Bath & West of England Club
Query #18 - Bath & West of England Club
08/07/1933
I should be much obliged if any your readers could give me any information about the Bath and West of England Club. What were its objects? When did it exist? and Where were its activities carried on? —A. R. F. Chapman, Bathampton.
Replies
12/08/1933
In reply to the query of Mr. A. R. F. Chapman, of Bathampton, regarding the Bath and West of England Club, I have just come across the following extract from Meyler's Original Bath Guide, 1826, among my notes :—
The Bath and West of England Subscription Rooms, No. 2, Great Pulteney Street, were opened Oct. 30th, 1824. They are fitted in a superior style, and unite the advantages of a Subscription House wth those of an Inn, as beds and refreshments are provided on moderate terms. The reading room is well supplied with newspapers, magazines, etc. The terms of subscription are, two guineas and a half per annum. All members of the Bath York Club, White's, Brookes's, Waller's, Hardinge's, The Union, St. James's, Graham's, Albion, Cheltenham and Gloucestershire, Kildare Street and Sackville Street, Dublin, The Edinburgh New Club, and all Members of Parliament, are admitted as subscribers. Any gentleman wishing to become a subscriber (and not belonging to any of the aforementioned clubs) must be introduced by two subscribers. None but subscribers to these Rooms are admitted into the billiard room unless introduced by a subscriber. Messrs. Guynette and Chamberlain are the proprietors. Elsie A. Russ, Bath.
26/08/1933
In Davis and Waters "Tickets and Passes of Great Britain and Ireland," 1922, page 105, occurs the following entry:
Obverse: BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND CLUB* Centre an oak wreath.
Reverse: MACAO within a laurel wreath. Brass All M.S.
The issue of these tokens was stopped about 1835. The Club was established in Bath about 1810.—Elsie A. Russ, Bath.