Nos. 94–95 Pall Mall: The Star and
Garter
Occupied part of the site subsequently occupied until
1940 by the Carlton Club, and now by 'No. 100 Pall Mall'
In 1759 there were two inns called the Star
and Garter in Pall Mall. (ref. 55) (fn. a) One of these had
existed since at least 1740 (ref. 58) and stood on the
north side of the street on the site of the present
No. 44 Pall Mall, opposite to Schomberg House. (ref. 34)
It continued to be known as the Star and Garter
until about 1905. (ref. 59)
The other and much more famous Star and
Garter stood on the south side of Pall Mall on
part of the site subsequently occupied until 1940 by
the Carlton club-house. Coney (pocket, drawing B)
shows a four-storeyed building of early eighteenth-century character, probably two houses originally,
that to the east having a narrow front projecting
from its neighbour. The east house had a shop at
ground-floor level, a prominent canted bay on the
first floor, and two windows in each succeeding
storey, the front being quoined at the angles and
finished with an eaves-cornice and a hipped roof.
The western house had a rusticated Doric porch
to the west of the three ground-floor windows,
and four windows in each upper storey. The angle
quoins and eaves-cornice were uniform with those
of the eastern house.
It is not known when this inn was first
licensed, but in 1759 the licensee was James
Fynmore, (ref. 60) whose lease the Society of Dilettanti
unsuccessfully attempted to buy in 1765. The
society was then in the habit of holding its monthly
meetings at Fynmore's inn, and had held a meeting at 'the Star and Garter in Pall Mall' as early as
1743. (ref. 61) The famous duel in 1765 between Lord
Byron, great-uncle of the poet, and his Nottinghamshire neighbour Mr. Chaworth, in which the
latter was killed, undoubtedly took place at this
inn, for Fynmore is mentioned in contemporary
accounts as the master of the house. (ref. 62)
The 'Star and Garter in Pall Mall' was a
favourite meeting-place in the eighteenth century.
Which of the two inns of that name is referred to
cannot always be determined, but that on the
south side appears to be the more likely. In his
Journal to Stella Swift states on 20 March
1711/12 that 'I made our Society change their
House, and we met to-day at the Star and Garter
in Pall Mall'. (ref. 63) In 1752 'the noblemen and
gentlemen of the Jockey Club' were meeting at
'the Star and Garter in Pall Mall', (ref. 64) and in a letter
to George Selwyn dated 18 July 1763 Gilly
Williams says that 'our jovial club meets at the
Star and Garter'. (ref. 65) In 1774 the laws of cricket
were revised by a committee of noblemen and
gentlemen which met there, an l.b.w. law being
introduced for the first time. (ref. 66) In 1772 the shortlived Savoir Vivre Club was established at the
Star and Garter in Pall Mall, (ref. 67) and the Society of
Dilettanti met there regularly from at least 1765
until 1800. (ref. 68)
In the 1780's and 90's the licensee of the Star
and Garter on the south side of Pall Mall was
James Hunt. The inn came to an end in about
1800 and the premises which it had occupied
remained empty for some years afterwards. (ref. 34) The
Epicure's Almanack (1815) says that this inn had
been 'celebrated for vending the best claret in
England. The house somehow or other got out of
fashion and dwindled into an office for the Light
and Heat Company [see below], but the light
also dwindling and the heat of the company
becoming lukewarm it again changed hands and
was degraded into a manufactory of shoe blacking.' (ref. 69)