British Institution

The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in London, England, was the first stage of a three-part project initiated in November 1786 by engraver and publisher John Boydell in an effort to foster a school of British history painting. In addition to the establishment of the gallery, Boydell planned to produce an illustrated edition of William Shakespeare's plays and a folio of prints based upon a series of paintings by different contemporary painters. During the 1790s the London gallery that showed the original paintings emerged as the project's most popular element. The works of William Shakespeare enjoyed a renewed popularity in 18th-century Britain. Several new editions of his works were published, his plays were revived in the theatre and numerous works of art were created illustrating the plays and specific productions of them. Capitalising on this interest, Boydell decided to publish a grand illustrated edition of Shakespeare's plays that would showcase the talents of British painters and engravers. He chose the noted scholar and Shakespeare editor George Steevens to oversee the edition, which was released between 1791 and 1803. The press reported weekly on the building of Boydell's gallery, designed by George Dance the Younger, on a site in Pall Mall. Boydell commissioned works from famous painters of the day, such as Joshua Reynolds, and the folio of engravings proved the enterprise's most lasting legacy. However, the long delay in publishing the prints and the illustrated edition prompted criticism. Because they were hurried, and many illustrations had to be done by lesser artists, the final products of Boydell's venture were judged to be disappointing. The project caused the Boydell firm to become insolvent, and they were forced to sell the gallery at a lottery.

The Beaconsfield Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1880 and was disbanded circa 1887-8. For most of its existence, between 1880 and 1887, it occupied 66-68 Pall Mall, London. The Club was formally linked to the Conservative party, with members having to pledge allegiance to join. It was named in honour of Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. It purchased its clubhouse from a Captain John Elliott, who had built it for the short-lived Junior Naval and Military Club, but went bankrupt as a direct result of constructing the building.However, the Beaconsfield Club was not as successful as had been hoped, and was forced to leave the premises by 1887, closing within a year. The building in turn was then passed on to the equally short-lived Unionist Club, before being demolished in 1930.Correspondence relating to the Beaconsfield Club is held by the University of Glasgow.

The Oxford and Cambridge Club is a traditional London club. Membership is largely restricted to those who are members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, including men and women who have a degree from or who are current undergraduates of either university. The Club is the result of a number of amalgamations of university clubs, most recently that of 1972 between the United University Club, founded in 1821, and the Oxford and Cambridge University Club, founded in 1830. From 1972 until 2001 the Club was known as the United Oxford and Cambridge University Club. Women have been admitted as full members since 1997. The Club is based at 71–77 Pall Mall, in a purpose-built, Grade II* listed club house designed by Sir Robert Smirke.

The Guards Club, established in 1810, was a London Gentlemen's club for officers of the Guards Division, originally defined by the club as being the Coldstream Guards, Grenadier Guards or Scots Guards, traditionally the most socially elite section of the British Army. Officers of the Welsh and Irish Guards were not able to join until the second half of the 20th century. Its clubhouse at 70 Pall Mall was the first to be built on that street, which later became noted for its high concentration of clubs; earlier clubs had been focused on the adjoining St James's Street.Stephen Hoare states that: "Three Guards officers, Captain Rees Howell Gronow, Jack Talbot and that well-known acrobatic dandy Colonel Dan MacKinnon established the Guards Club at the St James's Coffee-House at number 88 St James's Street opposite Lock's the hatter. The link between coffee-houses and the club formation remained as strong as it was a century earlier. The establishment provided exactly the kind of relaxing and informal atmosphere where officers home on leave or waiting to be posted could enjoy decent hospitality. In fact, not long afterwards St James's Coffee-House became the St James's Club in 1840. Meanwhile, the Guards Club acquired premises at 49 St. James's Street, opposite Whites, finally moving to a newly commissioned clubhouse at 70 Pall Mall in 1849".In 1975 it gave up its premises and merged with the Cavalry Club in nearby Piccadilly to form the present-day Cavalry and Guards Club.

77–78 Pall Mall is a grade II listed building in Pall Mall, London. It is currently used as a business centre.

Full Fact is a British charity, based in London, which checks and corrects facts reported in the news as well as claims which circulate on social media.

The Queen's Chapel (officially, The Queen's Chapel St. James Palace) is a chapel in central London, England, that was designed by Inigo Jones and built between 1623 and 1625 as an external adjunct to St. James's Palace for the Roman Catholic queen Henrietta Maria. It is one of the facilities of the British monarch's personal religious establishment, the Chapel Royal, but should not be confused with the 1540 building also known as the Chapel Royal, which is within the palace and just across Marlborough Road. It is a Grade I listed building.

