The Edinburgh University Club of London
Established 1864
Upcoming Events
Multiple Dates09 Jul 2025, 19:00 – 21:00The Caledonian Club, London, 9 Halkin St, London SW1X 7DR, UKA friendly, informal gathering to meet other Club Members and prospective Members, held at the Caledonian Club, London. Learn our ways, meet our people, enjoy our wine... before applying to join the club, which you can do onlin. We request a modest £10 contribution to help reduce FOMO bookings.
03 Sept 2025, 10:30 – 13:30Apothecaries' Hall, Black Friars Lane, City of London, EC4V 6ER, UKIn memory of our Founders Dr Sieveking & Dr Markham, pioneers in the field of medicine, we are organising a private tour of Apothecaries' Hall, the oldest extant Livery Hall in the City, with a glimpse into this secret part of Blackfriars and items in the Society's historic Collections.
Previous Events - Highlights
A selection of some of our previous events, giving you an idea of the variety of locations and subjects
that Club Members have enjoyed.
Annual Dinner 2025
The Morrison Room, The Caledonian Club, London, SWIX
2nd July 2025
The Club held its Annual Dinner on 2nd July 2025 at the Caledonian Club, a piece of Scotland in the UK’s capital.
It brought together 40 guests, some “Old Stagers” and some new
members. As the Club’s President Dr. Stuart Blackie noted in his warm welcome talk, “strangers are simply friends who have not yet met. The Club is one such means to rectify this. We have been fostering fellowship between our Members since 1864.”
Our guest speaker, Professor Shannon Vallor, gave a fascinating talk about AI, ethics and what it means for the future of humanity. Among many insights, we learned that the University of
Edinburgh was second only to MIT to begin research into AI. It started in 1963 with Donald Michie, a former Bletchley Park codebreaker who had worked with Alan Turing.
The Club Committee is delighted with the positive comments and enthusiastic feedback received from our guests!
Photograph by Rosalind Topping, Club Honorary Secretary
Private Tour of the College of Arms, 2025
His Majesty's College of Arms, Victoria Road, City of London, EC4.
11th June 2025
Bluemantle Pursuivant, aka James Peill, gave our group a tour of the College of Arms, starting with the Court Room, pictured, with a glimpse into the fascinating history of Arms in England & Wales, dating back to Norman times. Several grants of arms of Edinburgh graduates were shown, and other objects with connections to the University were on display.
Photograph by Tim Gadoffre.
Club Drinks for New
& Prospective Members
Selkirk Room, The Caledonian Club,
15th May 2025, 6.00 pm
A welcoming drinks event was organised for Edinburgh University Alumni, in following the enthusiastic response received to the University's Development & Alumni newsletter sent out on 7th May.
Honorary Secretary Rosalind Topping, just back from performing with her dance troup in Sardinia, gave a warm welcome to everyone. Tim Gadoffre, Publicity Officer, proposed the Club Toasts. Some lingered in the bar afterwards, for an impromptu whisky tasting!
Open to all Edinburgh Graduates and Staff members, do join us at an upcoming Club Drinks in July, September or November!
Photograph by Carla Salvatore.
![EUCL-Club-Drinks-May-2025-Photo-Carla-Salvatore-2967 [Web].jpeg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/afcd34_dc767466c1fc47ceaf7701260a44cd93~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_490,h_327,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/afcd34_dc767466c1fc47ceaf7701260a44cd93~mv2.jpeg)
Buckingham Palace Education & Skills Garden Party 2025
Buckingham Palace, The Mall, London
14th May 2025
Thanks to the Club's Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, a limited number of tickets were made available to Club Members to attend the 2025 "Education & Skills" Garden Party.
Needless to say, this event was enjoyed by those few Club members who were fortunate enough to have attended.
Image courtesy of Dr. Stuart Blackie, Club President.
Fabergé:
behind the scenes, 2023
By Tim Gadoffre, Applied Arts & Fabergé specialist
5th September 2023, The Caledonian Club, London
Tim captivated his audience with a lavishly illustrated talk with over 200 images of pieces by Carl Fabergé, showing the variety of objects produced by the House between 1880 and its untimely demise in 1918.
