The Northern Club

The Northern Club is a private members club in Auckland, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, today it has more than 2000 members, drawn from the city's professional and business community. The club's main building is designated as a Category I historic building by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.HistoryThe Northern Club was founded by a group of prominent professional and business men in 1867 when the popularity of a gentleman's club was at its peak throughout the British Empire.The club's founders, with remarkable daring and foresight, agreed to purchase a handsome quarrystone building overlooking Albert Barracks in Princes Street.The four-storey building, a high-rise in its own time, was originally designed as a hotel and built on the first section sold at Auckland's inaugural land sale in 1841. Following the purchase, architect Edward Ramsey was commissioned to rearrange the hotel's internal rooms for use by the 120 founding members.In 1991 the Club voted to admit women and today has a thriving membership of men and women. Membership of the Northern Club attracted many leaders of the Auckland community, and the Club has played an active and sometimes pivotal role in the history of New Zealand's largest city.In 2010, the Auckland Club was absorbed by The Northern club, adding over $3,000,000 in assets to the club, and 250 membersBackgroundThe Northern Club Building has a long history of association with the Auckland's social elite, having been built in 1867. It was constructed as the Royal Hotel, before becoming a gentlemen's club two years later. Originally designed by Edward Mahoney, the three-storeyed building was located in a prestigious part of the settlement, close to the former Government House and provincial council. It was erected in a fashionable Italianate style, the brick structure being rendered externally to appear masonry-built. As the Royal, it replaced a timber structure of the same name and gained a reputation as the grandest establishment in town. Early tenants included the provincial government, which rented rooms as offices, and the Auckland Institute and Museum, while part of the first floor was a British army officers' mess used by soldiers from the nearby Albert Barracks.