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CHAPTER VI

The Gambling Clubs – White’s, Cocoa Tree, Almack’s – A few gamblers described – Stories of high play – White’s and its frequenters – Brookes’ and its players – Captain Gronow and his reminiscences of gambling – Gambling by the English at Paris – The Duke of Wellington – Ball Hughes – Scrope Davies – Raggett of White’s.

Hanger speaks of gambling at the clubs, but in his time there were very few of them, and the oldest of all was “White’s” in St James Street. Originally a Chocolate House, established in 1698, it was the rendezvous for the Tories in London. It was destroyed by fire on 28th April, 1733, a fact which is immortalised by Hogarth in his sixth picture of the Rake’s Progress. The earliest record of it, as a Club, that remains, is a book of rules and list of members of the old Club at White’s, dated 30th October 1736. In 1755 it removed to the east side of St James Street to No. 38, and there it still remains. In 1797, according to the rules of the Club, “Every Member who plays at Chess, Draughts, or Backgammon, do pay One Shilling each time of playing by daylight, and half-a-crown each by candlelight.” We have had many references to the gambling that took place at White’s, and when betting is discussed, the Club’s famous betting-book will be duly noticed. It is now one of the most aristocratic clubs in London.

The Cocoa Tree Club, which was, probably, made into a Club before 1746, and was somewhat lower down St James Street than White’s, was the Whig Club, but it does not seem to have been so much used for gambling as its elder confrère.

Almack’s Club was essentially for gambling, and was founded in 1764 by twenty-seven noblemen and gentlemen. Among its original rules are the following: —

“21. No gaming in the eating room, except tossing up for reckonings, on penalty of paying the whole bill of the members present.

“40. That every person playing at the new guinea table do keep fifty guineas before him.

“41. That every person playing at the twenty guinea table do not keep less than twenty guineas before him.”

Here is an extract from the Club books which shows the style of play. “Mr Thynne having won only 12,000 guineas during the last two months, retired in disgust. March 21, 1772.”

The Club subsequently became Goosetree’s, and after him was taken by a wine merchant and money lender named Brookes, and Brookes’s it is to this day, at 60 St James Street, to which locality it moved from Pall Mall in October 1778.

These, with Arthur’s, were all the clubs for the nobility and gentry, until the Regency, when clubs multiplied. There were any amount of gambling houses, but they were public – but, of course, a club was strictly confined to its members.

So gambling went on merrily among all classes, as we may see by the following notices from the Morning Post:

“5 July 1797. Is Mr Ogden (now called the Newmarket Oracle), the same person who, five-and-twenty years since, was an annual pedestrian to Ascot, covered with dust, amusing himself with pricking in the belt, hustling in the hat, &c., amongst the lowest class of rustics, at the inferior booths of the fair?

“Is D – k – y B – w, who has now his snug farm, the same person who, some years since, drove post chaise for T – y of Bagshot, could neither read nor write, and was introduced to the family only by his pre-eminence at cribbage?

“Is Mr Twycross (with his phaeton), the same person who, some years since, became a bankrupt in Tavistock Street, immediately commenced the Man of Fashion at Bath, kept running horses, &c., secundum artem?

“Is Mr Phillips (who has now his town and country house, in the most fashionable style,) the same who was, originally, a linen draper and bankrupt at Salisbury, and who made his first family entré in the metropolis, by his superiority at Billiards (with Capt. Wallace, Orrell, &c.) at Cropley’s in Bow Street?

“Was poor carbuncled P – e (so many years the favourite decoy duck of the family) the very barber of Oxford who, in the midst of the operation upon a gentleman’s face, laid down his razor, swearing that he would never shave another man so long as he lived, and immediately became the hero of the Card Table, the bones, the box, and the cock-pit?”

“5 April 1805. The sum lately lost at play by a lady of high rank is variously stated. Some say it does not amount to more than £200,000, while others assert that it is little short of £700,000. Her Lord is very unhappy on the occasion, and is still undecided with respect to the best mode to be adopted in the unfortunate predicament.”

“30 June 1806. The Marquis of H – d is said to have been so successful at play, this season, as to have cleared £60,000. The Earl of B – e has won upwards of £50,000, clear of all deductions. A Right Reverend is stated to be amongst those who are minus on this occasion.”

