30-474: The Reform Club is a private members' club , owned and controlled by its members, on the south side of Pall Mall in central London , England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs , it had an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male clubs to change its rules to include the admission of women on equal terms in 1981. Since its foundation in 1836, the Reform Club has been
60-630: A member of the House of Lords to hold it. In The Prime Minister , when neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives are able to form a majority, a weak coalition government is the only solution. Palliser is asked to become Prime Minister because he is a non-divisive figure, but he is too sensitive to enjoy his tenure. Socially awkward, he is especially vexed by his wife's lavish parties, which represent her attempt to help influence others to support him. Due to
90-611: A member of the club and there acquaints Liberal members of the House of Commons , who arrange to get him elected to an Irish parliamentary borough. The book is one of the political novels in the Palliser series . The political events it describes are a fictionalized account of the build-up to the Second Reform Act , passed in 1867, which effectively extended the franchise to the working classes. The club appears in Jules Verne 's Around
120-471: A membership fee for access and use. Most are owned and controlled by their members even to this day. Some were originally gentlemen's clubs to which members first had to be elected; others are more modern commercial establishments with no class or gender bar, typically offering food, drink, comfortable surroundings, venue hire and business facilities, in return for members paying subscription or membership fees. The first gentlemen's clubs, mostly established in
150-546: A series of six novels, which deal with life in the fictional county Barsetshire where the Palliser family is politically important. Trollope considered Can You Forgive Her? , Phineas Finn , Phineas Redux and The Prime Minister to be the four novels that constitute the Palliser series. In his autobiography he wrote: To carry out my scheme I have had to spread my picture over so wide a canvas that I cannot expect that any lover of such art should trouble himself to look at it as
180-567: A twenty-six part serial The Pallisers , using some material from Trollope's Barsetshire novel The Small House at Allington (1864). This was in turn novelised in a single volume by John Garforth under the alias Tony Hussey. There was also a 12-part BBC Radio 4 "Classic Serial" dramatisation in 2004, which has been re-broadcast a number of times on BBC Radio 4 Extra . The serial was narrated by David Troughton as Trollope, with Ben Miles as Plantagenet Palliser and Sophie Thompson as Lady Glencora. A new six-part adaptation by Mike Harris under
210-537: A whole. Who will read Can You Forgive Her? , Phineas Finn , Phineas Redux , and The Prime Minister consecutively, in order that they may understand the characters of the Duke of Omnium, of Plantagenet Palliser, and of Lady Glencora? Who will ever know that they should be so read? Plantagenet Palliser is a main character in the Palliser novels. First introduced as a minor character in The Small House at Allington , one of
240-542: Is depicted visiting the Reform Club in the 2006 film Miss Potter . The club has been used as a location in a number of other films, including the fencing scene in the 2002 James Bond movie Die Another Day , The Quiller Memorandum (1966), The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), Lindsay Anderson's O Lucky Man! (1973), The Avengers (1998), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), 1408 (2007), Quantum of Solace (2008), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Paddington (2014), and Christopher Nolan 's Tenet (2020). The club
270-476: Is his wife. Despite their greatly different natures, the couple settle down to a happy married life. The last book of the series, The Duke's Children , deals with the lives and loves of their three children. Palliser is eventually offered the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer anyway. However, upon inheriting the dukedom , he is forced to relinquish the beloved post, as it is against constitutional convention for
300-503: Is left to deal with the marriages of two of his three grown children, neither of which initially meets with his approval. Sir Orlando Drought resigns, ostensibly over disagreements with government policy, but in reality because he believes that the Leader of the House of Commons should be Prime Minister given Palliser's place in the House of Lords, and his political ambitions have been frustrated. He
