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Vincent's Club

by J.C. Masterman, Christ Church and sometime athletics blue.

A long life leaves me with many happy memories- and not least amongst them is my election to Vincent's in 1912. It is difficult to get past events into perspective, still more to put one's priorities in order, but I think that the pleasure which this election gave me was not foolish or exaggerated. Election to a club, then as now regarded as the best in undergraduate Oxford, was for many of us a salutary experience; for the first time we realised that we were of some value and of good reputation among our fellows - and that was no bad thing for us.

Vincent's was indeed founded on elitism and careful selection. As its founder wrote: 'The theory of this club was that it should consist of the picked hundred of the University, selected for all-round qualities; social, physical and intellectual qualities being duly considered'. No doubt the athletic interests of the members predominated, then and later, but athletic distinction alone was not a sufficient passport to membership and I hope it never will be. Elitism and selection have, more's the pity, become dirty words today when rabid theorists confuse equality of opportunity (which is a good thing) with egalitarianism (which is bad). It was not so in the past when the Club founder had no compunction whatever in choosing those whom he thought to be the best. Nor had he any doubt that he had succeeded in his object. Swift's lines spring to the mind:

We are the chosen few
All others will be damned
There is no room in Heaven for you
We can't have Heaven crammed.

But I am digressing even before I start upon my theme. Vincent's Club was founded in 1863 by a remarkable man -W. B. Woodgate - and the history of its foundation is full of interest. Woodgate had for some years declared his intention of founding a select club and finally settled on the old reading rooms which Vincent, the printer, had previously kept at 90 High Street for its home. Vincent's was firmly founded and its rules laid down. To these rules the longevity and prosperity of the Club are, I think, mainly due. No one was eligible until his second year; the number of members was not to exceed the sacred 100; and 'once a member, always a member', a provision which has been of the greatest advantage to those who have gone down.

Woodgate came also, at rare intervals, in my own time. I recall to mind a large man, in a great cloak, a man whom one felt to be a personality even before he spoke, and whom one regarded with veneration and awe, though I cannot be sure that I ever spoke to him. For me he gave the impression of power and grandeur. Other memories crowd on one another. We had our own customs and conventions, though the most curious of them-that members wore their hats in the Club room-had disappeared long before 1912. The essence of the place was, of course, its selectivity. We did not as a rule speak of 'Vincent's' at all but rather of 'The Club'. This was hubristic no doubt for we felt that no other club was on an equal footing with us. I have no doubt that it was accepted by all that Vincent's was the premier undergraduate club. Our club life was to a large extent built round the Steward who, himself the son of the first Steward, held his office from 1857 for over fifty years. His real name was Henry Browne, but it would have been an unforgivable social gaffe to speak to or of him except as 'John'. What wonderful service he gave! In the staid pages of the Caterer Gazette of 16 April 1900, you may read these words - 'One of its [Vincent's] pleasantest features is a house dinner, consisting of soup, fish, two entrees, joint, two sweets, savoury and cheese, which is provided at 2s. 6d. a head. How it is done is a mystery....' Over and above this free beer, tea, and coffee were provided and letters were stamped free of charge by the Club. It pains me to think of this privilege.

I fancy that the Club had become more clearly athletic in tone than it had been at its inception, or, to be more precise, that the balance of athletic distinction had slightly changed. Most of Woodgate's early friends were rowing men and of the rest many, in later life, were entitled to put M.F.H. after their name. In 1912 the Club room had a fireplace with a fender, on which one could sit, at each end of the room. By convention and custom one fender was reserved for the rowing fraternity, but other activities were developing apace and, among the Presidents, more and more seem to have come from cricket, Rugby football, or athletics. The Club was the natural meeting-place of the Blues Committee and University sides in all sports were always posted on the notice board. Once, and once only, was the rule which barred freshmen from membership broken-in favour of the then Prince of Wales (Edward VIII). He was a member during my last year and during the following year, 1913 -14, after I had gone down. Probably he gained more from the Club in his second year, but of that I have no knowledge. In retrospect it was, perhaps, a mistake to break the rule even for the heir to the throne. In the photograph of 1913, seated on the ground, he looks, and indeed was, too obviously the youngest person there.

Almost miraculously the Club was kept alive during the first war, mainly because of the devotion of John and of the Treasurer (H. le B. Lightfoot (or 'Foots') of C.C.C.). The few survivors of the war who returned in 1919 were therefore able to continue their Club life without the need of suffering the pains of resuscitation. At that time I was a young don at Christ Church and for me Vincent's was an asset beyond price. Apart from the occasional dinner or tea, I used to lunch there two or three times a week, and always with enjoyment and happy companionship. In 1923 E. L. (Fuzz) Francis of Oriel became a master, and later Bursar, of the Dragon School and he also became Treasurer of Vincent's . He put the Club again on a secure footing, issued a successful Appeal and in 1931 moved the Club to its present quarters at 1A King Edward Street.

The Vincent's tie, now a sort of passport all over the English-speaking world, was adopted about 1925 and was pro-posed by J. V. Richardson of B.N.C. I remember, with shame, that I argued in favour of a tie of multi-coloured stripes which was proposed as an alternative design. How wrong I was! The first Vincent's dinner was held in London in 1950 and was more or less informal since there were no speeches. I have no clear recollection of the 1951 dinner, but the dinners of 1952 and 1953 stand out in my mind with unusual clarity. In 1952 the choice as guest of honour fell, not unnaturally, upon Lord Halifax, Chancellor of the University, and in 1953 on Lord Simonds, then Lord Chancellor. My own connection with these dinners was that, as a sort of ghost writer, I wrote a speech for each of them in turn - an act of piety which caused me some embarrassment when, a decade later, I had to compose a speech for myself as guest of honour.

I must not ramble on but I will allow myself one more 'memory'. It is a warm early evening in June somewhere about 1930 and a raucous call from the street below demands to know whether the Nawab of Pataudi is in the Club. He leans out of the window and from below comes the cheerful call 'Is that you, Noob?' 'Of course it is, are you colour-blind?' is the equally cheerful response.

In essentials, the Club changes little, although free beer and free postage have long disappeared and even the sacred number of 100 has been long abandoned. At one time Woodgate had wished the Club to be called 'The Century' and the President 'The Centurion of Oxford', but even he would probably admit that, since the University has more than doubled in size since 1863, some enlargement was inevitable.

Basically the Club is as it always was. Somewhere in the world there may be a club older, more united, more friendly, and more cheerful than Vincent's - but I do not think that there is.

Reprinted from "Oxford" with kind permission of the Oxford Society.

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