The Union Club of British Columbia Pillar of Victoria High Society

The Union Club of British Columbia

The Union Club in Victoria is situated on Gordon street in the heart of downtown Victoria. Renowned for its strict and stuffy quintessentially British conservative convictions, the club’s membership has traditionally been the domain of only the most well heeled, gentle men of the community. The following is an excerpt from the official history of the Union Club of British Columbia, that was published in the Islander Article “Union Club Presidents…array of notable citizens”.

The old-fashioned clubman had few interests and what he did have were of a comparatively narrow kind. His whole life was centered in his club, which often to him seemed the very center and pivot of the universe. He fought strenuously against change and improvement.

The introduction of electric light, for instance, was bitterly opposed; likewise the telephone, which to him appeared to introduce mercantile outposts into the heart of clubland. He was usually a man of private means and was an intolerable snob. To him, men of commerce were not considered gentlemen and consequently must be kept at bat at all costs.

It has always been the contention that a private club is identical to a man’s private home-it is, in fact his home-and what goes on within its walls is the concern of nobody but the members. This policy has been honoured to the present day and will be as long as there are clubs.

The union club is definitely another fascinating remnant of British Columbia’s colonial legacy.