The Club was founded in 1843 as a dining club for the professional classes of the City of London, and named after Thomas Gresham, a celebrated Elizabethan merchant who founded the Royal Exchange. The club's first president was John Abel Smith, member of parliament for Chichester. In 1853, Charles Manby Smith located the Gresham Club as a stepping-stone in a successful Londoner's sequence of increasingly elite memberships. - In 1879, the entrance fee was 20 guineas and the annual subscription six guineas. Charles Dickens, Jr., reported in Dickens's Dictionary of London -
Premises
The newly established club commissioned a clubhouse at 1 King William Street, on the corner of St. Swithin's Lane. The architect was Henry Flower, and the beginning of construction in 1844 was marked by a dinner at the Albion Tavern, at which Sir William Magnay, Lord Mayor of London, presided. John Timbs wrote in 1855 - The site of the first club house is now occupied by the main London office of N M Rothschild & Sons. The club was reported to keep a fine wine-cellar. In 1913, a Mr. L. Price, called 'the doyen of billiard stewards', achieved 60 years service with club, then housed in Gresham Place. In 1915, the club moved to a new purpose-built club house at 15 Abchurch Lane, near Cannon Street station. The club remained there until it closed in 1991.
Dissolution
After the Second World War, the gentlemen's clubs of London fell into a decline. The Gresham Club was "a faded place offering school dinners and port". By 1991, its membership had fallen and the remaining members decided to dissolve the club. Its members were offered membership of the City University Club, many of them taking this offer. On 23 October 1992, the "Gresham Club " was given a listed building consent to remove 11 glass chandeliers on the ground, first, and second floors of 15 Abchurch Lane. The club's records were deposited in the Guildhall Library, which under accession reference L 24 MSS 28834-28864 holds papers for the years 1844-1845 and 1905–1991, described as: "minute books, subscription books, legal papers, financial papers, Staff Benevolent Fund accounts and misc papers".
Later use of the Abchurch Lane clubhouse
On 18 February 1993, "Abchur Flat Gibr", represented by Wright Hassall & Co., Solicitors, of Leamington Spa, was granted a certificate of lawful development for the use of the former club's premises at 15 Abchurch Lane, as "members licensed dining club for the purposes of dining drinking socialising and playing snooker". In 1993, the club house was acquired by CCA Holdings, who found it in need of renovation and refurbishment. The development was funded by the International Club Company of Hong Kong, founded in 1980 by Dieter Klostermann. The company owns and operates many clubs around the world, including business men's clubs, golf and country clubs. On 21 October 1993, Capital Club of London Ltd was given a listed building consent for 15, Abchurch Lane, described as "Repairs and restoration of interior and exterior of building which is to be retained as members' dining club. Installation of new roof plant and screening" and also planning permission for "installation of roof plant and screen". The new interior was designed by Peter Inston. In September 1994, the building was re-opened as the London Capital Club, a private members' club with similarities to the old Gresham Club but a more modern approach and a different management structure. On the death of Peter Parker in 2002, Angela Knight, a former Economic Secretary to the Treasury, succeeded as the club's chairman. In the spring of 2018 the London Capital Club premises in Abchurch Lane were sold, without the consultation of members of the club, to the Royal Philatelic Society.
Gresham Club Re-established
The Gresham Club has arisen from the ashes of the former London Capital Club, which in turn replaced the old Gresham Club. On 19 March 2018 three former London Capital Club Members met at the Sugarloaf public house in Canon Street with a view to re-forming The Gresham Club. This was completed on 23 April 2018 when The Gresham Club held its inaugural Board Meeting. The club now has over 165 active members. The aim of The Gresham Club is to create opportunities for business interaction, enjoy one another's company and promote camaraderie. The Club espouses "The City Code" of honour, integrity, professionalism and non-circumventionThe Club also meet at least monthly for a "Club Table" and hold other engaging and interesting events. Its website is at http://www.thegresham.club and it is now established as a Company Limited By Guarantee, registered as The City Of London Gresham Club.
