the north side of Pall Mall
and the east side of Crown Court (now Passage)
and that it had a frontage of twenty feet to Pall
Mall; it was then or late in the tenure of Richard
Martin. (ref. 130) This site is now occupied by No. 59
Pall Mall. Richard Martin first appears in the
ratebooks as the occupant of this house in 1702, (ref. 3)
which may be taken as the likely date of the establishment of the Smyrna coffee house. (fn. j)
Coney (pocket, drawing B) shows a small house
with a three-storeyed front, its ground storey filled
by a small-paned shop-front with a door on its left.
There were three flat-arched windows in each
upper storey, between which the wall face was
decorated with a long rectangular panel, presumably containing a lettered sign. There were two
dormers asymmetrically placed in the roof.
The Smyrna was a popular resort for political
disputation, and was said to have been patronized
by 'a mixture of all sorts'; (ref. 131) it is mentioned in
both The Tatler and The Spectator. Steele, in an
early number of The Tatler, mentions the 'cluster
of wise-heads, as they are found sitting every
evening, from the left side of the fire at the
Smyrna, to the door', (ref. 132) and subsequently he recounts that 'The seat of learning is now removed
from the corner of the chimney on the left-hand
towards the window, to the round table in the
middle of the floor over-against the fire; a
revolution much lamented by the porters and
chairmen, who were much edified through a pane
of glass that remained broken all the last summer.' (ref. 133) It was also a favourite resort of Swift and
Prior. (ref. 134)
Richard Martin remained the proprietor until
1717. From 1718 to 1727 the house was
occupied successively by Richard Price, Thomas
and William Astley and George Hobart. (ref. 3)
The
Daily Post for 10 May 1726 contains a notice of
an auction of pictures to be held at 'Mr. Martin's,
the Smirna Coffee-house in Pall-Mall'. In 1727
the house was empty (ref. 3) but in 1728 Richard Martin (perhaps a son) reappears as the ratepayer.
Several of his recognizances as the licensed victualler for the Smyrna have survived (ref. 135) and he
continued as the ratepayer until 1749, when he
was succeeded by widow Martin (1750) and then
by Talbot Condon (1751). The latter occupied
the premises until 1772, (ref. 136) when he was succeeded
by Andrew Boyter, stationer. (ref. 137) This probably
marks the end of the Smyrna's life in Pall Mall. In
1815 it was said that the Smyrna still existed near
the south-west end of St. James's Street; (ref. 138) it is
not known if this establishment had any connexion
with the earlier one of the same name in Pall Mall.
No. 64 Pall Mall: The Cocoa Tree
Club
The house which formerly stood on this site was
occupied from between 1787 and 1793 until 1799
by the Cocoa Tree Club, whose full history is
described on page 461.