“8 July 1806. A certain Noble Marquis, who has been very fortunate, this season, in his gaming speculations, had a run of ill-luck last week. At one sitting his Lordship was minus no less a sum than thirteen thousand pounds!”

“15 July 1806. The noble Marquis, who has been so great a gainer this season, at hazard, never plays with anyone, from a Prince, to a Commoner, without having the stakes first laid on the table. His lordship was always considered as a sure card, but, now, his fame is established, from the circumstance of his having cleared £35,000, after deducting all his losses for the last six months.”

“Morning Herald, 16 June 1804. A noble Lord, lately high in office, and who manifests a strong inclination to be re-instated in his political power, lost, at the Union, a night or two back, 4000 guineas before twelve o’clock; but, continuing to play, his luck took a turn, and he rose a winner of a 1000 before five the next morning.”

I have, also, two newspaper cuttings, but know not whence they came. “Mar. 28, 1811. The brother of a Noble Marquis is said to have lately won, at hazard, upwards of £30,000, all in one night!” “April 3, 1811. A young gentleman of family and fortune lost £7000, on Sunday Morning, at a gaming house in the neighbourhood of Pall Mall.”

This brings us to the time when, owing to the mental affliction of George III., the Prince of Wales became Regent, and during his reign, both as Regent and King, gambling throve; and I propose to quote somewhat from Captain Gronow, whose chatty Reminiscences are about the best of those times. But before doing so I must tell the following anecdote which relates to that General Scott whom Gronow mentions.

Lord C – had a most unfortunate propensity to gamble; and, in one night, he lost £33,000 to General Scott. Mortified at his ill-fortune he paid the money and wished to keep the circumstance secret; it was, however, whispered about. His lordship, to divert his chagrin, went, a few nights afterwards, to a Masquerade at Carlisle House, Soho, and he found all the company running after three Irish young ladies of the name of G – e, in the character of the three witches in Macbeth. These ladies were so well acquainted with everything that was going on in the great world that they kept the room in a continual roar of laughter by the brilliancy of their wit, and the happiness of its application to some people of rank who were present. They knew Lord C – and they knew of his loss, though he did not know them. He walked up to them, and, in a solemn tone of voice, thus addressed them: —

 
“Ye black and midnight hags, – what do ye do?
Live ye? or are ye aught that man may question?
Quickly unclasp to me the book of fate,
And tell if good, or ill, my steps await.”
First Witch. “All hail, C – e! all hail to thee!
Once annual lord of thousands thirty-three!”
Second Witch. “All hail, C – e! all hail to thee!
All hail! though poor thou soon shalt be!”
Hecate. “C – e, all hail! thy evil star
Sheds baleful influence – Oh, beware!
Beware that Thane! Beware that Scott!
Or, poverty shall be thy lot!
He’ll drain thy youth as dry as hay —
Hither, Sisters, haste away!”
 

At the concluding words, whirling a watchman’s rattle, which she held in her hand, the dome echoed with the sound; the astonished peer shrunk into himself with terror – retired – vowed never to lose more than a hundred pounds at a sitting; abided by the determination, and retrieved his fortune. ³⁹ “The politics of White’s Club were, then, decidedly Tory. It was here that play was carried on to an extent which made many ravages in large fortunes, the traces of which have not disappeared at the present day. General Scott, the father-in-law of George Canning and the Duke of Portland, was known to have won, at White’s, £200,000; thanks to his notorious sobriety and knowledge of the game of whist. The General possessed a great advantage over his companions by avoiding those indulgences at the table, which used to muddle other men’s brains. He confined himself to dining off something like a boiled chicken, with toast and water; by such a regimen he came to the whist table with a clear head, and possessing, as he did, a remarkable memory, with great coolness and judgment, he was able, honestly, to win the enormous sum of £200,000.

“At Brooke’s, for nearly half a century, the play was of a more gambling character than at White’s. Faro and Macao were indulged in to an extent which enabled a man to win, or to lose, a considerable fortune in one night. It was here that Charles James Fox, Selwyn, Lord Carlisle, Lord Robert Spencer, General Fitzpatrick, and other great Whigs, won, and lost, hundreds of thousands; frequently remaining at the table for many hours without rising.

