Jump to content

Bullingdon Club: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
ClueBot (talk | contribs)
1,596,818 edits
m Reverting possible vandalism by 131.111.184.8 to version by The Thing That Should Not Be. False positive? Report it. Thanks, ClueBot. (632503) (Bot)
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Image:BullingdonCrest.jpg|right|thumb|The Crest of the Bullingdon Club.]]
[[Image:BullingdonCrest.jpg|right|thumb|The Crest of the Bullingdon Club.]]


The '''Bullingdon Club''' is a socially exclusive student [[dining club]] at [[Oxford University]], without any permanent rooms, infamous for its members' wealth and destructive binges.<ref name="times">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article721259.ece |title=How young Cameron wined and dined with the right sort |accessdate=2007-12-04 |author=Patrick Foster |year=2006 |quote=[Cameron] has previously admitted to being a member of the Bullingdon Club, notorious for the drunken vandalism of its predominantly aristocratic members. | location=London | work=The Times | date=28 January 2006}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only, and prohibitively expensive for most, given the need to pay for the uniform, dinners and damages.<ref name="oxstu">{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2006wk0/Features/smashing_job_chaps:_exclusive_inside_look_at_bullingdon_club |title=Smashing job chaps: Exclusive inside look at Bullingdon club |author=[[The Oxford Student]] |date=12 January 2005}}</ref>
The '''Bullingdon Club''' is a socially exclusive student [[dining club]] at [[Oxford University]], intended for a bunch of brash maniacs, without any permanent rooms, infamous for its members' wealth and destructive binges.<ref name="times">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article721259.ece |title=How young Cameron wined and dined with the right sort |accessdate=2007-12-04 |author=Patrick Foster |year=2006 |quote=[Cameron] has previously admitted to being a member of the Bullingdon Club, notorious for the drunken vandalism of its predominantly aristocratic members. | location=London | work=The Times | date=28 January 2006}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only, and prohibitively expensive for most, given the need to pay for the uniform, dinners and damages.<ref name="oxstu">{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2006wk0/Features/smashing_job_chaps:_exclusive_inside_look_at_bullingdon_club |title=Smashing job chaps: Exclusive inside look at Bullingdon club |author=[[The Oxford Student]] |date=12 January 2005}}</ref>


==The Club's history==
==The Club's history==

Revision as of 13:22, 14 June 2010

The Crest of the Bullingdon Club.

The Bullingdon Club is a socially exclusive student dining club at Oxford University, intended for a bunch of brash maniacs, without any permanent rooms, infamous for its members' wealth and destructive binges.[1] Membership is by invitation only, and prohibitively expensive for most, given the need to pay for the uniform, dinners and damages.[2]

The Club's history

The Bullingdon Club was founded over 200 years ago. S. P. B. Mais claims it was founded in 1780 and was limited to 30 men,[3] and by 1875 it was considered "an old Oxford institution, with many good traditions".[4] Originally it was a hunting and cricket club, and Thomas Assheton Smith II is recorded as having batted for the Bullingdon against the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1796.[5] In 1805 cricket at Oxford University "was confined to the old Bullingdon Club, which was expensive and exclusive".[6] This foundational sporting purpose is attested to in the Club's crest.

The Wisden Cricketer reports that the Bullingdon is "ostensibly one of the two original Oxford University cricket teams but it actually used cricket merely as a respectable front for the mischievous, destructive or self-indulgent tendencies of its members".[7] By the late 19th century the present emphasis on dining within the Club began to emerge. Walter Long attests that in 1875 "Bullingdon Club [cricket] matches were also of frequent occurrence, and many a good game was played there with visiting clubs. The Bullingdon Club dinners were the occasion of a great display of exuberant spirits, accompanied by a considerable consumption of the good things of life, which often made the drive back to Oxford an experience of exceptional nature".[4] A report of 1876 relates that "cricket there was secondary to the dinners, and the men were chiefly of an expensive class".[8] The New York Times told its readers in 1913 that "The Bullingdon represents the acme of exclusiveness at Oxford; it is the club of the sons of nobility, the sons of great wealth; its membership represents the 'young bloods' of the university".[9]

The Club today

Today, the Bullingdon is primarily a dining club, though a vestige of the Club's sporting links exists in the support of an annual point to point race. The Club President, known as the General, presents the winner's cup and the Club members meet there for a champagne breakfast. The Club also meets for an annual Club dinner. Guests may be invited to either of these events. There may also be smaller dinners during the year to mark the initiation of new members. Membership elections are held twice a year, when successful new members are visited in their rooms, which are then 'trashed' as a symbol of their election; the damage on these occasions is often more than tokenistic.

The Club's modus operandi has often been to book a private dining room under an assumed name, as most restaurateurs are wary of the Club's reputation for causing considerable drunken damage during the course of the dinners. However, it depends on the character of the membership at the time — which necessarily varies from year to year — whether the famous 'destruction' is an intentional act of wanton vandalism or a side-effect of drinking prodigious quantities over a lengthy period of time.

