The Savage Club
The Savage Club was founded in 1857 and remains one of the leading bohemian gentleman’s clubs in London.
Clubs elsewhere have borrowed both the name and the style, which continues to be the “pursuit of happiness” — a quest made infinitely more agreeable by the fellowship of Members who are known to each other by the sobriquet “Brother Savage”.
About the Club
The Savage Club is a gentleman’s club in London, named after the poet Richard Savage.
The founding meeting of the 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 that 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”.
Andrew Halliday, joint Honorary Secretary in 1858 and later Club President, wrote in the preface to his 1867 anthology of how the “suitable designation” was determined:
When about a dozen of the original members were assembled in the place selected for their meetings, it became a question what the Club should be called. Every one in the room suggested a title. One said the “Addison”, another the “Johnson”, a third the “Goldsmith”, and so forth; and at last, after we had run the whole gamut of famous literary names of the modern period, a modest member in the corner suggested “The Shakespeare”.
This was too much for the gravity of one of the company (the late Mr Robert Brough) whose keen sense of humour enabled him, in the midst of our enthusiasm, to perceive that we were bent upon making ourselves ridiculous.
“Who are we,” he said, “that we should take these great names in vain? Don’t let us be pretentious. If we must have a name, let it be a modest one — one that signifies as little as possible.”
Hereupon a member called out, in a pure spirit of wantonness, “The Savage!”
That keen sense of humour was again tickled.
“The very thing!” he exclaimed. “No one can say that there is anything pretentious in assuming that name. If we accept Richard Savage as our godfather, it shows that there is no pride about us. ... ”
And so, in a frolicsome humour, our little society was christened the “Savage Club”.
Richard Savage (c. 1697 – 1743), best known as the subject of Samuel Johnson’s Life of Savage, was an English poet who had been convicted of murder, and who died in a debtors’ prison, probably from liver failure brought on by drinking.
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, and a good fellow” – was soon broadened to include musicians, with actors, scientists and members of the legal profession joining in later years.
After a year the Club moved from its original home at the Crown Tavern 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 off Berkeley Square. From 1936 to the end of 1963, the Club was based in Carlton House Terrace in St James’s (previously the home of the Conservative statesman Lord Curzon), and then from 1990 to 2021 in the National Liberal Club.
In 2022 the Club will be self-contained once more, moving to a dedicated town house in the heart of Covent Garden. More information will be available soon on this website.
Clubroom
The Savage Clubroom and bar is open from noon and does not close until late. Ladies are always welcome as guests of Members. Alcohol, sandwiches, coffee, cigars, and Club writing paper are all available. The Clubroom may also be hired for private functions by both Members and non-Members.
Wine tastings & diversions
Wine, whisky, gin & other tastings as well as jazz evenings and musical soirées are held in the Clubroom from time to time for Members and their guests.
House Dinners
Wherever the Savage Club has made its home, it has maintained the tradition of regular House Dinners for Members and their guests, always followed by entertainment. These dinners are unique within clubland and often feature a variety of well-known performers from Music Hall to concert hall.
Drumbeat
The Savage Club magazine is sent four times a year to Members and affiliated clubs. It has achieved a standard of literary excellence and erudition much admired by writers and publishers.
Lunches
These are held monthly, with each lunch invariably being followed by a talk given by a Member or an invited guest on a subject of which he has specific expert knowledge. Spirited conversation follows as the logical outcome of a congregation of Savages.
Accommodation
As a courtesy, several clubs in London offer accommodation to Savage Club Members at reasonable rates. This is useful for Country Members and others who have enjoyed the delights of a House Dinner and do not wish to travel home.
Membership
Members are classified into one of the six Membership categories which best describes their main interest. This might identify with a Member’s profession, but not necessarily so. There is many a Savage with more than a passing interest in one or more of the Membership categories, but who practises none professionally.
This is not to imply that any gentleman can become a Savage: in this, as in other imprecise areas of life, personal qualities are decisive. It is sometimes an indication of suitability that a candidate has pursuits or attainments of a personal nature which would qualify him for Membership.
A gentleman who would be equally comfortable in more than one category is at liberty to choose.
Membership enquiries may be sent to membership@savageclub.com
Art
Members in this category need to have shown a level of involvement with pure or applied art, design, typography, photography, architecture or one of the many variants calling for skill or appreciation and understanding of the medium beyond casual acquaintance.
Literature
If a Member has been published so much the better. While a letter to The Times is unlikely to be sufficient qualification, publishers themselves are likely to be welcomed as are journalists, editors, librarians, poets, archivists, translators, lecturers and teachers. The writings of many Members can be found in our library.
Music
Instrumentalists, singers, conductors, arrangers, trustees of musical societies or opera groups, jazz musicians and others who can show genuine musical attainment.
Science
The range of activities which can rightly be called ‘Science’ is wide. It includes medicine and pharmacy, dentistry, pathology, research, forensic sciences, food science, and computer and internet sciences.
Drama
Since the advent of the mechanical media, this category has included agents, performers, directors, and administrators associated with films, television and radio as well as the stage. The description ‘Drama’ happily includes light entertainment.
Law
Judges, barristers and solicitors are clearly eligible, but so are some members of the police and of some professions requiring quasi-legal qualifications such as accountants and chartered secretaries.
Savage Club Benevolent Fund
Uniquely in clubland, the Savage Club has an associated charity, the Savage Club Benevolent Fund, which exists to provide support, financial or otherwise, to Members, former Members, staff and former members of staff, as well as the family of deceased Members.
It is financially independent, regulated by the Charity Commission, and operated by volunteers who are all Members of the Club.
The current Chairman is Dr Eric Midwinter OBE, noted polymath, social historian and after-dinner speaker.
One of the more delightful duties that the “Ben Fund” conscientiously discharges is to ensure that, upon the death of a Member, the wife, partner, daughter and in some cases even carer of the deceased Savage is invited to become a “Rosemary” (rosemary being the herb traditionally associated with remembrance).
Each Rosemary receives an invitation to at least one Club dinner or other social event each year, the quarterly Club magazine Drumbeat, and an annual lunch to which all are invited, always as a non-paying guest of the Club. By this means, contact is not lost and they continue to receive the Club’s support. This is greatly appreciated by these ladies who enjoy each other’s company as much as that of the Members. There are currently approximately sixty Rosemaries who accept invitations to the Club.
“As a Rosemary, I feel particularly privileged to be included in the Savage Club’s benevolence and thoughtfulness. I cannot begin to tell you just how grateful I am that the stars were aligned the day the Club came into my life.”
Contact
Please note that the Club is currently temporarily closed due to relocation.
Interim contact details are as follows:
The Savage Club
c/o Ansteybond
1 Charterhouse Mews
LondonEC1M 6BB
Tel: 07706 094 735
Office and enquiries from current members
info@savageclub.com
Enquiries about membership
membership@savageclub.com
Hon. Sec.
secretary@savageclub.com
Webmaster
webmaster@savageclub.com
For information on the Savage Club Lodge, visit www.savageclublodge.com