“On one occasion, Lord Robert Spencer contrived to lose the last shilling of his considerable fortune, given to him by his brother, the Duke of Marlborough: General Fitzpatrick, being much in the same condition, they agreed to raise a sum of money, in order that they might keep a Faro bank. The members of the club made no objection, and, ere long, they carried out their design. As is generally the case, the bank was a winner, and Lord Robert bagged, as his share of the profits, £100,000. He retired, strange to say, from the fœtid atmosphere of play, with the money in his pocket, and never again gambled. George Harley Drummond, of the famous banking house, Charing Cross, only played once, in his whole life, at White’s Club, at whist, on which occasion he lost £20,000 to Brummell. This event caused him to retire from the banking house, of which he was a partner.

“Lord Carlisle was one of the most remarkable victims amongst the players at Brooke’s, and Charles Fox, his friend, was not more fortunate, being, subsequently, always in pecuniary difficulties. Many a time, after a long night of hard play, the loser found himself at the Israelitish establishment of Howard and Gibbs, then the fashionable and patronized money-lenders. These gentlemen never failed to make hard terms with the borrower, although ample security was, invariably, demanded.

“The Guard’s Club was established for the three regiments of Foot Guards, and was conducted upon a military system. Billiards and low whist were the only games indulged in. The dinner was, perhaps, better than at most clubs, and considerably cheaper. Arthur’s and Graham’s were less aristocratic than those I have mentioned; it was, at the latter, that a most painful circumstance took place. A nobleman, of the highest position and influence in society, was detected in cheating at cards, and, after a trial, which did not terminate in his favour, he died of a broken heart.

“Upon one occasion, some gentlemen, of both White’s and Brooke’s, had the honour to dine with the Prince Regent, and, during the conversation, the Prince inquired what sort of dinners they got at their clubs; upon which, Sir Thomas Stepney, one of the guests, observed that their dinners were always the same, ‘the eternal joints, or beefsteaks, the boiled fowl with oyster sauce, and an apple tart – this is what we have, sir, and very monotonous fare it is.’ The Prince, without further remark, rang the bell for his cook, Wattier, and, in the presence of those who dined at the Royal table, asked him whether he would take a house and organize a dinner club. Wattier assented, and named Madison, the Prince’s page, manager, and Labourie, from the Royal kitchen, as the cook. The club flourished only a few years, owing to the high play that was carried on there. The Duke of York patronized it, and was a member. The dinners were exquisite; the best Parisian cooks could not beat Labourie. The favourite game played there was Macao. Upon one occasion Jack Bouverie, brother of Lady Heytesbury, was losing large sums, and became very irritable; Raikes, with bad taste, laughed at Bouverie, and attempted to amuse us with some of his stale jokes; upon which Bouverie threw his play bowl, with the few counters it contained, at Raikes’ head: unfortunately, it struck him, and made the City dandy angry, but no serious results followed this open insult.”

Captain Gronow gives a personal story of his own gambling. After Napoleon’s escape from Elba, he had the offer of an appointment on the staff of General Picton, but his funds were somewhat low. “So I set about thinking how I should manage to get my outfit, in order to appear at Brussels in a manner worthy of the aide-de-camp of the great general. As my funds were at a low ebb, I went to Cox and Greenwood’s, those staunch friends of the hard up soldier. Sailors may talk of the ‘little cherub that sits up aloft,’ but commend me for liberality, kindness, and generosity to my old friends in Craig’s Court. I there obtained £200, which I took with me to a gambling house in St James’ Square, where I managed, by some wonderful accident, to win £600; and, having thus obtained the sinews of war, I made numerous purchases, amongst others, two first-rate horses at Tattersall’s for a high figure.”

He gives several instances of the English love for gambling, as exemplified at Paris, after its occupation by the Allies.

