With a name like Hellfire, you don’t expect this to be a book club or chess club. Being 18th Century Britain, it wasn’t a motorbike gang or rock band either. The Hellfire Club was attended exclusively by a bunch of aristocrats – a pretty scandalous bunch at that.
But what was this members-only club all about? Who was involved in the Hellfire Club? And why is it still famous today? Discover the scandalous, debauched activities of the Hellfire Club and how it affected English society.
It was Philip, Duke of Wharton, who had the bright idea of founding this exclusive club. Established in 1718, Wharton would only include his high-society mates as members.
Wharton came from aristocratic stock. He was friends with King George I and was a popular Member of Parliament. But behind this refined veneer, he led a debauched life with plenty of sex, booze and blasphemy. Mind you, his father was also famed for his riotous behaviour. Most notably, he broke into a church and urinated his own brand of holy water onto the font.
The original members have never been identified for sure. It’s generally thought that Wharton was joined by noble friends including Trevor Hill, 1st Viscount of Hillsborough, George Henry Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield and Sir Ed O’Brien. Basically, aristocrats known for their copious intake of alcohol, addiction to gambling and many other vices.
The so-called ‘satirical gentlemen’s club’ certainly didn’t involve crosswords and crochet. The main activity of Wharton’s club was mocking religion – a shocking thing to do in 18th Century Britain. They’d dress up as religious figures and enact mock religious ceremonies.
The Hellfire Club meetings were held in inns or private homes across London. Members would drink vast quantities of alcohol and gorge themselves on food. Drunkenness was a prerequisite of The Hellfire Club. They’d dabble in most of the seven deadly sins to be honest – with gluttony, greed and lust being regular activities. Add in a smattering of gambling, fornicating and blasphemy, and you get the idea of a night at the Hellfire Club.
Appalled by the club’s blasphemous activities, a group of MPs persuaded the king to pass a bill banning ‘horrid impieties’. That put a dampener on the Hellfire Club and it was disbanded. It didn’t stop Wharton though. He continued with his hedonistic, vice-filled lifestyle until he drank himself to death aged 33.
The original Hellfire Club may have been extinguished, but its embers were still glowing. A year after Wharton’s death, the club’s flames were reignited. Sir Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer, set up the second iteration of the Hellfire Club in 1732. Dashwood was notorious for his pranks and naughty behaviour. His impersonation of the Swedish king, and attempted seduction of Russia’s Tsarina Anne, saw him banned from all Papal States by his early 20s.
Dashwood had form in the private members’ club area. He was a founding member of The Society of Dilettanti in 1732, supposedly to appreciate classical art. Fellow member, the writer Horace Walpole, actually described it as “a club for which the nominal qualification is having been to Italy, and the real one, being drunk.”
Instead of The Hellfire Club, Dashwood named his group the Order of the Knights of St Francis (over time, it was also known as the Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wy, the Order of the Friars of St Francis of Wycombe and the Order of Knights of West Wycombe).
Francis Dashwood restricted its exclusive membership to 12 of his buddies. They included Thomas Potter, a notorious rake and scandalous author, John Wilkes the journalist and politician, Paul Whitehead the poet, and John Montagu the 4th Earl of Sandwich (yes, Lord Sandwich the originator of the butty). Soon, Dashwood’s club expanded to include Frederick Prince of Wales, satirist and artist William Hogarth, and even the American revolutionary and scientist, Benjamin Franklin.
Like the original club, the group’s aim was to poke fun at the absurdities of Christianity, especially monastic orders. When we say ‘poking fun’, they were all about dressing as monks, performing parodies of religious ceremonies and making mock sacrifices to Bacchus and Venus. Along with that there was huge amounts of boozing, feasting, entertaining prostitutes and sharing pornographic materials.
Dashwood leased a site on the Thames, Medmenham Abbey in Buckinghamshire, with the intention of making it the club’s headquarters. He had a series of tunnels and caverns created for the club’s underground meetings. These chambers were named the Entrance Hall, the Steward’s Chamber, the Whitehead’s Cave, Lord Sandwich’s Circle, Franklin’s Cave, the Banqueting Hall, the Triangle, the Miner’s Cave, and the Inner Temple. Above the door was carved the club’s motto, ‘Do What Thou Wilt.’ These are now known as the Hellfire Caves or the West Wycombe Caves of West Wycombe Park.
After around 30 years of existence, Dashwood’s Club wound down and eventually ended. At this time, Dashwood became Chancellor of the Exchequer (despite being incapable) and was promoted to 11th Baron le Despencer. Perhaps this lofty status required a more respectable persona.
Also, various members of the club were involved in scandals. John Wilkes, for example, was outlawed and fled to France in 1874. Wilkes also played a part in The Gordon Riots of 1780, but that’s another story.
The Hellfire Club wasn’t entirely extinguished. Other groups popped up throughout the United Kingdom, particularly in Scotland and Ireland, and continued into the 19th century.
The Hellfire Clubs of the Duke of Wharton and Sir Francis Dashwood are said to have inspired authors from Charles Dickens to Mark Twain.
The notion of elite membership clubs performing pagan rituals and committing debauched acts still sparks curiosity and imagination today. If you saw Season 4 of Stranger Things, you’ll know that they had their own version of The Hellfire Club. It was more Dungeons and Dragons, and less sex, drink and debauchery. There were nods to Satanic cults though.
If you’re curious to find out more about these sinful locations and scenes of gluttony and greed, let us lead you on a Seven Deadly Sins walking tour of London. Our brilliant storyteller guides will show you around the city of sin, and will tell tales that’ll make your eyes water!