BEEFSTEAK

CLUB  , the name of several clubs formed in London during the 18th and 19th centuries . The first seems to have been that founded in 1709 with Richard Estcourt, the actor, as steward . Of this the chief wits and great men of the nation were members and its badge was a gridiron . Its fame was, however, entirely eclipsed in 1735 when " The Sublime Society of Steaks" was established by John Rich at Covent Garden theatre, of which he was then manager . It is said that Lord Peterborough supping one night with Rich in his private room, was so delighted with the steak the latter grilled him that he suggested a repetition of the meal the next week . From this started the Club, the members of which delighted to call themselves "The Steaks." Among them were Hogarth, Garrick, Wilkes, Bubb Doddington and many other celebrities . The rendezvous was the theatre till the fire in 18o8, when the club moved first to the Bedford Coffee House, and the next year to the Old Lyceum . In 1785 the prince of Wales joined, and later his brothers the dukes of Clarence and Sussex became members . On the burning of the Lyceum, "The Steaks" met again in the Bedford Coffee House till 1838, when the New Lyceum was opened, and a large room there was allotted the club . These meetings were held till the club ceased to exist in 1867 . Thomas Sheridan founded a Beefsteak Club in Dublin at the Theatre Royal in 1749, and of this Peg Woffington was president . The modern Beefsteak Club was founded by J .

L .

Toole, the actor, in 1876 . See J . Timbs Clubs and Club Life in London (1873); Walter Arnold, Life and Death of the Sublime Society of Steaks (1871) .