“Fox, the secretary of the embassy, was an excellent man, but odd, indolent, and careless in the extreme; he was seldom seen in the daytime, unless it was either at the embassy, in a state of negligée, or in bed. At night, he used to go to the Salon des Etrangers; and, if he possessed a Napoleon, it was sure to be thrown away at hazard, or rouge et noir. On one occasion, however, fortune favoured him in a most extraordinary manner. The late Henry Baring having recommended him to take the dice box, Fox replied, ‘I will do so for the last time, for all my money is thrown away upon this infernal table.’ Fox staked all he had in his pockets; he threw in eleven times, breaking the bank, and taking home for his share 60,000 francs. After this, several days passed without any tidings being heard of him; but, upon calling at the embassy to get my passport viséd, I went into his room, and saw it filled with Cashmere shawls, silk, Chantilly veils, bonnets, gloves, shoes, and other articles of ladies’ dress. On my asking the purpose of all this millinery, Fox replied, ‘Why, my dear Gronow, it was the only means to prevent those rascals at the Salon winning back my money.’

“The play which took place in these saloons was, frequently, of the most reckless character; large fortunes were often lost, the losers disappearing, never more to be heard of. Amongst the English habitués were the Hon. George T – , the late Henry Baring, Lord Thanet, Tom Sowerby, Cuthbert, Mr Steer, Henry Broadwood, and Bob Arnold.

“The late Henry Baring was more fortunate at hazard than his countrymen, but his love of gambling was the cause of his being excluded from the banking establishment. Col. Sowerby, of the Guards, was one of the most inveterate players in Paris: and, as is frequently the case with a fair player, a considerable loser. But, perhaps, the most incurable gamester amongst the English, was Lord Thanet, whose income was not less than £50,000 a year, every farthing of which he lost at play. Cuthbert dissipated the whole of his fortune in the like manner. In fact, I do not remember any instance where those who spent their time in this den did not lose all they possessed…

“Amongst others who visited the Salon des Etrangers were Sir Francis Vincent, Gooch, Green, Ball Hughes, and many others whose names I no longer remember. As at Crockford’s, a magnificent supper was provided every night, for all who thought proper to avail themselves of it. The games principally played were rouge et noir and hazard; the former producing an immense profit; for, not only were the whole of the expenses of this costly establishment defrayed by the winnings of the bank, but a very large sum was paid annually to the municipality of Paris. I recollect a young Irishman, Mr Gough, losing a large fortune at this tapis vert. After returning home about two A.M. he sat down and wrote a letter, giving reasons why he was about to commit suicide: these, it is needless to say, were simply his gambling reverses. A pistol shot through the brain terminated his existence. Sir Francis Vincent – a man of old family and considerable fortune – was another victim of this French hell, who contrived to get rid of his magnificent property, and then disappeared from society.”

“Soon after Lord Granville’s appointment [as British Ambassador] a strange occurrence took place at one of the public gambling houses. A colonel, on half-pay, in the British service, having lost every farthing he possessed, determined to destroy himself, together with all who were instrumental to his ruin. Accordingly, he placed a canister full of fulminating powder under the table, and set it on fire: it blew up, but, fortunately, no one was hurt. The police arrested the colonel, and placed him in prison; he was, however, through the humane interposition of our ambassador, sent out of France as a madman.”

The Duke of Wellington⁴⁰ had, in his early career, lost a considerable sum of money at play, and had been on the point of selling his commission in Dublin, with the view of relieving himself from some debts of honour which he had incurred.

“At a dinner party at Mr Greenwood’s, of that excellent firm, Cox & Greenwood, I met Sir Harry Calvert, then Adjutant-General, who accompanied the Duke of York, as one of his staff, in his disastrous campaign in Holland; and he told us the following anecdote: – Lord Camden, the Viceroy, had been applied to by Lord Mornington, the brother of Captain Wesley (so the name was then spelt), for a Commissionership of Customs, or anything else in the gift of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as it was the intention of the Captain to sell his commission to pay his debts. Lord Camden, in an interview with Captain Wesley, inquired whether he left the army in disgust, or what motive induced him to relinquish a service in which he was well qualified to distinguish himself. Captain Wesley explained everything that had occurred, upon which the Lord Lieutenant expressed a wish to be of service to him. ‘What can I do for you? Point out any plan by which you can be extricated from your present difficulties.’ The answer was, ‘I have no alternative but to sell my commission; for I am poor, and unable to pay off my debts of honour.’ ‘Remain in the army,’ said Lord Camden, ‘and I will assist you in paying off your liabilities.’ ‘I should like to study my profession at Angers,’ replied the young soldier, ‘for the French are the great masters of the art of war.’ Lord Camden assented to the proposition, supplied him with the means of living in France, and paid his debts…

“The lesson the Duke of Wellington had learnt at the gambling table, as a young man, was deeply impressed upon him; he, afterwards, never touched a card; and so firmly did he set his face against gambling, that, in Paris, none of his staff, from Lord Fitzroy Somerset down to Freemantle, was ever to be seen either at Frascati’s, or the Salon des Etrangers.”

