The Savage Club is a gentlemen's club in London which was founded in 1857. It is named after the poet Richard Savage. Members are drawn from the fields of art, drama, law, literature, music, and science.
History
Founding The founding meeting of the Savage Club took place on 12 October 1857, at the Crown Tavern, Vinegar Yard, Drury Lane, after a letter by pro tempore honorary secretary George Augustus Sala was sent to prospective members. The letter advised it would be 'a meeting of gentlemen connected with literature and the fine arts, and warmly interested in the promotion of Christian knowledge, and the sale of exciseable liquors' with a view to 'forming a social society or club'. The inaugural gathering would also decide upon the new association's 'suitable designation'.Around 20 attended the first meeting, including William Brough, Robert Brough, Leicester Silk Buckingham, John Deffett Francis, Gustav von Franck, William Bernhardt Tegetmeier, and Gustave Louis Maurice Strauss.
Andrew Halliday, joint honorary secretary in 1858, and later club president, wrote in his 1867 anthology of how the 'suitable designation' was determined:
Character Many of the original members were drawn from the ranks of bohemian journalists and writers for The Illustrated London News who considered themselves unlikely to be accepted into the older, arts related Garrick Club, but, within two decades, the Savage Club itself had become 'almost respectable'. The early requirement – 'a working man in literature or art' – was soon broadened to include musicians, and the club's first piano was hired in 1871, prompting Halliday to tell another member 'Hang your piano... it's ruining the Club'. An associated Masonic lodge was established in 1887.
Premises The club moved from its original home at the Crown Tavern, the next year to the Nell Gwynne Tavern. In 1863 it moved to Gordon's Hotel in Covent Garden, then to 6–7 Adelphi Terrace, later to 9 Fitzmaurice Place, Berkeley Square, London W1, and, from 1936 to the end of 1963, Carlton House Terrace in St James's (previously the home of the Conservative statesman Lord Curzon). In 1990, the club moved to a room within the National Liberal Club at 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1, and in 2025 the club opened at dedicated premises at 27 Great Queen Street, London WC2, back in Covent Garden.
Guests and references The club has hosted a variety of guests over the years including American writer and humorist Mark Twain, and the Australian cricket team during its 1934 English tour. In the aftermath of World War II, Oswald Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists, arrived as a guest of Henry Williamson, author of Tarka the Otter, but was asked to leave.
The club features in Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel, The Lost World.A. Conan Doyle, The Lost World (Penguin Classics, 2007)
The club today Events and reciprocals
The club maintains a tradition of regular dinners for members and their guests, always followed by entertainment, often featuring distinguished musical performers from the club's membership. Several times a year members invite ladies to share both the dinner and the entertainment, and on these occasions guests always include widows of former Savages, who are known as Rosemaries (after rosemary, a symbol of remembrance). There are also monthly lunches, which are followed by a talk given by a member or an invited guest on a subject of which he has specific expert knowledge.
During the weekend, members are permitted to use the East India Club in St James's Square and the Oxford and Cambridge Club in Pall Mall. There are also reciprocal arrangements with other clubs internationally. Members of the Savage Club may also use accommodation at the Savile, Farmers and Lansdowne Clubs.
Membership In 1962, the club had around 1,000 members. It remains one of the small number of London clubs that does not admit women as members, although women are admitted as guests. Members are classified into one of six categories which best describes their main interest: art, drama, law, literature, music or science. They must be proposed and seconded by two existing members, and if unknown by any other members, are required to attend a club function in order to meet some members. The category of membership might mirror a member's profession, though there are many members with an interest in one or more of the membership categories, but who practise none professionally. There is a range of membership fees depending on membership category.
