By Jess Owens
The Bloomsbury Socialist Society gathered at the Communist Club in Tottenham Street for many years.
The Communist Club was one of two prominent venues in Fitzrovia (the other was Cleveland Hall) where social reform was advanced from the mid to late 19th century.
Its origins began with the efforts of some German Asylum Seekers, fleeing persecution, after taking part in direct political action in Paris. Their first meetings were held in 1840, The Association then moved to premises in Drury Lane around 1846. It carried on there for several years, including a brief hiatus when members decamped back to Germany to take part in the 1848 struggles for democracy, until the 1870s.
During November 1877 it briefly met at the Grafton Arms, Fitzroy Square. In the early 1880s the original club split and its Social Democratic members moved to 49 Tottenham Street. Their former comrades followed them into Fitzrovia, a few years later, meeting in St Stephens Mews, Rathbone Place. They were attacked there by the Metropolitan Police in May 1885. The lawyer conducting their case asked whether a similar assault would have been launched on the Carlton Club. Continue reading →