Ball Hughes was a dandy of the Regency, and from his fortune he was nick-named “the golden Ball”; of him Gronow says: “His fortune had dwindled down to a fourth of its original amount, for he was, perhaps, the greatest gambler of his day. His love of play was such, that, at one period of his life, he would rather play at pitch and toss than be without his favourite excitement. He told me that, at one time, he had lost considerable sums at battledore and shuttlecock. On one occasion, immediately after dinner, he and the eccentric Lord Petersham commenced playing with these toys, and continued hard at work during the whole of the night; next morning, he was found by his valet lying on the ground fast asleep, but ready for any other species of speculation.”

Of another dandy, Scrope Davies, he says: “As was the case with many of the foremost men of that day, the greater number of his hours were passed at the gambling table, where, for a length of time, he was eminently successful; for he was a first-rate calculator. He seldom played against individuals; he preferred going to the regular establishments. But, on one occasion, he had, by a remarkable run of good luck, completely ruined a young man, who had just reached his majority, and come into the possession of a considerable fortune. The poor youth sank down upon a sofa, in abject misery, when he reflected that he was a beggar; for he was on the point of marriage. Scrope Davies, touched by his despair, entered into conversation with him, and ended by giving him back the whole of his losses, upon a solemn promise that he would never play again. The only thing that Scrope retained of his winnings was one of the little carriages of that day, called a dormeuse from its being fitted up with a bed, for he said, ‘When I travel in it, I shall sleep the better for having acted rightly.’ The youth kept his promise; but when his benefactor wanted money, he forgot that he owed all he possessed to Scrope’s generosity, and refused to assist him.

“For a long time Scrope Davies was a lucky player; but the time arrived when Fortune deserted her old favourite; and, shortly after the Dandy dynasty was overthrown, he found himself unable to mingle with the rich, the giddy, and the gay. With the wreck of his fortune, and, indeed, with little to live upon beyond the amount of his own Cambridge fellowship, he sought repose in Paris, and there, indulging in literary leisure, bade the world farewell.”

“Raggett,⁴¹ the well known club proprietor of White’s, and the Roxburgh club in St James’s Square, was a notable character in his way. He began life as a poor man, and died extremely rich. It was his custom to wait upon the members of these clubs whenever play was going on. Upon one occasion, at the Roxburgh, the following gentlemen, Hervey Combe, Tippoo Smith, Ward (the member for London), and Sir John Malcolm, played for high stakes at whist; they sat during that night, viz., Monday, the following day and night, and only separated on Wednesday morning at eleven o’clock; indeed, the party only broke up then, owing to Hervey Combe being obliged to attend the funeral of one of his partners who was buried on that day. Hervey Combe, on looking over his card, found that he was a winner of thirty thousand pounds from Sir John Malcolm, and he jocularly said, ‘Well, Sir John, you shall have your revenge whenever you like.’ Sir John replied, ‘Thank you; another sitting of the kind will oblige me to return again to India.’ Hervey Combe, on settling with Raggett, pulled out of his pocket, a handful of counters, which amounted to several hundred pounds, over and above the thirty thousand he had won of the baronet, and he gave them to Raggett, saying, ‘I give them to you for sitting so long with us, and providing us with all required.’ Raggett was overjoyed, and, in mentioning what had occurred to one of his friends, a few days afterwards, he added, ‘I make it a rule never to allow any of my servants to be present when gentlemen play at my clubs, for it is my invariable custom to sweep the carpet after the gambling is over, and I, generally, find on the floor a few counters, which pays me for the trouble of sitting up. By this means I have made a decent fortune.’”