The Edinburgh University Club of London
Established 1864
A brief history of the Club
1864
The Edinburgh University Club of London was founded on 27 June 1864 when two graduates of the medical school, Dr William Orlando Markham and Dr Edward Henry Sieveking, who graduated in 1841, sought to establish ‘a friendly association of the Graduates of the University of Edinburgh’.
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The medical school was the largest faculty of the University at that time, so most of the initial membership base came from there, however graduates from the other faculties soon followed. Membership grew rapidly, to 231 by the end of 1864. It reached about 600 in the early years and remained well over that level until 1939 when war intervened.
Dr. William Orlando Markham.
(b. 28 January 1818 - d. 23 January 1891)
Lithograph c. 1862 by G. B. Black, Wellcome Trust.
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Sir Edward Henry Sieveking
(b. 24 August 1816 ​- d. 24 February 1904)
Wellcome under Creative Commons License
William Orlando Markham was an English physician and pioneer of cardiology. After his education at Edinburgh, Paris, and Heidelberg, Markham graduated in 1840 M.D. in the University of Edinburgh, where he obtained a gold medal for his thesis on the surgical practice of Paris, illustrated by cases. He was from January 1861 to August 1866 the editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal. From 1867 to 1870 he was Poor Law inspector and medical adviser to the Poor Law Board.
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Co-Founding member Dr Sieveking, later Sir Edward, studied medicine at the University of Berlin under eminent physiologist Johannes Peter Muller, and also at University College London and the University of Edinburgh, where he received his doctorate in 1841. He was appointed physician in ordinary to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1863, and then physician extraordinary in 1873, and physician in ordinary to Queen Victoria in 1888. In 1886 Sieveking was knighted by Queen Victoria, and in 1901 King Edward VII appointed him Physician Extraordinary to His Majesty. In 1888, he was appointed censor and Vice-President of the Royal College of Physicians, as well as President of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society.
The first Club dinner was held on 1st August 1864, by which time Sir David Brewster had been appointed as the first President of the Club, along with four Vice-presidents. Brewster was a pioneer in photography, his innovations were many. He invented an improved stereoscope, which he called "lenticular stereoscope" that became the first portable 3D-viewing device. He also invented the stereoscopic camera, two types of polarimeters, the polyzonal lens, the lighthouse illuminator, and the kaleidoscope.
Sir David Brewster, Scottish Scientist, Inventor and Writer,
(b. 11 December 1781 - d. 10 February 1868)
​Links with other Edinburgh graduate clubs across the country were formed quickly, including Manchester (est. 1874), several other English cities, and even internationally; alumni from Canada and South Africa would visit.
1884
A particularly splendid 10-course banquet was held in 1884, as part of the celebrations marking the tercentenary of Edinburgh University. A beautifully engraved seating plan, tickets, and menu for the occasion are preserved in the Club’s archive, now on permanent loan to the Special Collections department of the University Library. The archive also includes the first Minute Book, membership lists, and records of at least 200 events prior to 1939.
The Club’s purpose was simply ‘promoting good fellowship and the interests of the University’ and it became essentially a gentlemen’s dining club meeting quarterly, usually in a London West End restaurant; the principal toast of course being “alma mater”.​ Members of the Club were notable people of the time, including Club Presidents:
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- Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, pictured below left, Queen Victoria’s fourth child and second son, was the first British Royal to visit Australia, where he spent five months in 1868 to great acclaim from the public.
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- The 8th Duke of Argyll, below right, who made a significant geological discovery in the 1850s when his tenant found fossilized leaves embedded among basalt lava on the Island of Mull. He also helped to popularize ornithology. He was one of the first to give a detailed account of the principles of bird flight in the hopes of advancing artificial aerial navigation at the advent of flying machines.​​
Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, circa 1881
(b. 6 August 1844 - d. 30 July 1900)
George John Douglas Campbell, 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll
(b. 30 April 1823 – d. 24 April 1900)
Portrait by Herbert Rose Barraud, c. 1870-75
- Sir Joseph Lister, below left, a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Lister's contributions were four-fold. First, as a surgeon at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, he introduced carbolic acid as a steriliser for surgical instruments, patients' skins, sutures, surgeons' hands, and wards, promoting the principle of antiseptics. Second, he researched the role of inflammation and tissue perfusion in the healing of wounds. Third, he advanced diagnostic science by analyzing specimens using microscopes. Fourth, he devised strategies to increase the chances of survival after surgery.
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- Arthur Balfour, below right, a Conservative politician who was Prime Minister from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the Lloyd George ministry, he issued the Balfour Declaration of 1917 on behalf of the Cabinet, which supported the establishment of a "home for the Jewish people".
_surgeon_Wellcome_L0002075.jpg)
Sir Joseph Lister, First Baron Lister, circa 1860
(b. 5 April 1827 - d.. 10 February 1912)
Portrait by Thoman Annan, courtesy Wellcome
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
(b. 25 July 1848 – d. 19 March 1930)
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James Matthew Barrie, a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan, reflects the literary talent that also existed within the Club. Barrie moved in literary circles and had many famous friends in addition to his professional collaborators. Novelist George Meredith was an early social patron. He had a long correspondence with fellow Scot Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived in Samoa at the time.
