October Club

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

A club of extreme Tories founded in 1710, with the password "October" — easily remembered "by a country gentleman who loved his ale." In the last years of Queen Anne's reign the October Club was a staunch supporter of the Jacobites.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “October Club” mean?

A club of extreme Tories founded in 1710, with the password "October" — easily remembered "by a country gentleman who loved his ale." In the last years of Queen Anne's reign the October Club was a staunch supporter of the Jacobites.

Is “October Club” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.