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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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working men's club
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A social institution of great importance over the past century in industrial communities, particularly in the Midlands and north of England. In recent decades, when an evening's convivial drinking and entertainment has become the central purpose, the clubs have been famous as a circuit on which stand-up comics often first make a name for themselves. But in their origins the clubs were more solemn, with local clergy active in setting up the first examples in the 1850s. They were seen as somewhere for working men to relax, talk and read – a role similar to that of the gentlemen's *clubs, such as the Travellers' or Athenaeum, founded in London earlier in the century. The movement spread rapidly after the Rev. Henry Solly established in 1862 a central organization, the Working Men's Club and Institute Union.
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