History Corner
Mark Twain Returns to the Whitefriars ClubOn 16th June 1899, more than twenty-five years from his first visit, the celebrated humorist Mark Twain returned to the Whitefriars Club.
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Welcome
Thank you for visiting the Whitefriars Club website. We are one of the oldest literary dining clubs in London, dating back to 1868. We meet eight times a year for dinner at the Savile Club, where we invite prominent cultural or political figures as our guests to speak about their careers or the important topics of the day. Our club prides itself on the warm, inclusive and convivial atmosphere it offers to all its members and guests.
Please feel free to browse our website to find out more about our rich history and our list of forthcoming events. If you are interested in joining our club, please click on the button below and complete the relevant enquiry form. The archive section is only available in full to our club members.
Next Event
29th October 2025
The Sir Jeremy Hunt Dinner, 29th October 2025
We are delighted to welcome Sir Jeremy Hunt, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and worked in many other senior ministerial roles, as our guest speaker for October.
Cordial
Following an old tradition, this “cordial” is read or recited at every dinner by our Prior of the Day or another Friar specifically appointed to the task:
“By this wine we commemorate the Whitefriars of Old – fortified with spirit, the spirit of admiration for their services to charity and good learning, and sweetened by sympathy for those who, broken by fortune, dwell in Alsatia. It is left for me, as Prior of the Day, to add a cordial – a cordial welcome to the guests of the Brotherhood assembled at our board. Gentlemen and ladies, I bid a hearty welcome to you all, and invite you to join with the brothers of a gracious Order in drinking to the prosperity of the Whitefriars Club.”
The “Prior of the Day” is the member who acts as MC for the dinner. “Alsatia” is a humorous name for a historical area in London that offered sanctuary to debtors.
From the Club's Archive
The John Calder Translation Prize
The Whitefriars Club, in association with the Society of Authors, is delighted to announce the launch of the John Calder Translation Prize, an annual award for translations into English of full-length ambitious, groundbreaking works of literary merit a …
The Whitefriars’ Struggle over Women
Our Club has not always been the haven of goodwill and equality that it now is. This became evident during our Pilgrimage (September 2023) to Reading to visit the Club’s extensive archives. A number of papers were available to peruse and, amongst them, …
The Club’s Glass Goblet
The club’s glass goblet, cracked and rather fragile, lies safely within the club ’s archive, held at Reading University. The goblet itself is engraved as follows: “Presented by Tom Barry to his old friend and master W. Batty”. An inscription on the wo …
Winston Churchill, White Friar
(From Friar Sir John Hammerton’s Other Things than War, London: Macdonald, 1943, pp. 17–22), extracted by Friar Colin Smythe On the north side of Fleet Street just now there is a gaping space that was not made by German bombs. It is the site of the And …
Novitiate Programme
If you are interested in joining the Whitefriars Club, you can try one of our dinners without being a full member. Click the button below to find out more.
The Club's Committee
The Whitefriars Club is currently administered by a Committee of seven members and five ex-officio members who are elected annually following the club’s AGM. The Honorary Treasurer and the Honorary Secretary are ex-officio members of the Committee. The Chairman is elected by the Committee.