Almack's was the name of a number of establishments and social clubs in London between the 18th and 20th centuries. Two of the social clubs would go on to fame as Brooks's and Boodle's. Almack's most famous establishment was based in assembly rooms on King Street, St James's, and was one of a limited number of upper-class mixed-sex public social venues in the British capital in an era when the most important venues for the hectic social season were the grand houses of the aristocracy. The site of the club, Almack's Assembly Rooms or (from 1781) Willis's Rooms, has become retrospectively interchangeable with the club, though for much of the club's lifetime, the rooms offered a variety of other entertainments with no connection to the club.
William Almack
The history of Almack's begins with its founder William Almack (the elder). One popular theory, circulated since 1811, supposes him to have been Scottish, his real name 'M'Caul', and that he had changed it because he found that in England a Scots name prejudiced his business. In fact, Almack appears to have been of Yorkshire origin, and the theory that this was an assumed name is undoubtedly false. In the will of his brother John Almack (died 1762) there is a legacy to his married sister, Ann Tebb, who lived at Sand Hutton in the parish of Thirsk, Yorkshire; and William Almack later bequeathed an annuity of twenty pounds to his niece Ann Tebb. The parish registers of Thirsk show that the Almack family had been established there since 1629. However, William Almack's wife, Elizabeth Cullen, was Scottish, and Almack himself may have met her whilst they were both in the service of the Duke of Hamilton, Almack as valet to the Duke and Elizabeth as waiting-maid to the Duchess. These Scottish associations may have led to the presumption that Almack himself was a Scot.
From 1754 to 1759 William Almack kept a licensed coffee house in Curzon Street, open to all comers. On 7 September 1759 he obtained a licence 'to keep a common Alehouse or Victualling-house' at No. 49 Pall Mall and the rate books confirm that this tavern, which stood on the north side of Pall Mall, was opened by Almack in the latter part of 1759. Between September 1759 and January 1762 this establishment appears to have been an ordinary licensed house open to all comers. A letter from Horace Walpole to the Hon. Henry Seymour Conway, dated 10 April 1761, contains one of the few contemporary references to Almack at this period, and indicates that he was already known for the dinners for which he and Edward Boodle later became famous: 'Poor Sir Harry Ballendene is dead; he made a great dinner at Almack's for the house of Drummond, drank very hard, caught a violent fever, and died in a very few days.'
The First Almack's Club, Brooks's, and Boodle's
In January 1762 a private 'Society' was established in the house (No. 50) adjoining the tavern; this was the first of Almack's clubs, and was the immediate precursor of two of the greatest clubs in St. James's Street, Brooks's and Boodle's. It appears to have been formed in opposition, perhaps for political reasons, to White's (then often called Arthur's), for rule 12 as originally drafted forbade any member of Almack's from membership of any other London club, 'nor of what is at present called Arthur's or by whatever Name that Society or Club may be afterwards called, neither of new or old club or any other belonging to it'. In February 1763 this rule was altered and made even more emphatic: 'If any Member of this Society becomes a Member of Arthur's or a Candidate for Arthur's, he is of Course struck out of this Society.' The record book of the new society was kept by Almack as a statement of the terms on which he agreed to provide for the social needs of the members, and it has survived amongst the records of Boodle's. The first entry, dated 1 January 1762, states that 'William Almack has taken the large new House West of his now dwelling House in Pall Mall for the sole use of a Society Established upon the following Rules.' Until 10 February 1762 membership was to be open to anyone signing his name in the book; thereafter election was to be by ballot, which was always to be held 'in Parliament Time' and one black ball excluded; the total membership was to be limited to 250. After 10 February the members were to appoint thirteen managers, 'each of whom are to have a power to keep order and make the Rules of the Society to be observed'; they were to serve for one year and then each manager was 'to appoint a Successor for the ensuing Year'. The rules of the society could only be changed by the unanimous vote of at least thirty members.