Whitebait Dinner
Preserved but no longer current.
A dinner of Cabinet Ministers and prominent politicians that, until the early 1890s, was held at Blackwall or Greenwich toward the close of the parlia- mentary session. The time of meeting was Trinity Monday, or as near Trinity Monday as circumstances would allow.
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 “Whitebait Dinner” mean?
A dinner of Cabinet Ministers and prominent politicians that, until the early 1890s, was held at Blackwall or Greenwich toward the close of the parlia- mentary session. The time of meeting was Trinity Monday, or as near Trinity Monday as circumstances would allow.
Is “Whitebait Dinner” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.