The Club's reputation

A number of episodes over many decades have become anecdotal evidence of the Club's behaviour. Famously, on 12 May 1894[10][11] and again on 20 February 1927,[12] after dinner, Bullingdon members smashed almost all the glass of the lights and 468 windows in Peckwater Quad of Christ Church, along with the blinds and doors of the building. As a result, the Club was banned from meeting within 15 miles of Oxford.[2]

Whilst still Prince of Wales, Edward VIII had a certain amount of difficulty in getting his parents' permission to join the Bullingdon on account of the Club's reputation. He eventually obtained it only on the understanding that he never join in what was then known as a "Bullingdon blind", a euphemistic phrase for an evening of drink and song. On hearing of his eventual attendance at one such evening, Queen Mary sent him a telegram requesting that he remove his name from the Club.[9][13]

Andrew Gimson, biographer of Boris Johnson, reported about the club in the 1980s: "I don't think an evening would have ended without a restaurant being trashed and being paid for in full, very often in cash. [...] A night in the cells would be regarded as being par for a Buller man and so would debagging anyone who really attracted the irritation of the Buller men."[14]

Dinners in recent years, being relatively low key, have not attracted press attention, though in 2005, following damage to a 15th century pub in Oxfordshire during a dinner, four members of the party were arrested; the incident was widely reported.[15]

In the last few years the Bullingdon has been mentioned in the debates of the House of Commons in order to draw attention to excessive behaviour across the British class spectrum,[16] and to embarrass those increasingly prominent MPs who are former members of the Bullingdon (most notably David Cameron (UK Prime Minister), George Osborne (UK Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Boris Johnson (Mayor of London)).[17][18] Hansard records eight references to the Bullingdon between 2001 and 2008.[19]

Club dress

Bullingdon Colours

The Club's colours are sky blue and ivory. Members dress for their annual Club dinner in specially made traditional tailcoats in dark navy blue, with a matching velvet collar, offset with ivory silk lapel revers, brass monogrammed buttons, a mustard waistcoat, and a sky blue bow tie. There is also a Club tie, which is sky blue striped with ivory. These are all provided by the Oxford branch of court tailors Ede and Ravenscroft. In 2007 the full uniform cost around £3,000.[20] Traditionally when they played cricket, members "were identified by a ribbon of blue and white on their straw hats, and by stripes of the same colours down their flannel trousers".[21]

The Club and Oxford University

The Bullingdon is not currently officially affiliated with the University of Oxford[22] but members are drawn from amongst the students of the University. On account of the rowdiness of members' activities however, the University proctors have in the past suspended the Club on several occasions,[4] including in 1927 and 1956.[23] John Betjeman wrote in 1938 that "quite often the Club is suspended for some years after each meeting".[24] Whilst under suspension the Club has been known to meet in relative secrecy.

The club was active in Oxford in 2008/9, although not currently registered with the University, and the retiring proctors' oration recited an incident which, not being on university premises, was outside their jurisdiction: "some students had taken habitually to the drunken braying of ‘We are the Bullingdon’ at 3 a.m. from a house not far from the Phoenix Cinema. But the transcript of what they called the wife of the neighbour who went to ask them to be quiet was written in language that is not usually printed".[25] The members therefore received an Anti-Social Behaviour Contract from the Thames Valley Police, threatening the more common ASBO. The proctor concluded in March 2009: "So I am pleased to say that, except perhaps at the highest level of national politics, the Bullingdon Club this year has been quiescent."

The Club in fiction

The Bullingdon is satirised as the Bollinger Club (Bollinger being a notable brand of champagne) in Evelyn Waugh's novel Decline and Fall (1928), where it has a pivotal role in the plot: the mild-mannered hero gets the blame for the Bollinger Club's destructive rampage through his college and is sent down. Tom Driberg claimed that the description of the Bollinger Club was a "mild account of the night of any Bullingdon Club dinner in Christ Church. Such a profusion of glass I never saw until the height of the Blitz. On such nights, any undergraduate who was believed to have 'artistic' talents was an automatic target."[26]

Waugh mentions the Bullingdon by name[27] in Brideshead Revisited. In talking to Charles Ryder, Anthony Blanche relates that the Bullingdon attempted to "put him in [the fountain] Mercury" in Tom Quad one evening. Blanche describes the members in their tails as looking "like a lot of most disorderly footmen". Blanche then goes on to say: "Do you know, I went round to call on Sebastian next day? I thought the tale of my evening's adventures might amuse him." This could likely indicate that Sebastian was not a member of the Bullingdon, though in the 1981 TV adaptation, Lord Sebastian Flyte vomits through the window of Charles Ryder's college room whilst wearing the famous Bullingdon tails.[28] The 2008 film adaptation of Brideshead Revisited likewise clothes Flyte in the Club tails during this scene, as his fellow revellers chant "Buller, Buller, Buller!" behind him.