330-685: Is regarded as the finest of all London's clubs. It was officially opened on 1 March 1841. Facilities provided included a library which, following extensive donations from members, grew to contain over 85,000 books. After the Second World War and with the old Liberal Party's further decline, the club increasingly drew its membership from civil servants. The club continued to attract a comprehensive list of guest speakers including Government Ministers Nick Clegg and Theresa May (2011), Archbishop John Sentamu (2012), and Ambassador Liu Xiaoming (2013). Besides having had many distinguished members from
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#1732843965137360-567: Is replaced as First Lord of the Admiralty by Phineas Finn and as Leader of the House of Commons by Joshua Monk, who concurrently retains his post as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The name of Finn's replacement as Chief Secretary for Ireland is not mentioned. Sir Timothy Beeswax resigns over the County Suffrage Bill. No replacement for him is mentioned. In 1974 the BBC adapted the Palliser novels as
390-641: The Court of St James's . Of the current membership of around 2,700, some 500 are "overseas members", and over 400 are women. The club was founded by Edward Ellice , Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry and Whig Whip , whose riches came from the Hudson's Bay Company , but whose zeal was chiefly devoted to securing the passage of the Reform Act 1832 . The club held its first meeting at No. 104 Pall Mall on 5 May 1836. This new club, for members of both Houses of Parliament ,
420-829: The Groucho Club (established in 1985), Soho House (1995) and Home House (1998); similar clubs operate in other cities and countries: for example, the CORE Club was established in New York City in 2005. These typically offer memberships by subscription and are owned and run as commercial concerns. They offer similar facilities such as food, drink, comfortable surroundings, venue hire and in many cases accommodation. Mobile working (using phone and email) had put pressure on traditional London clubs, some of which discouraged use of mobiles and laptops, or discussion of business matters. By contrast, business-oriented private members' clubs combine
450-598: The Parliamentary novels prior to their 1974 television dramatisation by the BBC broadcast as The Pallisers . Marketed as "polite literature" during their initial publication, the novels encompass several literary genres including: family saga , bildungsroman , picaresque , as well as satire and parody of Victorian (or English) life, and criticism of the British government's predilection for attracting corrupt and corruptible people to power. The common characters throughout
480-657: The West End of London from the late 17th century onwards, were highly exclusive, offering aristocratic and wealthy men a refuge from work and family. The eligibility of potential members depended on their class and gender, with women banned from joining any of them. Early clubs also provided an environment for gambling, illegal outside of members-only establishments. Individuals needed to be formally proposed for membership, and candidates were subject to election by committees which scrutinised individuals' character and suitability. Several private members' clubs for women were established in
510-603: The Barsetshire novels, Palliser is the heir presumptive to the Duke of Omnium. Palliser is a quiet, hardworking and conscientious man whose chief ambition in life is to become Chancellor of the Exchequer . After an unwise flirtation with the married Lady Dumbello (daughter of Dr Grantly, and granddaughter of the Reverend Mr Harding, characters in The Warden and Barchester Towers ), he agrees to an arranged marriage with
540-933: The World in Eighty Days , published in 1872, as a novel in 1873. The protagonist, Phileas Fogg , is a member of the Reform Club. He sets out to circumnavigate the world on a bet from his fellow members, beginning and ending at the club. The Reform Club was used as a meeting place for MI6 operatives in Part 3, Chapter 1, p. 83ff of Graham Greene 's spy novel The Human Factor (1978, Avon Books, ISBN 0-380-41491-0 ). The Reform Club and its Victorian era celebrity chef Alexis Soyer play pivotal roles in MJ Carter 's mystery novel The Devil's Feast (2016, Fig Tree, ISBN 978-0-241-14636-1 ). Comedian and travel writer Michael Palin began and ended his televised 1989 journey around
570-570: The club, from where he wrote to Edmund Gosse , saying that he felt obliged to return to his rooms "with firearms". Harold Owen , the brother of Wilfred Owen , called on Siegfried Sassoon at the Reform after Wilfred's death. Sassoon wrote a poem entitled "Lines Written at the Reform Club", which was printed for members at Christmas 1920. The Reform Club appears in Anthony Trollope 's 1867 novel Phineas Finn . This eponymous main character becomes
