Editing Reform Club (section)

==History==

===19th century===
The club was founded by [[Edward Ellice (merchant)|Edward Ellice]], [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for Coventry and [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] [[Whip (politics)|Whip]], whose riches came from the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], but whose zeal was chiefly devoted to securing the passage of the [[Reform Act 1832]]. The club held its first meeting at No. 104 Pall Mall on 5 May 1836.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/18361886reformcl00fagauoft/page/34/mode/2up |title=The Reform club: its founders and architect |last=Fagan |first=Louis |page=34 |publisher=Bernard Quaritch |year=1887}}</ref>

This new club, for members of both Houses of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]], was intended to be a forum for the [[Political radicalism|radical]] ideas which the First Reform Bill represented: its purpose was to promote "the social intercourse of the reformer of the United Kingdom".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/18361886reformcl00fagauoft/page/36/mode/2up |title=Fagan 1887, p. 36|year=1887 }}</ref>

The Reform Club's building was designed by renowned architect [[Sir]] [[Charles Barry]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45188 |title=Pall Mall; Clubland Old and New London: Volume 4 (pp. 140–164) |publisher=british-history.ac.uk |date=22 June 2003 |access-date=18 April 2013 |archive-date=9 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209112820/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45188 |url-status=live }}</ref> and contracted to builders [[Thomas Grissell|Grissell]] & [[Samuel Morton Peto|Peto]]. The new club was built on [[Palazzo style architecture|palatial]] lines, the design being based on the [[Farnese Palace|Palazzo Farnese]] in [[Rome]], and its [[State room|Saloon]] in particular is regarded as the finest of all London's clubs. It was officially opened on 1 March 1841.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://reformclub.com/getmedia/b87bee5e-ae28-41c9-ae80-911cdd22d22d/175_Years_of_the_Reform_Clubhouse_1841_%e2%80%93_2016.aspx |title=175 Years of the Reform Clubhouse 1841-2016 |page=5 |publisher=The Reform Club |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022184207/https://reformclub.com/getmedia/b87bee5e-ae28-41c9-ae80-911cdd22d22d/175_Years_of_the_Reform_Clubhouse_1841_%e2%80%93_2016.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Facilities provided included a library which, following extensive donations from members, grew to contain over 85,000 books.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uusc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ReformClub.pdf |title=Information |publisher=The Reform Club |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=16 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016123133/https://uusc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ReformClub.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Reform Club. Upper level of the saloon. From London Interiors (1841).jpg|thumb|300px|An 1840s drawing of the Gallery above the club's Saloon, on the first floor.]]
[[File:ReformClubLobby.jpg|thumb|300px|The Reform Club's italianate Saloon, with stairs leading to the Gallery]]
After the [[Second World War]] and with the old Liberal Party's further decline, the club increasingly drew its membership from civil servants.<ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Tim |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8832061/Polly-Toynbees-man-makes-a-meal-of-his-expenses.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8832061/Polly-Toynbees-man-makes-a-meal-of-his-expenses.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Polly Toynbee's man makes a meal of his expenses |newspaper=Telegraph |date=18 October 2011 |access-date=18 April 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The club continued to attract a comprehensive list of guest [[Public speaking|speaker]]s including Government Ministers [[Nick Clegg]] and [[Theresa May]] (2011), [[John Sentamu|Archbishop John Sentamu]] (2012), and [[Ambassador]] [[Liu Xiaoming]] (2013).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/EmbassyNews/2013/201311/t20131128_3387829.htm |title=Talking about "Reform" at the Reform Club: H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming Delivers A Speech at the British Reform Club |date=25 November 2013 |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215022730/http://gb.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/EmbassyNews/2013/201311/t20131128_3387829.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>