Junior Athenaeum

The Junior Athenaeum Club was a now defunct gentlemen's club formerly in Piccadilly, London. It was founded in 1864 and occupied the house once inhabited by the Duke of Newcastle, and which had been built at great cost by his father-in-law, the late Henry Thomas Hope. Originally called 'Hope House', it was built between 1849-50. On its completion Charles Dickens remarked on its extravagant interior.[1]

The Duke of Newcastle sold 'Hope House' to the Junior Athenaeum Club in 1864. Its membership was made up of members of both Houses of Parliament, members of the universities, fellows of the learned and scientific Societies, and gentlemen connected with literature, science, and art; the members were elected by ballot. The club's rules stated that “No ballot shall be valid unless at least twenty members actually vote. One black ball shall annul ten votes, a tie shall exclude.” The entrance fee was £31 10s., with an annual subscription of £10 10s.[2]

The club survived into the 1930s, when its building was bought and converted into a luxury Art Deco apartment block called The Athenaeum. Today, the building is occupied by The Athenaeum Hotel.[3]

References

 This article incorporates text from Dickens's Dictionary of London, by Charles Dickens, Jr., a publication from 1879 now in the public domain in the United States.

  1. ↑ The Athenaeum Hotel in London on about.com
  2. ↑ Extract from Dickens's Dictionary of London by Charles Dickens, Jr. (1879)
  3. ↑ 'Our Celebrity Hotel - a History of The Athenaeum

See also

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