Mr. Willis took this tavern from Mr. Freere, about 1755; and, as a relative of Mr. Almack, afterwards succeeded to the celebrated assembly-rooms which bore his name. "If the old saw, that 'practice makes perfect,'" writes Admiral Smyth, "be correct, the cuisinerie of the Thatched House ought to surpass that of all others; for besides accidental parties and visitors, the Messrs Willis ably entertain the following Societies and Clubs: [this was written in 1860.]
- Actuaries, Institute of.
- Catch Club.
- Club, Johnson's.
- Cornish Club.
- Dilettanti Society.
- Farmers' Club.
- Geographical Club.
- Geological Club.
- Linnæan Club.
- Literary Society.
- Navy Club.
- Philosophical Club.
- Physicians, College of, Club.
- Political Economy Club.
- Royal Academy Club.
- Royal Astronomical Club.
- Royal Institution Club.
- Royal London Yacht Club.
- Royal Naval Club, (1765).
- Royal Society Club.
- St. Albans Medical Club.
- St. Bartholomew's Contemporaries.
- Star Club.
- Statistical Club.
- Sussex Club.
- Union Society, St. James's.
And they moreover accommodate the following Masonic Lodges:—
- Friendship.
- Prince of Wales's.
- Middlesex.
- Chapter of Friendship.
- Chapter of Prince of Wales's.
- Mount Mosiah Chapter.
- Castle Lodge of Harmony.
- The Knights Templars.
- Britannic Lodge.
THE KIT-KAT CLUB.
([Page 62].)
Charles Dartiquenane, better known by the abbreviated name of Dartineuf, was the intimate friend and associate of Swift, Steele, and Addison, and a member of the Kit-Kat Club. He was not only famous as an epicure, but as a punster. He is said to have been a contributor to the Tatler, though his papers cannot now be ascertained. Pope, in his Epistles, has:
"Each mortal has his pleasure, none deny—
Scarsdale his bottle, Darty his Ham Pie.