Notable members
Actors/Dramatists Arthur Askey Charles Spencer Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin) Albert Chevalier Robert Courtneidge Most of the members of The Crazy Gang Augustin Daly Bud Flanagan W. S. GilbertJ. Stedman, W.S. Gilbert: A Classic Victorian and His Theatre (OUP, 1996), p19 Tommy Handley and the cast of It's That Man Again (ITMA) Jack Hawkins Will Hay Stanley Holloway Henry Irving Alfred Leete Arthur Lucan, aka Old Mother Riley Arnold Ridley Harry Secombe Herbert Beerbohm Tree Tommy Trinder Stanley Unwin Peter Ustinov Wee Georgie Wood (music hall comedian) Charles Wyndham Oswald Yorke actor
Artists Edward John Cobbett Bernard Walter Evans Walter Goodman John Hassall (illustrator) David Low (Colonel Blimp) Phil May Arthur Moreland Bertram Prance John Proctor Heath Robinson E. H. Shepard George Loraine Stampa James McNeill Whistler Lewis Pinhorn Wood John Worsley
Authors/Journalists James Agate J. M. Barrie Collin Brooks Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) Mortimer Collins Wilkie Collins Richard Davey George Grossmith Weedon Grossmith Macdonald Hastings A. P. Herbert Tom Hood Keble HowardKeble Howard, My Motley Life, A Tale of Struggle. (T Fisher Unwin Ltd, 1927), p 145 C.E.M. Joad panellist on The Brains Trust Sidney Kilner Levett-Yeats Mark Lemon (Editor of Punch) W. Somerset Maugham E. Phillips Oppenheim Robert Young Pelton Dante Rossetti Rafael Sabatini George Augustus Sala Dylan ThomasD. Birch (ed) The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th Edition, (OUP 2009) Charles John Tibbits Edgar Wallace Artemus Ward Alec Waugh Henry Williamson Hugh Ross Williamson P. G. Wodehouse
Musicians Norman Allin Richard Arnell Alfred Louis BacharachEditor's biography in British Music of Our Time (1951) George Baker A. H. Behrend Webster Booth Alan Civil Edward ElgarR. Tames, London: A Cultural History (OUP, 2006), p110 Herman Finck Dan Godfrey Charles Groves Mark Hambourg (pianist)Summers, Jonathan. 'Mark Hambourg', notes to A–Z of Pianists, Naxos CD (2007) 8.558107–10 Alex James Gwynn Parry Jones Malcolm McEachern ('Mr Jetsam') Charles Millward Benno Moiseiwitsch Norman O'Neill Sergei Rachmaninov Carl Rosa Leonard Salzedo Charles Santley Edward WhiteWho's Who in Music (1962 edition), p. 251 Henry Wood (conductor)
Scientists Alfred Louis BacharachEditor's biography in British Music of Our Time (1951) Alexander Fleming Brian J. Ford R. G. W. Norrish Magnus Pyke Robert Wilfred Scarff Peter Underwood
Other Hal Pateshall Colebatch Lord DenningJames Wilson.Noble Savages: The Savage Club and The Great War 1914 - 1918 (2020) King Edward VII C. B. Fry King George V King George VI Evan Rowland Jones Lord Kitchener Earl Mountbatten Fridtjof Nansen Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Captain Scott
The Savage Club Masonic Lodge
On 11 February 1882, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), attended a dinner in his honour at the Savage Club, before becoming a member. The Prince suggested a Masonic lodge, associated with the club, should be formed.
The Savage Club Lodge, No. 2190 received its Warrant of Constitution on 18 December 1886, and was consecrated on 18 January 1887, with war correspondent Sir John Richard Sommers Vine as the first Master. The first treasurer was the actor Sir Henry Irving, followed by the actor Edward O'Connor Terry in 1888. This tendency towards the arts continued to be reflected in the Lodge's membership for many years.
The club and lodge have never been formally connected except in name. Lodge membership is not restricted to Savage Club members; however, most who join still have a professional life in literature, art, drama, music, science or law.
Founders of the Savage Club Lodge
Francis Wyatt Truscott John Maclean J. R. Somers Vine Thomas Catling Henry Irving Archibald McNeill W. E. Chapman Raymond Tucker Thomas Burnside Earl of Dunraven John Paige Gustav von Franck
References
Bradshaw, Percy V. (1958), Brother Savages and Guests, W. H. Allen & Co.
External links
Official website of The Savage Club Official website of The Savage Club Lodge Article in the New York Times announcing the foundation of The Savage Club Lodge
See also List of London's gentlemen's clubs