The Harrogate Club is a

private members' club Private members' clubs are organisations which provide social and other facilities to members who typically pay a membership fee for access and use. Most are owned and controlled by their members even to this day. Some were originally gentlemen ...

, open to men and women, based in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. Founded in 1857, it is located on Victoria Avenue, Harrogate.

History

The club was founded at the Gascoigne’s Hotel, Harrogate in 1857 by a group of professional men. In 1885 the Club’s Committee, with funds raised from the members, decided to construct a Club House, at an ultimate cost of £3,000 (). The ''Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald'' reported that plans were approved by Harrogate Borough Council on 2 April 1885, and the Borough Surveyor certified the building on 17 April 1886, however the architect's name was not given. Since the plans were later found in possession of the architectural firm which was in the 1880s owned by architect Arthur Bown (1851–1916), of Harrogate, it has been concluded that Bown designed the building. The purpose-built Club House was opened on 25 March 1886 at 36 Victoria Avenue, Harrogate and has remained the Club's home ever since. The Club appointed its first female president, Fiona Movley and its first female honorary secretary, Catherine Wormald on 23 April 2024.

Artefacts on display in the club house

The Club displays a number of marble busts and paintings from the

Mercer Art Gallery The Mercer Art Gallery, formerly the Mercer Gallery and locally known as The Mercer, is an art gallery in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It was established in Lower Harrogate's Old Town Hall building in 1991. Owned by North Yorkshire Cou ...

under a 2016 agreement with

Harrogate Borough Council Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the district and county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination; its visitor attractions include its spa waters and RHS Harlow ...

, and other artefacts, which are shown to the public regularly as part of tours provided for Heritage Open Days. Alderman Richard Ellis, JP, Mayor (1884–1887) by Holroyd.jpg, ''Mayor Richard Ellis'' by

Thomas Holroyd Thomas Holroyd (1821 – 10 March 1904) was an English portrait painting, portrait and Landscape painting, landscape painter working in Harrogate, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Before his marriage he undertook painting tours to the United ...

, 1887 Alderman David Simpson, JP by H. Lewis.jpg, ''Alderman David Simpson'' by H. Lewis, 1900 Alderman Simpson by Holroyd.jpg, Alderman ''James Simpson'' by Thomas Holroyd, 1896 Stairwell window at The Harrogate Club 17 September 2022 (91).JPG, Stained-glass stairwell window

Membership

Membership is open to both men and women. Membership categories include, full membership, country membership and young members' membership. In return for an annual fee members are entitled to a number of benefits including the ability to entertain friends and guests, attendance at a programme of social events and admission to selected reciprocal clubs. Notable former members of The Harrogate Club include,

Titus Salt Sir Titus Salt, 1st Baronet (20 September 1803 – 29 December 1876) was an English manufacturer, politician and philanthropist in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, who is best known for having built Salt's Mill, a large textile mill ...

, English industrialist and philanthropist;

Samson Fox Samson Fox, Justice of the peace, JP (11 July 1838 – 24 October 1903) was an English engineer, industrialist and philanthropist. He was elected Mayor of Harrogate in Yorkshire and the building of the Royal College of Music in London was funded ...

, Engineer, Industrialist and philanthropist; Cuthbert Broderick, British architect, as well as

Ferdinand de Rothschild Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (17 December 1839 – 17 December 1898), also known as Ferdinand James Anselm ''Freiherr'' von Rothschild, was a British banker, art collector and politician who was a member of the Rothschild family of bankers. He ...

. The late Harrogate historian and writer

Malcolm Neesam Malcolm George Neesam (28 June 1946 – 28 June 2022) was an English historian and writer specialising in the history of Harrogate, North Yorkshire. He was also a librarian and archivist. His major works were the first two parts of a projected ...

(d.2022) was an honorary member from the 1990s, and the club's dining room has been named after him: The Malcolm Neesam Dining Room.

Reciprocal arrangements with other clubs

The Harrogate Club has reciprocal arrangements with a number of clubs worldwide, these include The Sloane Club and The

National Liberal Club The National Liberal Club (NLC) is a London private members' club, open to both men and women. It was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 to provide club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly enlarged electorate f ...

in London, The

Liverpool Athenaeum The Athenaeum is a private members club in Liverpool, England. The club was founded to ensure the up-to-date provision of newspapers and pamphlets, and to create a library for the use of the merchants and professional men in the city. The orig ...

, The New Club and The Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh, The Sociedad Bilbaina in Spain, the Union International Club in Frankfurt, The Brisbane Club in Australia, The

National Club The National Club is a private members' club founded in 1874 for business professionals located in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It provides private dining and meeting facilities, as wel ...

in Toronto, Canada, The Cape Town Club and Rand Club in South Africa, The

University Club of Chicago The University Club of Chicago is a private social club located at 76 East Monroe Street at the corner of Michigan Avenue & Monroe Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It received its charter in 1887, when a group of college friends, princi ...

and The University Club of San Francisco.

Visitors

Notable visitors to The Club include Scottish physician and author,

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

. The magazine ''Great British Life'' has suggested that

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

may have been a visitor to the club.

The Harrogate Club in popular culture

In September 2011 The Club appeared in an episode of ''

Who Do You Think You Are Who Do You Think You Are may refer to: Television series * ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' (British TV series), a genealogy documentary with many adaptations: ** ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' (American TV series) ** ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' ...

'' featuring

Emilia Fox Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose career is primarily in British television. Her feature film debut was in Roman Polanski's film ''The Pianist (2002 film), The Pianist'' (2002). Her other m ...

, the great, great granddaughter of past member

Notes

References

External links

The Harrogate Club official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrogate Club Gentlemen's clubs in England 1857 establishments in England Organisations based in Harrogate Buildings and structures in Harrogate Buildings and structures completed in 1885