600-595: The door open to a return to participation in the government in future. When the Liberals form a government some years later at the end of The Duke's Children , he accepts a cabinet post as Lord President of the Council . When the Duchess dies unexpectedly, Palliser comes to realise how necessary she has been to his happiness. She has been his only true friend: all others were either merely political allies or her friends. The widower
630-499: The fragile nature of the coalition, Palliser accomplishes little other than to keep the country on an even keel. By the time he leaves office it is with regret, since he has grown accustomed to the power of his position and is greatly disappointed that he has not been able to do more. He declines a place in the Liberal cabinet which follows his, feeling it inappropriate to serve in a cabinet once he has led one, but after some thought he leaves
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#1732843965137660-516: The great heiress of the day, the free-spirited, spontaneous Lady Glencora M'Cluskie. At first she finds him boring, and considers running away with her other suitor prior to her marriage, the dashing but penniless Burgo Fitzgerald. After he learns of his wife's feelings and plans, Palliser persuades her to travel in Europe to cement their relationship, and is promptly offered the post of Chancellor, which he declines with great regret, since his first priority
690-811: The late 19th century; among them the Alexandra Club , the Ladies' Institute, the Ladies' Athenaeum and the University Women's Club . Many of the traditional gentlemen's clubs now allow women as members, though a few, including - until May 2024 - the Garrick Club in London's Covent Garden , still refuse women membership. More modern but otherwise similar private members' clubs have since been established. Most of these, however, are for-profit commercial enterprises neither owned nor controlled by members. London examples include
720-412: The literary world, including William Makepeace Thackeray and Arnold Bennett , the Reform played a role in some significant events, such as the feud between Oscar Wilde 's friend and literary executor Robbie Ross and Wilde's ex-lover Lord Alfred Douglas . In 1913, after discovering that Lord Alfred had taken lodgings in the same house as himself with a view to stealing his papers, Ross sought refuge at
750-471: The series are the wealthy aristocrat and politician Plantagenet Palliser, and his wife, Lady Glencora. The plots involve British and Irish politics in varying degrees, specifically in and around Parliament . The Pallisers themselves do not always play major roles, and in The Eustace Diamonds they merely comment on the main action. The series overlaps with Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire , also
780-423: The style, food and drink of a contemporary private members' club with the business facilities of a serviced office or coworking space. Notable examples of private members' clubs include: This organization-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Palliser novels The Palliser novels are six novels written in series by Anthony Trollope . They were more commonly known as
810-436: The traditional home for those committed to progressive political ideas, with its membership initially consisting of Radicals and Whigs . However, it is no longer associated with any particular political party, and it now serves a purely social function. The Reform Club currently enjoys extensive reciprocity with similar clubs around the world. It attracts a significant number of foreign members, such as diplomats accredited to
840-403: The world in 80 days at the Reform Club, following his fictional predecessor. Palin was not permitted to enter the building to complete his journey, as had been his intention, so his trip ended on the steps outside. Palin later explained that he had been refused entry not because he was not wearing a tie but because the club claimed it would 'disturb the members'. Victorian publisher Norman Warne
870-673: Was intended to be a forum for the radical ideas which the First Reform Bill represented: its purpose was to promote "the social intercourse of the reformer of the United Kingdom. The Reform Club's building was designed by renowned architect Sir Charles Barry and contracted to builders Grissell & Peto . The new club was built on palatial lines, the design being based on the Palazzo Farnese in Rome , and its Saloon in particular
900-553: Was used in Chris Van Dusen 's television series Bridgerton as a filming location. The Reform Club was the location of a photo shoot featuring Paula Yates for the 1979 summer issue of Penthouse . In The Magnus Archives , the Reform Club was the possible location of Jurgen Leitner's library, and had secret underground tunnels. Private members%27 club Private members' clubs are organisations which provide social and other facilities to members who typically pay
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