Almack's

Almack's Assembly Rooms was a social club in London from 1765 to 1871 and one of the first to admit both men and women. It was one of a limited number of upper class mixed-sex public social venues in the British capital in an era when the most important venues for the hectic social season were the grand houses of the aristocracy. From 1871 it was renamed "Willis's Rooms" (see below). Almack's opened on King Street, St. James, in London, on 20 February 1765. Traditionally, it is said to have been established by William Almack, born William Macall who, to avoid the onus of a Scottish name, then considered foreign and uncouth, reversed the syllables. His Almack's Coffee House, opened at the same time, was bought in 1774 and became the...