Army and Navy Club
The Army and Navy Club in London is a private members club founded in 1837, also known informally as The Rag.
Foundation and Membership
The club was founded by Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Barnes (1776–1838) in 1837. His proposal was to establish an Army Club, with all officers of Her Majesty's Army on full or half pay eligible for membership. However, when The Duke of Wellington was asked to be a patron, he refused unless membership was also offered to officers of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, and this was agreed. On 28 August 1837 a meeting representing the various services took place, to elect a Committee and to settle the new club's Rules.
Sir Edward Barnes died on 19 March 1838, just two weeks before the first general meeting of the club.
By 1851, the club was in a strong position, with sixteen hundred members and a waiting list of 834. This pressure led to the founding of the separate Naval and Military Club in 1862.
Charles Dickens Jr. reported in Dickens's Dictionary of London (1879):
"Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall. — Is instituted for the association of commissioned officers of all ranks in Her Majesty’s Regular Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Marines. Election by ballot in club meeting. Thirty members must actually vote, and one black ball in ten excludes. Entrance fee, £40; subscription, £7 7S. for old members; but the following resolution was carried at the annual meeting of the club on the 3rd June, 1878: "All new members who are elected to the club, commencing with the next ballot, shall pay an annual subscription at £10 10s."
