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IN THE NEWS
TOUR OF THE MONTH
ON THIS DAY IN LONDON
23rd May 1951 Peter Ustinov's Love of Four Colonels, premieres in London
23rd May 1933 Born today: Joan Henrietta Collins, London, actress (Alexis-Dynasty, Bitch)
23rd May 1890 Born today: Herbert Marshall, London, actor (Murder, Razor's Edge, Little Foxes)
23rd May 1701 William Kidd, Scottish pirate, hanged at London's Execution Dock.
The Turks Head Literary Club
This is where one of the most famous literary clubs met.
Location: 9 Gerrard Street, Soho, London, W1D 5PL
Description: This is where The Literary Club, at what used to be the Turks Head Tavern. The Literary Club was founded by Joshua Reynolds and Samuel Johnson in 1764 and was probably the most famous of the literary and theatrical clubs in London.
Members include Oliver Goldsmith and Edmund Burke. The Club met on Monday evenings at 7.00 - the only matter of conversation excluded being politics. Similar clubs and societies had appeared since the early 1700s - many of those outside London had rather more of an overt educational agenda.
It was known simply as the Club (though members and others often called it the Literary Club), met once a week for supper and conversation until late in the night at the Turk's Head tavern, kept by one Charles Swinden.
John Hawkins resigned from the Club before February 1768, having been ostracized because he abused Burke.
By 1784 the Club included seven peers, three bishops, and a dean, and men of affairs for the first time outnumbered men of letters. A resolution on 9 May 1780 in favour of the latest increase also stipulated that membership should not exceed forty.
By November 1783 the landlord of the Turk's Head and his widow who had kept on the tavern were dead and the house had reverted to private use, so the Club moved to Prince's, in Sackville Street.
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This is where one of the most famous literary clubs met. |
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Joshua Reynolds lived here
This is where painter Sir Joshua Reynolds lived for 16 years.
2006-08-16
Will's Coffee House», 0.4km
Jacobs Island & Oliver Twist», 2.7km
HG Wells lived here», 1.7km
Daniel Defoe lived here», 4.1km
Enid Blyton was born here», 4.9km
The Wind in Holland Park», 2.9km
The Rainbow Coffee House», 0.8km
The London Library», 0.8km
Bram Stoker's first London home», 0.3km
Voltaire lived and wrote here», 0.3km
mapping London's most interesting and unusual places and history
