Grillion's is a London

dining club A dining club (UK) or eating club (US) is a Social club, social group, usually requiring membership (which may, or may not be available only to certain people), which meets for dinners and discussion on a regular basis. They may also often have g ...

founded in 1812. It was founded by the British diplomat

Stratford Canning Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe (4 November 1786 – 14 August 1880), was a British diplomat who became best known as the longtime British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. A cousin of George Canning, he served as Envoy E ...

as a meeting place free from the violence of political controversy. The club had no premises but met at Grillion's Hotel on

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray (publishing house), John Murray was based here, and Oscar ...

, from which it took its name. Later it would meet at the Hotel Cecil. The club met weekly during parliamentary session. The first fifty years of the Grillion's Club is recorded in the book ''Grillion's Club: From Its Origin In 1812 To Its Fiftieth Anniversary'', written quoting many of the club's records by Sir Philip Grey Egerton. The book was privately printed at the Chiswick Press in 1880. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many leading statesmen belonged to the club, including prime ministers

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, Balfour,

Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

, and

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

References

Dining clubs 1812 establishments in England {{UK-org-stub