http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=United_Service_ClubUnited Service Club - Revision history2026-06-02T02:40:42ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.1http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=United_Service_Club&diff=8024734&oldid=prev2600:2B00:821A:C000:F0BD:3F4D:A27F:BAEF at 19:29, 25 June 20252025-06-25T19:29:45Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|London gentlemen's club}}<br />
{{About||the golf club in Mumbai|United Services Club|the building in Brisbane, Australia|United Service Club Premises}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}<br />
[[File:Institute of Directors 4 December 2011.jpg|thumb|Former clubhouse at 116 [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], now used by the [[Institute of Directors]]]]<br />
'''The United Service Club''' was a [[London]] [[gentlemen's club]] founded in 1815 for the use of senior officers in the [[British Army]] and [[Royal Navy]] – those above the rank of [[Major (rank)|Major]] or [[Lieutenant Commander]] – and the club was accordingly known to its members as '''"The Senior"'''. The club closed in 1978.<br />
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Because of its emphasis on senior officers, it was considered the most prestigious of London's military clubs – reflected partly in its entry fees, which were the highest of any London club in the 1880s, although there has been some speculation this was a device to limit the number of new members.<ref>Antonia Taddei, ''London clubs in the late nineteenth century'' (Oxford University discussion paper, 1999), p.16</ref><br />
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==History==<br />
[[File:The Battle of Trafalgar by William Clarkson Stanfield.jpg|thumb|''[[The Battle of Trafalgar (Stanfield)|The Battle of Trafalgar]]'' by [[Clarkson Stanfield]]. An 1836 painting commissioned by the club]]<br />
The year after it was founded, in 1816, the Club moved into its first premises in Albemarle Street. Three years later, in 1819, it moved to Charles Street and in 1828 to a purpose-built clubhouse at 116 [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], designed by the noted architect [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]].<ref name="Jackson">Jackson (1937)</ref> The club house, on the corner with [[Waterloo Place]], was built between 1826 and 1828. Its style, displaying military friezes along the top of the building, was later mirrored by [[Athenaeum Club, London|the Athenaeum]] opposite. Both buildings had a stone step outside, facing each other across Waterloo Place. These were for the use of the [[Duke of Wellington]], who was a member of both clubs and rode everywhere, rather than use a carriage. These steps still stand today. The building was later altered and extended by [[Decimus Burton]] in 1858–9, and then again by the firm of Thompson and Walford, in the years 1912–13 and 1929–30.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40704|title=Plate 72: United Service Club, Pall Mall, north-west view |work= British History Online}}</ref> It was built on the site of the former [[Carlton House, London|Carlton House]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.116pallmall.com/about_us/history_of_116/|title=Institute of Directors - Inspiring business|website=www.116pallmall.com}}</ref><br />
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In 1892 members were concerned that the club was facing financial difficulties and elected to allow lesser ranks – down to Army Captains and Naval Lieutenants – as members.<ref>Jackson (1937), p. 95.</ref> This led to a significant increase in membership and in 1910 the Club expanded its premises into the existing Nos. 118 and 119 Pall Mall.<ref>Jackson (1937), pages 116–17.</ref><br />
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Despite the club's prestige, like many other clubs it ran into serious financial difficulties in the 1970s, and was forced to close in 1978. The building was bought by the [[Institute of Directors]] (IoD), and a condition of the sale was that the IoD would retain all of the club's original fixtures and fittings (including the Duke's step), which it still does today. However, although the building survives substantially intact, the old club building makes up only part of the IoD headquarters on Pall Mall, whose complex encompasses several neighbouring buildings which were never part of the club.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ali |first1=Mir M. |last2=Al-Kodmany |first2=Kheir |date=December 2012 |title=Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat of the 21st Century: A Global Perspective |journal=Buildings |language=en |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=384–423 |doi=10.3390/buildings2040384 |doi-access=free |issn=2075-5309}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[List of London's gentlemen's clubs]]<br />
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==References==<br />
===Notes===<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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===Bibliography===<br />
* Jackson, Maj. Gen. Sir Louis C.; ''History of the United Service Club'', United Service Club, 1937.<br />
*{{cite book<br />
| last = Thévoz<br />
| first = Seth Alexander<br />
| title = Behind Closed Doors: The Secret Life of London Private Members' Clubs<br />
| publisher = Robinson/Little, Brown<br />
| location = London<br />
| year = 2022<br />
| isbn =978-1-47214-646-5 }}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[https://www.iod.com/services/116-pall-mall IoD webpage about the former United Service Club building]<br />
*[https://www.116pallmall.com/ 116 Pall Mall – website for the building today]<br />
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{{Gentlemen's clubs in London}}<br />
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{{Coord|51|30|26.61|N|0|7|54.86|W|scale:1563_region:GB|display=title}}<br />
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[[Category:Gentlemen's clubs in London]]<br />
[[Category:1815 establishments in the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:1978 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:Military gentlemen's clubs]]</div>2600:2B00:821A:C000:F0BD:3F4D:A27F:BAEF