The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succession of managements over the next forty years also failed to make it a commercial success, and the St James's acquired a reputation as an unlucky theatre. It was not until 1879–1888, under the management of the actors John Hare and Madge and W. H. Kendal that the theatre began to prosper. The Hare-Kendal management was succeeded, after brief and disastrous attempts by other lessees, by that of the actor-manager George Alexander, who was in charge from 1891 until his death in 1918. Under Alexander the house gained a reputation for programming that was adventurous without going too far for the tastes of London society. Among the plays he presented were Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), and A. W. Pinero's The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893). After Alexander's death the theatre came under the control of a succession of managements. Among the long-running productions were The Last of Mrs Cheyney (1925), Interference (1927), The Late Christopher Bean (1933) and Ladies in Retirement (1939). In January 1950 Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh took over the management of the theatre. Their successes included Venus Observed (1950) and for the 1951 Festival of Britain season Caesar and Cleopatra and Antony and Cleopatra. In 1954 Terence Rattigan's Separate Tables began a run of 726 performances, the longest in the history of the St James's. During the run it emerged that a property developer had acquired the freehold of the theatre and obtained the requisite legal authority to knock it down and replace it with an office block. Despite widespread protests the theatre closed in July 1957 and was demolished in December of that year.

Cristea Roberts Gallery, formerly Alan Cristea Gallery, is a commercial gallery in central London that was founded by Alan Cristea in 1995. David Cleaton-Roberts, Helen Waters and Kathleen Dempsey are also senior directors. Cristea Roberts Gallery has a particular focus on original prints and works on paper. It is located at 43 Pall Mall, London.

79 Pall Mall is a grade II listed building in Pall Mall, London. It was designed by David Brandon for the Eagle Insurance Company in 1866–68. There formerly stood on the site a brick townhouse occupied by Nell Gwynne after her retirement from the stage and a blue plaque notes the fact.

King Street is a street in the St James's district of the City of Westminster. It runs south-west to north-east from St James's Street to St James's Square.

Schomberg House at 80–82 Pall Mall is a prominent house on the south side of Pall Mall in central London which has a colourful history. Only the street facade survives today. It was built for The 3rd Duke of Schomberg, a Huguenot general in the service of the British Crown. It was adapted from Portland House, which in turn had been created by the Countess of Portland by converting two houses into a single residence. Work began in 1694, the year after the duke inherited his title. The street facade of Schomberg House is striking and rather unusual for a London mansion. It is of red brick, with four main storeys above the basement. The facade's street-level entrance porticoes and decorative work is made of Lithodipyra (Coade stone) manufactured by Eleanor Coade. It is nine windows wide, with the central three bays projecting slightly and topped by a pediment, and the two end bays projecting boldly so that they form projections somewhat like small towers. The windows are narrow and six bold bands of quoins frame the three projections.Meinhardt Schomberg's dukedom became extinct on his death in 1719 and the house was subsequently let. In 1769 it was divided into three (80 Pall Mall to the west, 81 in the centre and 82 to the east) by the artist John Astley. Astley lived at no. 81 himself, and constructed a studio on the roof. In 1781 Astley was succeeded by a Scottish quack doctor called James Graham, who turned the establishment into a "Temple of Health and Hymen". The "Temple" featured a huge "celestial bed" fitted with early electrical devices.The Temple also served as a high-class brothel and gambling den, and was eventually raided by the police and closed down. Meanwhile, Thomas Gainsborough, who was at the height of his career as one of the two most fashionable portrait painters in England, lived next door at no. 80 from 1774 until his death in 1788. The artists Richard Cosway and Maria Cosway also lived at no. 81 for a time with their servant Ottobah Cugoano. During this period number 82 was a fashionable textile store.In the first half of the 19th century Schomberg House was neither aristocratic nor artistic. The central house was a bookshop from 1804 to 1850, and other tenants of the three houses included a picture dealer, an auctioneer and a haberdasher. In 1850 no. 80 was demolished and replaced as part of an abortive redevelopment of the whole site. Then in 1859 nos. 80–82 were all acquired by the government for use by the War Office, which also occupied several other mansions in Pall Mall.In 1956 the building was largely demolished to make way for offices. However, not only were the surviving facades of nos. 81 and 82 retained, but that of no. 80 was rebuilt in its original form.The name Schomberg House has also been used for another property Pall Mall no. 78 (and 77) that used to be the residence of Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and later her two daughters. No. 77 is now part of the Oxford and Cambridge Club (71 Pall Mall).Schomberg House is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.