A fictional Oxford club based on the Bullingdon and its members forms the basis of Posh, by Laura Wade, a play staged in April 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. Membership of the club whilst a student is shown as giving admission to a secret and corrupt network of influence in British politics later in life .[29]

Documentary

David Cameron's and Boris Johnson's period in the Bullingdon Club was examined in the UK Channel 4 docu-drama When Boris Met Dave, broadcast on 7 October 2009 on More 4.[30]

Notable members

Members of the Club have included:

References

  1. ^ a b c d Patrick Foster (28 January 2006). "How young Cameron wined and dined with the right sort". The Times. London. Retrieved 2007-12-04. [Cameron] has previously admitted to being a member of the Bullingdon Club, notorious for the drunken vandalism of its predominantly aristocratic members.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) Cite error: The named reference "times" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b The Oxford Student (12 January 2005). "Smashing job chaps: Exclusive inside look at Bullingdon club".
  3. ^ Stuart Petre Brodie Mais, The Story of Oxford, 1951; p. 70
  4. ^ a b c d Walter Long (1923). "Memories". Retrieved 2008-05-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Aubery Noakes, Sportsmen in a Landscape, 1971; p.61
  6. ^ G.V. Cox (1870). "Recollections of Oxford". Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  7. ^ Mark Davies The Wisden Cricketer May 2010, "Drinking and Politics"
  8. ^ James Pycroft in London Society, v.30, 1876 (James Hogg, Florence Marrayat ed.); p. 197
  9. ^ a b New York Times (1 June 1913). "Bullingdon Club Too Lively For Prince of Wales" (PDF). The New York Times.
  10. ^ New York Times (13 May 1894). "Condensed Cablegrams" (PDF). The New York Times.
  11. ^ a b Trevor Henry Aston (1984). "The History of the University of Oxford".
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h J. G. Sinclair (2007). Portrait of Oxford.
  13. ^ New York Times (28 May 1913). "Wales in Trouble Over Club Supper" (PDF). The New York Times.
  14. ^ BBC news (2 March 2007). "Cameron student photo is banned". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  15. ^ The Oxford Student (13 January 2005). "Bullingdon brawl ringleader is Princess Diana's nephew".
  16. ^ House of Commons Hansard Debates for 15 Oct 2001, (pt 31). "Football (Disorder) (Amendment) Bill".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Feb 2008 (pt 1). "Pensions".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ House of Commons Hansard Debates for 25 Feb 2008 (pt 3). "Topical Questions".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Houses of Parliament. "Advanced Search". Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  20. ^ Peter Hitchens (2007). "David Cameron: Toff at the Top". Retrieved 2008-05-01.
  21. ^ Michael MacDonagh, The English king: a study of the monarchy and the royal family, 1929; p. 94
  22. ^ Oxford University Gazette - Supplement (2) to No. 4876, p.880. "Oration by the demitting Proctors and Assessor" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-11-05. ...the Bullingdon Club turns out not to be a registered University society. 25 March 2009.
  23. ^ a b c d 7th Marquess of Bath (1999). "Career and activities: settling into my undergraduate identity". Retrieved 2007-12-04. …at the start of the Trinity term I was elected into the Bullingdon…{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ John Betjeman, An Oxford University Chest, 1938; p.30
  25. ^ Supplement (2) to University of Oxford Gazette No. 4876 Wednesday 25 March 2009
  26. ^ Carpenter, Humphrey. The Brideshead Generation: Evelyn Waugh and his Friends, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989.
  27. ^ Evelyn Waugh. Brideshead Revisited, "Et in Arcadia ego": Chapter Two; Chapman and Hall, 1945.
  28. ^ YouTube - Brideshead Revisited - Lord Sebastian is sick
  29. ^ The Daily Telegraph (16 April 2010). "Posh: Royal Court, review". London.
  30. ^ a b John Dower and Jaho Lee Our Boys from the Bullingdon: The early years of David Cameron and Boris Johnson The Daily Mail, 26 September 2009.
  31. ^ Charlotte Zeepvat, Prince Leopold: the untold story of Queen Victoria's youngest son, 1998; p. 101
  32. ^ a b Virginia Cowles (1956). "Gay Monarch: The Life and Pleasures of Edward VII".
  33. ^ Frank Harris, My Life and Loves, 1922-27; p. 483
  34. ^ a b c d Associated Newspapers Limited (2007). "Cameron's cronies in the Bullingdon class of '87". Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  35. ^ Dafydd Jones
  36. ^ David Cannadine (2004). "In Churchill's Shadow: Confronting the Past in Modern Britain".
  37. ^ Richard Alleyne (2004-12-04). "Oxford hellraisers politely trash a pub". London: Daily Telegraph.
  38. ^ Dafydd Jones
  39. ^ The Guardian (19 October 2009). "Ludovic Kennedy, veteran presenter and campaigner, dies at 89". London.
  40. ^ Serge Obolensky, One man in his time: the memoirs of Serge Obolensky, 1958; p. 110
  41. ^ The Independent. "The Earl of Longford", 6 August 2001.
  42. ^ Daily Mail. "Drunk in charge of a gun...", 15 November 2008.
  43. ^ "World Agenda: Is Radoslaw Sikorski the new face of Polish politics?". London: The Times. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  44. ^ "The Boris Johnson Story". BBC News. 4 May 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  45. ^ New York Times (14 January 1917). "Prince Yusupoff Defended in Rasputin Case" (PDF). The New York Times.
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=Bullingdon_Club&oldid=367964595"