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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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White's
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(London SW1) The oldest of London's *clubs, having developed from a chocolate house opened by Francis White in 1693 lower down St James's Street (on the site of the present *Boodle's). White's soon became notorious for its high stakes and the club's betting book, continuous from the mid-18C, reveals that anything was good for a gamble; £3000 was placed one rainy day on which of two drops would win the race to the bottom of the window pane. London's clubs were largely non-political until the end of the 18C, when White's became *Tory because Pitt and his supporters congregated there – as opposed to Brooks's on the other side of St James's Street, where Charles James *Fox held court.
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The transition from a chocolate house seems to have occurred through inner rooms being reserved for a select group, who eventually became the club. White's moved to its present site in 1755 and the building was refashioned in 1787–8, probably by James Wyatt. The famous bow window on to the street (a vantage point virtually reserved when it was new for Beau *Brummell) was added in 1811.
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