City Tattersalls Club

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Front view of City Tattersalls Club

The City Tattersalls Club is a gentlemen's club founded in 1895 in the inner city of the Australian metropolis Sydney . The club grew out of the Tattersalls Club and was founded by a group of 20 bookmakers . In the beginning it was intended as a meeting place for bookmakers, from around 1930 the club developed into a meeting place for men, only from 1963 on women could also become members. In the 20th century the club sponsored and hosted several sporting events, nowadays it is used increasingly for public events.

The City Tattersalls Club is located at 194-204 Pitt Street .

Facilities and purpose

The traditional club follows the example of numerous British gentlemen's clubs; Accordingly, it is primarily used for the common leisure activities of its members, who initially came primarily from the upper class and are now increasingly recruited from the upper middle class. The members of the City Tattersalls Club are united by a preference for joint sporting activities, including gambling and sports betting, as well as recreation, relaxation and entertainment. Due to the number of members and their position, the club has always had social significance in Sydney and its surrounding area, which is also publicly effective through various events in the club rooms.

The club has several exclusive and some award-winning restaurants and bars. There are fitness centers for men and women available to members, and the club also owns a ski lodge in the Perisher Valley .

Originally the club was set up primarily for bookmakers and players who bet on horse racing .

history

The first Tattersalls Club had existed in Sydney since the late 1850s. He was involved in building the Randwick Racecourse together with the Australian Jockey Club and organized his first horse race in August 1878 .

City Tattersalls Club was founded in 1895 by a group of 20 bookmakers angry about a court ruling on a race in Kensington . It was about an objection that arose about the weighing of a jockey's whip. The court ruled that the horse would be disqualified and the bookies now had to cash out the money to a favorite. Annoyed by this, they left the Tattersalls Club, now located on Elizabeth Street , Sydney, and founded the City Tattersalls Club.

The City Tattersalls Club has statutes approved by the New South Wales Parliament in 1912 . The club is run by an honorary committee with a chairman, a vice chairman and seven other members. The committee decides who will become a member and oversees executive management to protect the interests of the members. Management is led by four executive managers who are responsible for running the club.

Women have been allowed to join the club since 1963.

In December 1992 the club set up the Silks Bar and Grill restaurant . In the 1990s, office blocks and shopping streets were built in Sydney and the City Tattersalls Club was getting on in years because it was exclusive and had a strict dress code . The opening of the bar was a strategic move by the club to take advantage of the New South Wales Government's 5km law . This law states that residents from outside a five-kilometer area can easily enroll in the registered club. This simplified form of membership retains the decision-making power to the classic members.

building

The City Tattersalls Club was initially located in the Graphic Arts House and in the building next to the Adams Hotel , the current location of the Hilton Hotel .

The club's second home was at 249 Pitt Street and was in use until the 1924 move. The house has a narrow facade and still exists today.

In 1926 the club moved into the ground floor and basement of its purpose-built six-story building at 198-200 Pitt Street . In the 1950s, a film production company was located in the attic.

In 1960 the club bought the neighboring property at 196 Pitt Street and had a new building built there.

The building at numbers 202-204 on Pitt Street had been used by the original Tattersalls Club since 1891, which has now moved to Elizabeth Street. The City Tattersalls Club acquired the then hundred-year-old house in 1975 for a fraction of its value. It was built at low cost by today's standards; the architectural style freely interprets the architecture of the Renaissance with impressive pilaster-like parapets and large-scale facings . It was built of rubble masonry with stone from Pyrmont . Until 2007, the roof of the house was crowned by a horse sculpture, which was carved from a single block of stone measuring 5.7 m³.

In 2007 the club became the largest club in downtown Sydney with the purchase of the 194 Pitt Street building .

Since 2018 there have been plans to demolish all or part of the buildings 194 Pitt Street to 200 Pitt Street and replace them with a 168 m high new building. This would house a renewed club, hotel and apartments.

Others

During World War I , the club donated almost all of its profits to Australian war funds, built shelters for war invalids and made beds available in hospitals for the wounded.

In 1927 the club sponsored the traditional cricket games between Australia and England , known as "The Ashes".

In 1928 Bert Hinkler was invited to the club to celebrate his solo flight from Great Britain to Australia, in 1930 public events were held with the circumnavigator Amy Johnson .

A game of the 1971 World Snooker Championship was played in the City Tattersalls Club in 1970 , with Eddie Charlton from Australia defeating Gary Owen from Welsh . Even before that there were snooker tables in the club, for example the New Zealander Edward James O'Donoghue played seven century breaks in one session in 1938 .

Professional billiards player Norman Squire died on December 23, 1974 when he suffered a heart attack at a snooker table at the City Tattersalls Club at the age of 65 during a £ 6,000 contest.

Web links and literature

Commons : City Tattersalls Club  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ vision. City Tattersalls Club, archived from the original on August 7, 2018 ; accessed on August 7, 2018 .
  2. ↑ About us. City Tattersalls Club, archived from the original on August 6, 2018 ; accessed on August 6, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Our History. City Tattersalls Club, archived from the original on August 7, 2018 ; accessed on August 7, 2018 .
  4. ^ Tattersalls Club Dinner . In: Empire . June 29, 1859, p.  8 ( archive.org ).
  5. ^ Tattersalls Races . In: The Australian Worker . September 12, 1934, p.  9 ( archive.org ).
  6. ↑ City Tattersall's Club Act of 1912 (Private Act) , New South Wales Government website (accessed August 8, 2018).
  7. ^ Carolyn Cummins: City Tattersalls Club revives plans for new tower. The Sydney Morning Herald , February 7, 2018, accessed September 11, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Clayton W. Barrows / Nevilee Hing: Club Management Issues in Australia and North America . Routledge, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-7890-3164-8 , p. 88 (English).
  9. ^ RI Cashman: Squire, Norman Powell (1909-1974). Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2002, accessed September 11, 2018 .

Coordinates: 33 ° 52 ′ 16.3 ″  S , 151 ° 12 ′ 30.8 ″  E