---
title: "X Club"
chunk: 3/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Club"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:34:26.627082+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Between the time of its inception in 1864 and its termination in 1893, the X club and its members gained much prominence within the scientific community, carrying much influence over scientific thought, similar to the Scientific Lazzaroni in the United States and the Society of Arcueil in France. Between 1870 and 1878, Hooker, Spottiswoode, and Huxley held office in the Royal Society simultaneously, and between 1873 and 1885, they consecutively held the presidency of the Royal Society. Spottiswoode was treasurer of the Society between 1870 and 1878 and Huxley was elected Senior Secretary in 1872. Frankland and Hirst were also of importance to the Society, as the previous held the position of Foreign Secretary between 1895 and 1899, and the latter served on the Council three times between 1864 and 1882.
Outside the Royal Society, the men of the X Club continued to gain influential positions. Five members of the Club held the presidency of the British Association for the Advancement of Science between 1868 and 1881. Hirst was elected president of the London Mathematical Society between 1872 and 1874 while Busk served as Examiner and eventually president of the Royal College of Surgeons. Frankland also served as president of the Chemical Society between 1871 and 1873.
During this time, the members of the X-Club began to gain renown and win awards within the scientific community in London. Among the nine, three received the Copley Medal, five received the Royal Medal, two received Darwin Medals, one received the Rumford Medal, one received the Lyell Medal, and one received the Wollaston Medal. Eighteen honorary degrees were handed out among the nine members, as well as one Prussian 'Pour le Mérite' and one Order of Merit. Two of the members were knighted, one served as Privy Councillor, one as Justice of the Peace, three as Corresponding Members, and one was a Foreign Associate of the French Academy of Sciences.
As the members of the club continued to gain prominence within the scientific community, the private club became well known. Many people at the time viewed the club as a scientific caucus, and some, such as Richard Owen, accused the group of having too much influence in shaping the scientific landscape of late-Victorian England. Huxley recounted that he once overheard a conversation about the club between two men of the Athenaeum Club, and when one asked what the X-Club did, the other explained "Well they govern scientific affairs, and really, on the whole, they don't do it badly." Informal notes of early meetings seem to confirm some of the concerns. Discussion often surrounded the nomination of members to offices of major societies, as well as the negotiation of pension and medal claims. In 1876, the club even voted to collectively support Lubbock's candidacy for the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Huxley, however, always stated that the simple purpose of the club was to bring friends together who may have drifted apart otherwise. According to Huxley, the fact that all the members of the club gained distinction within science was merely coincidental.

== Decline ==

By 1880, the members of the X Club had prominent positions within the scientific community, and the club was highly regarded, but it was beginning to fall apart. In 1883, Spottiswoode died of typhoid and at the same time, according to Spencer, only two of the remaining eight members of the X club were in good health. Attendance at meetings began to dwindle and by 1885, Frankland and Lubbock urged for the election of new members. There was a difference of opinion on the matter and it was eventually dropped. In 1889, a rift emerged in the group when Huxley and Spencer had an argument over land nationalisation policies and refused to talk with one another.
The members of the club were growing old and during the late 1880s and early 1890s, a few of the members moved out of London. When attendance began to severely dwindle, talks of ending the club emerged. The last meeting was held unceremoniously in March 1893, and only Frankland and Hooker attended.

== See also ==
Victorian era
Naturalism (philosophy)
Liberalism
Natural history
Liberal Christianity
Natural Selection

== References ==

== Bibliography ==

== Further reading ==
Gondermann, Thomas (2007), Evolution und Rasse. Theoretischer und institutioneller Wandel in der viktorianischen Anthropologie, Bielefeld: transkript, archived from the original on 26 April 2012, retrieved 21 December 2011.
Patton, Mark (2007), Science, Politics and Business in the Work of Sir John Lubbock: A Man of Universal Mind, London: Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7546-5321-9, OCLC 72868508.
Barton, Ruth (2018), The X Club: Power and Authority in Victorian Science, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0-226-55161-6

== External links ==
Encyclopædia Britannica: X Club
Encyclopædia Britannica: X Club – Further Reading
Timeline of Darwin after Origin of Species