EXTRAORDINARY HOUSE

MEMORANDUM TO MEMBERS

Reference: MM/2026/004
Date: 2 August 2026

From: The Secretary
To: All Members, Former Members and Persons Claiming Familiarity with the Original Letterhead
Subject: The Name of the Club and the House

Members are advised that the Committee has been unable to establish whether the institution is properly called The Extraordinary Club or Extraordinary House.

The distinction was previously considered unimportant. The Club had a House, the House contained the Club and members generally knew where they were without requiring the matter to be printed upon anything.

The loss of the former premises, together with much of the stationery, correspondence and institutional memory, has made the position less straightforward.

Surviving records refer variously to:

• The Extraordinary Club;
• Extraordinary House;
• The Club;
• The House;
• The Extraordinary;
• and, in one unpaid account, The Extraordinary Gentlemen’s Establishment.

The final description has been rejected on grounds of accuracy, taste and the amount claimed.

One interpretation is that The Extraordinary Club denotes the association of members, while Extraordinary House denotes its premises. This would be entirely satisfactory were it not for several surviving documents in which the terms appear to have been used in precisely the opposite manner.

Some members maintain that the Club existed before the House and must therefore retain precedence. Others insist that the House is the enduring institution and that the Club is merely the body permitted to occupy it. A third group considers the question settled but has been unable to agree upon the answer.

The present memoranda have been issued under the heading Extraordinary House as a matter of administrative convenience. This should not be regarded as a final determination, evidence of historical priority or an attempt by the Secretary to influence the Committee.

Several matters arising from the reconstruction now require the institution to adopt a consistent public name. The nature of those matters will be communicated separately when the Committee considers that doing so would not further complicate them.

Before a decision is reached, members are invited to submit any relevant evidence in their possession, including:

1. membership cards;
2. headed correspondence;
3. menus, invitations and notices;
4. invoices addressed to either the Club or the House;
5. photographs of inscribed objects or former premises;
6. recollections of how the name was customarily used; and
7. firm opinions inherited from deceased relatives, clearly identified as such.

Original documents should not be sent without prior arrangement. Copies will be accepted, provided that members refrain from improving their evidential value before submission.

The Committee will consider historical usage, institutional clarity and the practical requirements of the reconstruction. Members may express a preference, although this consultation should not be mistaken for a ballot.

It remains possible that The Extraordinary Club and Extraordinary House are both correct, that neither was ever formally adopted or that the distinction was deliberately left unresolved to avoid an earlier disagreement of much the same kind.

Until further notice, members may continue using whichever name they have always used. They should, however, avoid correcting one another in public, particularly when neither party possesses supporting evidence.

A further memorandum will be issued once the Committee has determined whether the Club belongs to the House, the House belongs to the Club or both belong to the bankers.

By order of the Committee

The Secretary
Extraordinary House

The institution continues to exist. Its precise name remains under examination.