Lady Members

Are We A 'Gentlemen-Only' Club?

Not anymore. The Eccentric Club was once a male bastion, and some of its older members believed it should stay that way. But the times change, and so do the people. In 1984, the Club Committee decided to open membership to the ladies, too. After the renovation, the Club was going to catch up with 20th-century realities and become more of a businessmen's club rather than a gentlemen's club.

Of course, there were objections; some believed the Club would lose its unique spirit of the men-only fellowship, so much treasured for many years. A gentleman needs, after all, a home away from home, a place of peace and quiet, where he can meditate alone with his pipe, go through a newspaper over a cup of tea, or play a game of snooker with his friends... But the new times brought new members, using the club more for their business meetings and seeing it as a nuisance - not being able to bring along their wives and female business partners.

Sadly, the Club's renovation ended with its closure, so the idea of women becoming full members never quite came to fruition. It was not until the Eccentric Club was relaunched in 2008 that the new Committee decided to follow its predecessors' decisions and fulfil the promise.

And so, the ladies are now very welcome to join our club as full members!

However, there are many stories from the past about the 'ladies days' when women came to the Club events as guests. There are also stories of those women who, in the utmost secrecy, were allowed to see the male bastion from the inside — as a rule, they were relatives of the prominent members.

But there was one particular woman who could have been considered a full member in the very early days of the Eccentric Club - she called herself Vesta Tilley and was 'one of the smartest gentlemen' you could see on stage. She was a famous male impersonator and a music hall singer, and the rumours were that she was seen on more than one occasion at the Eccentric Club dressed as a gentleman.

Vesta was married to Sir Walter de Frece, a famous theatrical impresario, politician, and one of the club's most active members. Later, she was styled Lady de Frece. But she was also known as Burlington Bertie, one of the characters from her repertoire.

Hear 'Matchless Tilley' singing in the early 1900s here.