He gave us a glimpse into the design knowhow and fabrication techniques that put Fabergé ahead of its time, operating from its custom-built premises in St Petersburg that opened in 1901. The talk was followed by supper in the main dining room of the Caledonian Club.
Photograph by Carla Salvatore
Annual Dinner 2022
The Caledonian Club
The Caledonian Club, London
14th June 2022
We were delighted to welcome Toby Young, founder and director of The Free Speech Union and an associate editor of The Spectator, to join us and speak at our annual dinner.
A great time was had by all, and Toby's talk was highly entertaining and informative.
Photograph by Iain Poole
Annual Dinner 2019
The Caledonian Club
The Caledonian Club, London
Wednesday 19th June 2019
Our guest speaker was Professor Charlie Jeffrey, Professor of Politics and Senior Vice-Principal of the University, who spoke on a number of fascinating topics while avoiding any opinion on Brexit!
The menu had a starter of cured salmon with orange, dill, fennel and pea shoot salad, followed by roast loin of Elwy lamb, fondant potato, aubergine, courgette and roasted cherry tomato.
Raspberry and mascarpone Cheesecake with berry compote was enjoyed for pudding.
Summer Visit 2018
Strawberry Hill
Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham
June 2018
The Club enjoyed a guided tour of Horace Walpole's eighteenth Century house, with its distinctive architecture and fine contents.
Walpole rebuilt the existing house in stages starting in 1749, 1760, 1772 and 1776. These added Gothic features such as towers and battlements outside and elaborate decoration inside to create "gloomth" to suit Walpole's collection of antiquarian objects, contrasting with the more cheerful or "riant"[2] garden. The interior included a Robert Adam fireplace; parts of the exterior were designed by James Essex.
Photograph by Iain Poole
Annual Dinner 2015
The Oriental Club
The Oriental Club, 11 Stratford Place, London W1C
2015
A great evening was had at the Oriental Club, celebrating the deep connections between Scotland and the overseas territories in which Edinburgh graduates have had a lasting presence and influence.
The Oriental Club treasures its rich history and the extraordinary characters who have been associated with it, since the Duke of Wellington became the Club’s first and only President in 1824.
In literature, it has been a reference point throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, with novelists such as William Thackeray and Lytton Strachey referencing the Club, and countless others drawing from its stable of colourful characters.
150th Anniversary Dinner 2014
With our Patron, HRH Princess Anne, The Princess Royal
23rd July 2014, The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh
By invitation of Her Majesty The Queen and in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal, the dinner was attended by both EUCL and Graduates’ Association members and their guests.
The Club had a small display of its silver collection in the coffee room including the elegant Sieveking ram’s head snuff mull and ‘loving cup’ engraved with an image of Old College. There was also a display of some of the original menu cards from dinners held in the early days of the Club.
In her speech during dinner The Princess Royal noted some of the distinguished members the Club has counted over the years and commented that she was pleased to see such a good attendance of both London Club and Graduates’ Association members.
She went on to say that she hoped the London Club and the Graduates Association would continue to build links with other networks of Edinburgh University graduates across the world, while recognising that our commonality is the wonderful city of Edinburgh and that we should all be encouraged to return there more often.
Whitechapel Bell Foundry - 2013
A guided tour of the bell foundry in Whitechapel
Iain Poole organised this fascinating guided tour of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, prior to its untimely closure.
The bell foundry primarily made church bells and their fittings and accessories, although it also provided single tolling bells, carillon bells and handbells. The foundry was notable for being the original manufacturer of the Liberty Bell, a famous symbol of American independence, and for re-casting Big Ben, which rings from the north clock tower (the Elizabeth Tower) at the Houses of Parliament in London.
The First Club Dinner
1st August 1864
With Sir David Brewster, First President of the Club
1st August 1864
The first dinner was held on 1st August 1864, by which time Sir David Brewster had been appointed as the first President of the Club by Founders Dr. Edward Henry Sieveking and Dr William Orlando Markham.
David Brewster was a Scottish scientist, inventor, author, and academic administrator. In science he is principally remembered for his experimental work in physical optics, mostly concerned with the study of the polarization of light and including the discovery of Brewster's angle.
Brewster was also a pioneer in photography. He invented an improved stereoscope, which he called "lenticular stereoscope" and which 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.