Army & Navy Club
36-39 PALL MALL, LONDON, SW1Y 5JNCLUB HISTORY
The Beginning
Founded in August 1837, the year Queen Victoria acceded to the Throne, the Club was formed to meet the needs of the many army officers wanting to join a Service Club, most of which were already full. The great Duke of Wellington said he would become neither a patron nor a Member unless membership was also offered to officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Hence, the "Army Club" became the Army and Navy Club.
The Club's distinguished forebears include Lieutenant General Sir Edward Barnes, the first President who, as Adjutant General, fought, sword in hand, at the Battle of Waterloo, and Admiral Sir Philip Durham, one of Nelson's "Band of Brothers" who commanded HMS Defiance at the Battle of Trafalgar.
The Rag
Shortly after opening, the Club acquired its famous nickname, when Captain William (Billy) Higginson Duff, a colourful character with a brief and undistinguished military career was offended by the spartan nature of the fare offered to him on returning from a spree. He described the Club as a ‘Rag and Famish affair’ which was intended as a great insult, since the ‘Rag and Famish’ was a squalid gaming house ‘for broken down gamblers who played for coppers’. The Members were amused rather than insulted by this and formed a ‘Rag and Famish’ dining club. The name was gradually adopted as the Club’s nickname, eventually being reduced to ‘The Rag’. Captain Duff’s behaviour did not improve and he was later sentenced to six months in jail for assaulting a constable.
The Service Men and Women
The Army and Navy Club is deeply entwined in British history. Eleven Members were killed at the Charge of the Light Brigade, and Members have been present at every British military and naval engagement since then, often serving with distinction. Memories of past glory survive in the pictures decorating the corridors and rooms of the Club – battle scenes and portraits of famous military men, cases of medals and historical memorabilia, as well as a mounted penguin – a survivor from the first Scott Antarctic Expedition!
