William Harnett Blanch
Local historian and eccentric club founder.
Location: 55 Denman Road, Peckham, SE15 5NS
Description: London historian William Harnett Blanch (1836-1900) lived here, author of the History of the Parish of Camberwell.
He is better known today as the founder of The London Thirteen Club. The met formally for luncheon to debunk superstitions on the thirteenth of every month, with thirteen dinner tables, each with thirteen settings.
Diners wore green ties with toy skeletons in their buttonholes, and meals were served by two cross-eyed waiters, who announced the start of dinner by smashing two mirrors.
To get to the dining room, guests had to follow an undertaker beneath a ladder and then sit at tables decorated with a centrepiece featuring a black cat, peacock feathers and witches' cauldrons, and were asked to spill salt before eating.
The club had numerous members including leading journalists and politicians, and all membership fees were distributed to the poor of Southwark.
Oscar Wilde famously refused to join saying that I love superstitions. They are the opponent of common sense.
Quirky
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Local historian and eccentric club founder. |
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