Charles Mathews, Planché, the Duke of Sussex, Lord Sydney, Robert Walpole, Charles Young, Fred Yates, jun., Theodore Hook of immortal fame, the Marquis of Anglesea, Earl of Belfast, Earl of Fife, Duke of Devonshire, the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Rev. R. H. Barham ("Thomas Ingoldsby"), and Charles Kemble. The present building in Garrick Street was constructed by Mr. Marrable, and opened in 1862 (see Garrick Street).

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Of the Rev. R. H. Barham, who in his Ingoldsby Legends" opened out a totally fresh and unhackneyed style of humorous verse, the following story is told. of his fellow-clerics, whose sense of humour, if it ever existed, was overlaid by a superincumbent mass of dulness and piety, complained to his (and Barham's) Bishop that Barham had written a book of very profane verse. The Bishop asked Barham for an explanation. Barham sent him his book. Whether the Bishop's sense of humour overmastered his sense of religious propriety or not is unknown, but it is certain that Barham never received any episcopal reproof.

The Club possesses a fine collection of portraits of theatrical celebrities of the past, and was first started by Charles Mathews the elder. Mathews was a goodnatured individual, but, like most of his kidney, entirely devoid of business methods, and incapable of appreciating the value of money. Although he commanded big salaries, he was never in affluent circumstances. He betted and gambled; was imposed upon by his friends and fleeced by strangers. He had a penchant for pictures; and the dealers, knowing their customer, made him pay dearly for his hobby. In later days, when in need of ready money, he sold many of his more valuable specimens, and had copies made of them, which suited his purpose just as well. The collection reached large dimensions, and he was persuaded to exhibit it to the public, for which purpose he rented a large room in a house in Oxford Street. Alas! his expectations of a financial success were sadly shattered. The exhibition resulted in a net loss of £150. His friends advised him to sell, but he could not be induced to part with his cherished pictures.

A proposal that the collection should be purchased by the Club somewhat modified his unwillingness to resign his hold upon them, but the sum offered was so small that the negotiations were dropped.

The collection numbered in all 415 canvases; not all these, however, were separate portraits, there being many studies of the same individual. The gems of the collection are those of Badderley, Bannister, and Garrick. There are also portraits of Edmund Kean, John Kemble, Charles Kemble, Charles Mathews, Quin, Mrs. Woffington, and many others. A selection of the best examples came eventually into the possession of Mr. R. Durrant, who presented it to the Club in 1852, when it still occupied its old premises.

There was also a large assortment of Garrick relics, amongst which is a chair made out of the stage of old Drury Lane Theatre. There is also his silver ticket of admission to the Haymarket Theatre, his dress sword and shoe buckles, and the medal worn by him when steward of the Stratford Commemoration in 1769, and also two chairs from his villa at Hampton. There