Category: Biography

Sir Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first title of which, The Colour of Magic, was published by Colin Smythe Ltd in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books. and collaborated on a further thirty. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, as well as being awarded a knighthood in 2009 for services to literature. Worldwide sales of his books exceed 100 million and they have been translated into forty-three languages.

Terry Pratchett spoke at the Whitefriars Club on 22nd May 1990, and quite appropriately Friar Colin Smythe was Prior of the Day on that occasion.

(Photo: Rob Wilkins)

Widely considered the father of science fiction, H.G. Wells (1866–1946) was an innovative and prolific writer across many genres. His most famous works – such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds – are considered modern classics.

Wells spoke at the Whitefriars Club on 31st January 1902 on the topic of ‘The Twenty-First Century’. He became a White Friar, and attended the dinner on 17th March 1905, taking part in the discussion. He was Prior of the Day on 8th November 1907, when the club guest was Sir Oliver Lodge.

Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (1879–1964), was a Unionist Party (Conservative) politician and the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament, serving from 1919 to 1945.

Lady Astor was a club guest at the Christmas Dinner of 16th December 1921.

Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927) was the author of a wide range of plays, essays and novels, and is best known today for the classic comic work Three Men in a Boat.

Jerome K. Jerome appears to have spoken at the Whitefriars Club for the first time on 4th October 1901, on the topic of ‘Humour in Literature’. He returned to the club almost twenty-five years later, delivering a speech on ‘Class Warfare’ on 16th October 1925.

The playwright, novelist, essayist and Nobel Prize winner Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) is one of the towering figures of twentieth-century literature, with masterpieces such as Man and Superman, Pygmalion and Saint Joan among his most enduringly popular works.

Shaw spoke at the Whitefriars Club on 16th February 1906 on the topic of ‘Should Theatres be Municipalised?’ He returned to the club on 29th October 1920, delivering a speech on ‘The Dictatorship of the Proletariat’.

Sir Antony Beevor (b. 1946) is a military historian and the acclaimed author of popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War and the Russian Revolution and Civil War.

He spoke at the Whitefriars Club on the subject of ‘What We Can Learn from History’ on 24th April 2019.

Charlie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton (b. 1951), is a British Labour peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2003 to 2007.

Lord Falconer spoke at the Whitefriars Club about politics on 24th February 2011.

Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) is a prolific Franco-English writer and historian, and the author of the immensely popular collection of humorous poems, Cautionary Tales for Children.

Hilaire Belloc spoke at the Whitefriars on 20th March 1903 on the subject of ‘Is the French Novel a True Representation of French Life?’ He also attended as a guest on 3rd October 1902, 1st May 1903, 30th April 1909. He was due to speak again at the club on 10th November 1922, but owing to having entered the dinner on the wrong date in his diary, he did not appear, and his place was taken by Friar George Whale.

Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (1871–1934), was a British soldier and Conservative politician.

He spoke at the Whitefriars Club on 27th November 1903 on the subject of ‘A Citizen’s Duty to the Empire’. Prior of the Day, on that occasion, was his cousin and close friend, Friar Winston Churchill.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021), was the consort of the British monarch Elizabeth II from her accession on 6th February 1952 until his death in 2021.

Prince Philip was club guest at the 110th Anniversary Feast, held at the Press Club on 16th March 1978.