Beefsteak Club
The society became much celebrated, and new members included royalty, statesmen and great soldiers: in 1785, the Prince of Wales joined.
At the weekly meetings, the members wore a blue coat and buff waistcoat with brass buttons bearing a gridiron motif and the words "Beef and liberty".
William Chetwood in A General History of the Stage is the much quoted source that the "chief Wits and great men of the nation" were members of this club.
His poem includes the couplet: He that of Honour, Wit and Mirth partakes, May be a fit Companion o'er Beef-steaks.
[5] The Sublime Society of Beef Steaks was established in 1735 by John Rich at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, of which he was then manager.
All members were required to wear the society's uniform – a blue coat and buff waistcoat with brass buttons.
The steaks were served on hot pewter plates, with onions and baked potatoes, and were accompanied by port or porter.
[10] The society met at Covent Garden until the fire of 1808, when it moved first to the Bedford Coffee House, and thence the following year to the Old Lyceum Theatre.
[16] Thomas Sheridan founded a "Beefsteak Club" in Dublin at the Theatre Royal in 1749, and of this Peg Woffington was president.
According to William and Robert Chambers, writing in 1869, "it could hardly be called a club at all, seeing all expenses were defrayed by Manager Sheridan, who likewise invited the guests – generally peers and members of parliament.
… Such weekly meetings were common to all theatres, it being a custom for the principal performers to dine together every Saturday and invite 'authors and other geniuses' to partake of their hospitality.
[19][20] The oldest dining club in Australia is the Melbourne Beefsteak Club, established in May 1886,[21] when merchant John Deegan,[22] City Councillor William Ievers,[23] solicitor James Maloney and manufacturer Frank Stuart[24] gathered with friends for regular lunches.
A biographer of Irving wrote, "He wanted the Lyceum to have the same educational and intellectual force that Phelps' theatre had enjoyed in lslington.
"[31] A contemporary newspaper reported, "Almost as soon as Mr. Irving undertook the management of the Lyceum he restored this venerable sanctuary to something like its former appearance, and very often now it is the scene of the informal and bright little supper parties which he delights to bring about him.
… If the nocturnal gatherings in the room were not of a private character we might say a good deal about them, especially as the guests frequently include men whose names are great.
Several nineteenth century members have lineal descendants among today's membership, who wear the original blue and buff uniform (of a Regency character) and buttons and adhere to the 1735 constitution whenever practicable.
[1][33] Although other of the society's relics (such as the original Grid Iron, Sword of State, Halberts and early members' chairs, rings, glasses, documents, etc.)
[39] In 1879 there was a much-reported court case following a fracas on the doorstep of the club between Labouchère and Edward Levy-Lawson, proprietor of The Daily Telegraph.
