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Produced and published by the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
Published July 2008
Published July 2008
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Melbourne's second club was established in 1841 during the city's first boom. To avoid being a salon des refuses, the founders (professional men, civil servants, merchants, squatters) refused to admit men rejected by the Melbourne Club and excluded members of the older club. To avoid blackballing, election was by a majority of a committee of thirteen. The club leased Yarra House in Swanston Street. Attracting a kind press (unlike the older club), it led a sober, discreet existence, befitting what was a social second XI. It had about 100 members, two of whom (squatters) were expelled for not acting as gentlemen in their business dealings. 'It vegetated quietly' until 1843, when it succumbed to the general depression.