The interior of a gaming room at Brooks's, 1808, print by Rowlandson and Pugin

Brooks's is a London gentlemen's club, founded in 1764 by 27 men, including four dukes. From an early date, it was the meeting place for Whigs of the highest social order. A Gentlemens club is a members club, originally for male members of the English gentry. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Duke is a title of nobility which refers to the sovereign male ruler of a Continental European duchy, to a nobleman of the highest grade of the British peerage, or to the highest rank of nobility in various other European countries, including Portugal, Spain and France (in Italy, principe is... While the Whigs (along with the Tories) are often described as one of the two political parties in late 17th to mid 19th century Great Britain, it is more accurate to describe them as loose political groupings or tendencies. ...

They bought Almack's Coffee House in Pall Mall for their original premises. Their current building on the west side of St. James's Street was designed by Henry Holland and opened in 1778. It faces, across the street, Boodle's, and is 50 yards from the Tory club of White's. Some few apolitical and extremely affable gentlemen did manage to belong to both. Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London. ... Sir Henry Holland, father of the 1st Viscount Knutsford, was a cousin of the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell and son-in-law to the wit Sydney Smith whose daughter Saba, he married as his second wife. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Whites is a London gentlemens club, established at 4 Chesterfield Street in 1693 by Francesco Bianco. ...

Its primary purpose was to provide a home away from home for the gentleman of the time, who was normally not at all domestic. At Brooks's, he could meet his friends (and avoid his and others' ladies) at any time of the day or night. The club provided substantial but ordinary meals, to the point that complaints about the everlasting sameness led to the founding of Watier's in 1806.

One of the main services was the provision of gaming rooms. At several tables in one, gentlemen would stake fortunes on whist and hazard. Gambling all night was common; all day and all night, not unheard of. When the stakes far exceeded any ordinary expenses, club accounts were commonly deducted from the winnings, so that no bills were rendered to members. Whist (a trick-taking game) is a classic game which was played widely in the 18th and 19th centuries and was a development of an older game Ruff and Honours. ... Hazard is a gambling game played with dice. ...

Gaming is no longer a substantial basis for gentlemen's clubs; it might be asked how far the members have changed the current ethos in other respects, but of course a gentleman cannot discuss his club in public.

In the middle 1970s the penurious St James's Club amalgamated with Brooks's to add a less traditionally Whig (not to say actively rakish) aspect to its membership. Club for writers, diplomats and spies, and home of the Dilettanti Society. ...

References

• Christopher Hibbert; London, the Biography of a City; 1969; William Morrow, NY
• Stella Margetson; Regency London; 1971; Prawger Publishers, Inc. NY
• Ellen Moers; The Dandy: Brummell to Beerbohm; 1960; The Viking Press, Inc., NY

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