About the Club
It is a common belief that the Eccentric Club was established in 1890, in fact, some may even name you the date in November 1890 when allegedly Jack Harrison, a theatrical costumier, set up a meeting group which was later to become the famous club...
It is also believed that the Eccentric Club has been an exclusive social establishment of the country's leading theatrical performers, actors and their proteges.
A lot of that is true and, despite the air raids of World War II which destroyed a great number of records, some still remain to prove all of the above...
But did the history of the Eccentric Club really begin in the 1890s?
Going through the Victorian periodicals and books, one may get an impression that there has been a few 'eccentric clubs' established in various times by completely unrelated and socially different groups of people.
In "The Eccentric Club, being a short outline of its past" published in 1880 we stumble upon the following quote:
"Look at that eccentric wheel in that steam engine, what motion would you get out of it without that wheel's eccentricity - only rest. So in society you would get precious little driving force out of it, but for eccentricities having free and active motion. Let us encourage them, let us utilize them! (Applause). - (Extract of opening speech of its first president, 1781)."
Throughout many other sources we find the accounts of club's existence and activity since at least 1780s, with its predecessor, possibly, operating as early as 1750s...
Then we may find some other sources mentioning club's name in the 1850-1860s, although it is not clear whether these relate to the same establishment. Could there have been a few clubs claiming to be 'The Eccentric Club'?
Documents talking about the size of club's membership quote between a dozen and a couple of thousand members - but we know with a fair degree of certainty only those figures related to the club established in 1890 - they were indeed exceeding 1,500.
In terms of the professional and social status of the members and founders, again, there are different pieces of information: from the artists and authors (a group which, it seems, organised quite a few London clubs) to the actors and theatre-related individuals and even further to the politicians, members of the Parliament, members of the Bar and Press (and this comes from the 1870-1890s sources!).
We may come across many different descriptions of club's activities, ceremonies and traditions, but what used to unite all those individuals involved in the life of all those clubs was a keen desire to meet those who would speak their own language, understand the originality of their thinking and judgement, creativity of their vision... To have a consensus ad idem - the agreement of minds...
The Eccentric Club may have served this purpose well but at some point it fell a victim to its own success and popularity, its membership outgrew the very idea of its establishment, which lead to other grave problems and its eventual closure...
Some of its former members may argue that it just went 'underground' - they still keep live a well established social network with the only difference that they meet elsewhere...
But have they got that divine spark which kept on bringing the Eccentric Club to life for so many centuries? Or is it loose, seeking new followers, new enthusiasts, new achievers - new eccentrics unafraid of bringing it back into the world, giving it another temple, another club elsewhere, which will proudly bear its name?
Think about it... It is almost here...
It is a common belief that the Eccentric Club was established in 1890, in fact, some may even name you the date in November 1890 when allegedly Jack Harrison, a theatrical costumier, set up a meeting group which was later to become the famous club...
It is also believed that the Eccentric Club has been an exclusive social establishment of the country's leading theatrical performers, actors and their proteges.
A lot of that is true and, despite the air raids of World War II which destroyed a great number of records, some still remain to prove all of the above...
But did the history of the Eccentric Club really begin in the 1890s?
In "The Eccentric Club, being a short outline of its past" published in 1880 we stumble upon the following quote:
"Look at that eccentric wheel in that steam engine, what motion would you get out of it without that wheel's eccentricity - only rest. So in society you would get precious little driving force out of it, but for eccentricities having free and active motion. Let us encourage them, let us utilize them! (Applause). - (Extract of opening speech of its first president, 1781)."
Throughout many other sources we find the accounts of club's existence and activity since at least 1780s, with its predecessor, possibly, operating as early as 1750s...Then we may find some other sources mentioning club's name in the 1850-1860s, although it is not clear whether these relate to the same establishment. Could there have been a few clubs claiming to be 'The Eccentric Club'?
Documents talking about the size of club's membership quote between a dozen and a couple of thousand members - but we know with a fair degree of certainty only those figures related to the club established in 1890 - they were indeed exceeding 1,500.
In terms of the professional and social status of the members and founders, again, there are different pieces of information: from the artists and authors (a group which, it seems, organised quite a few London clubs) to the actors and theatre-related individuals and even further to the politicians, members of the Parliament, members of the Bar and Press (and this comes from the 1870-1890s sources!).
We may come across many different descriptions of club's activities, ceremonies and traditions, but what used to unite all those individuals involved in the life of all those clubs was a keen desire to meet those who would speak their own language, understand the originality of their thinking and judgement, creativity of their vision... To have a consensus ad idem - the agreement of minds...The Eccentric Club may have served this purpose well but at some point it fell a victim to its own success and popularity, its membership outgrew the very idea of its establishment, which lead to other grave problems and its eventual closure...
Some of its former members may argue that it just went 'underground' - they still keep live a well established social network with the only difference that they meet elsewhere...
But have they got that divine spark which kept on bringing the Eccentric Club to life for so many centuries? Or is it loose, seeking new followers, new enthusiasts, new achievers - new eccentrics unafraid of bringing it back into the world, giving it another temple, another club elsewhere, which will proudly bear its name?
Think about it... It is almost here...