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The finest recorded toast at a Club dinner is said to be by member Dr Conan Doyle, later Sir Arthur, a British writer and physician.. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, Order of Merit
(b. 9 May 1860 – d. 19 June 1937)
Portrait by Herbert Rose Barraud, 1892, NPG
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
(b. 22 May 1859 – d. 7 July 1930)
1906​
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Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn - a pioneer in what was then called Medical Jurisprudence (a combination of forensic medicine & public health) became Chairman of the Edinburgh University Club on 16th May 1906, . Marking his nomination, he presented a fine silver box to the Club, which is maintained in the collection. ​
During his illustrious career, and for his many achievements, Littlejohn was bestowed many honours. In 1855, he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as president in 1881. He was appointed Edinburgh's first Medical Officer of Health in 1862, where he served for 46 years. During his tenure, the death rate in Edinburgh fell from 26 per thousand to 17 per thousand. There was a dramatic drop in outbreaks of smallpox and typhus. His introduction of compulsory notification of infectious diseases has been described as "one of the major advances in public health of the 19th century".
He received an honorary LLD from the University of Edinburgh in 1893. In the same year, he became president of the Royal Institute of Public Health. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1895.
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In 1900, Littlejohn identified a link between cigarette smoking and cancer, some 60 years before the Royal College of Physicians produced a report which acknowledged such a link.
Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn MD LLD FRCSE
(8 May 1826 – 30 September 1914),
1983​
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Since 1983, membership has been open to all Alumni and Staff of the University of Edinburgh, wherever they live.
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As a dining club the EUCL amassed a sizable collection of silver, which the Club still treasures today. Dr. Sieveking presented several items including a traditional Scottish ram’s head snuff mull (pictured below) to the Club in 1871, and in the same year he arranged a subscription to purchase a loving cup.
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"Ramsay", the Scottish ram’s-head snuff mull,
presented by Founder Dr. Sieveking to the Club in 1871
​Photograph from the EUCL archive
1989
125th Anniversary​
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His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who held the Chancellorship of the University from 1953, became the Club’s royal patron after the Club celebrated its 125th anniversary in 1989 in his presence.
The Royal Patronage continues today, as HRH The Princess Royal accepted an invitation to become the Club’s patron shortly after succeeding her father as Chancellor in 2011.
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HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
(b. 10 June 1921 - d. 9 April 2021)​
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2014
150th Anniversary​
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On 23rd July 2014 the Club celebrated its 150th anniversary at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. This was organised at the invitation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. Taking place just before Edinburgh Festival, this was all the more exciting in a year in which Scotland was hosting the Commonwealth Games and the Referendum on Scottish Independence.
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The dinner was set in the magnificent splendour of the dining room, full of candelabra, bouquets of flowers and a royal red carpet. The Club had put on a display of its silver collection in the coffee room, along with a display of some of the original menu cards from dinners held in the early days of the Club.
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In her speech during dinner The Princess Royal noted some of the famous and distinguished members the Club has counted over the years. She commented that she was pleased to see such a good attendance and went on to reflect upon the benefits of such Clubs to their members; how they act as excellent networks not only for social interests but also as an environment for potential employers to find skilled workers.
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HRH went on to say that she hoped the London Club and the Graduates Association would become more closely engaged following the occasion and also that we continue to build links with other networks of Edinburgh graduates across the world, though she was also keen to recognize that our commonality is the wonderful city of Edinburgh and that we should all be encouraged to return there more often.​​
The Club's 150th Anniversary Dinner in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, on 23 July 2014
Held in the presence of the Club's Patron, HRH the Princess Royal.
Photograph courtesy of Iain Poole, Club President in 2014.
2020... and onwards​
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The Covid-19 lockdown of March 2020 put a sudden and rather brutal halt to all social activities of the Club during almost two years. While no events were able to be organised, Committee meetings were held remotely every quarter, under the auspices of Dr. Stuart Blackie, Club President.
Using this bleak time to good effect, our President directed the Committee to develop a revitalisation strategy. The focus has been fourfold:
i. organising member events, regular dinners and visits to places of historic interest,
ii. recruiting new members,
iii. deepening our working relationship with Edinburgh University's Development & Alumni team,
iv. expanding the reach of the Club, through online communications and social media.
Happily, this team initiative has borne fruit. Today, the Club offers a varied schedule of events, some of which are held at the Caledonian Club, 9 Halkin Street, London. The Number 9 Club, as it is called, is a suitable meeting place in central London, with Scottish connections. We are celebrating "the good fellowship" that our founders set out to foster among the graduates and staff of the University of Edinburgh here in London.
Pieces from the Club's silver collection are once again being enjoyed during formal dinners, connecting our membership to those noble traditions laid down by our forebears. The silver collection continues to grow. Some of the more recent acquisitions, including a silver-mounted wine carafe presented by our President, Dr Stuart Blackie, are used whenever the Club meets. Many beautiful pieces from the collection are displayed at the Annual Dinner and other special events.​
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We invite you to join us for the Club Toast, the fourth of five traditional toasts:
"To the Edinburgh University Club of London,
may it prosper here and thrive yonder,
bringing fellowship to all."
The response is: "The Club".
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On behalf of the President and Committee, we are looking forward to seeing you again... or to welcoming you as a new member!
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-oOo-​​​
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![EUCL-March-2025-Carla-Salvatore-Photo-42 [Web].jpeg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/afcd34_6b96faaca0f84a8ba17289f1a678f646~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_803,h_535,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/EUCL-March-2025-Carla-Salvatore-Photo-42%20%5BWeb%5D.jpeg)
One of a pair of silver-mounted wine carafes.
Presented to the Club by Dr. Stuart Blackie, Club President 2019-2025
Photograph by Carla Salvatore
