Plus ça change

This chapter reflects on the paradox that greater changes in the Athenæum's constitution, tone, and activities have taken place since the mid-1980s than in any previous period, changes that reflect an accommodation to consumerism. Yet the club has remained the same, retaining a strong sense of tradition, claiming a unique identity for itself as 'more than just another London club', and maintaining principles embodied in its foundation through its members' professional contribution to the national life. In the 1960s, the Athenæum was still famed for its high thinking and plain living, whereas in the 1990s it began to invest heavily in the refurbishment of its facilities and in creating comfortable amenities for its members and guests. These changes were part of a process of reinvention that included the introduction of women members, from 2002, and an increase in private entertaining and diaried events. Whereas ballots used to be held in order to elect new members from a long list of candidates, they are now needed to determine which members can secure a place at one of the many and varied events in the club's calendar which are oversubscribed.

A roomful of Owls

This chapter explores how the Athenians' reputation for 'reserve and dignity' was sustained throughout the 1920s and 1930s, when a particular breed of highly educated and deeply serious members played leading roles in club life. Political decisions on national reconstruction were often based upon reports from advisory groups of the kind that had been needed during the war, and again many members of the club served as expert advisors in a wide range of fields. Athenians had always valued the opportunity to meet fellow members with different interests and from a wide variety of professions, and the freer spirits among them now enjoyed engaging with a generation of writers and artists who specialised in satire and caricature. Although the traditions of the club were still fiercely defended in the inter-war years, this was a period of innovation, with the ending of the ballot and the introduction of bedrooms for members, monthly Talk Dinners, and an annexe where ladies could be entertained. Change, or rather adaptation was under way, both inside and outside the Athenæum.

Liberal hospitality

This chapter assesses the Athenæum's 'hospitality' towards a wide range of ideologies and social backgrounds among candidates and members. Non-partisan politically, it accommodated both sides in the Reform debates of the 1830s, with members engaging in pamphlet wars rather than calling for resignations, as happened at the political clubs. Similarly, the pattern of early Rule II elections indicates a willingness to introduce new members of outstanding ability in science, literature, and the arts who were known to be the chief antagonists of equally prominent existing members. The chapter looks at some of the flashpoints in the club's history between 1860 and 1890, when liberal opinion in politics, religion, and science assumed the ascendancy in Britain, and the Athenæum strove to maintain its tradition of tolerance and balance. It is at these flashpoints, and at times when conservative sexual mores influenced public life, that the relationship between national developments and the life of the club, conducted on the margins between the private and the public, is most revealing.

‘The secret power of England’

This chapter, which considers the Second World War and its aftermath, reveals how the clubhouse provided a meeting place for those members whose contribution to the war effort kept them in London in 1939, as it had in 1914, and for those engaged in new debates on economic and moral reconstruction which arose before war broke out, continued throughout hostilities, and shaped the national agenda in 1945. In the case of Arthur Bryant's and Sir Charles Waldstein's own club, the 'secret power of England' was to be found in the lives and work not only of its leading politicians and serving officers who ran the war and became household names, but also its moralists, theologians, and economists who applied their minds to the demands of a future peace. Crucial to the war effort were those less well-known civil servants and intelligence officers, scientists, and engineers who used the clubhouse. While valiant efforts were made to maintain the usual services during the war, many aspects of club life were adversely affected. In its domestic economy, the Athenæum's responses to the exigencies of war were often reminiscent of those recorded in 1914–1918; shortages led to all kinds of restrictions.

‘A score of grave gentlemen’

This chapter explores the experience of club membership at the Athenæum. In 1835, Thomas Walker described Decimus Burton's clubhouse as a 'sort of palace', kept 'with the same exactness and comfort as a private dwelling', in which 'every member is a master, without any of the trouble of a master'. Individual breaches of the club's rules tended to be treated leniently by the General Committee. By the time that Walker wrote his rhapsodic description of Burton's 'palace' in 1835, two problems were posing a threat to the 'exactness and comfort' that he celebrated: shortage of shelf space for books and poor ventilation. John Wilson Croker's death in 1857 marked the end of the beginning in the history of the Athenæum. A tradition of 'high thinking and plain living' had been firmly established in a club which prided itself on keeping its entrance fees and annual subscriptions well below the average in Clubland. As Walker commented, the 'mode of living' at the Athenæum was 'simple, rather than luxurious'.