‘An Influential Set of Chaps’: The X-Club and Royal Society Politics 1864–85

Abstract

‘Our’ included not only Hooker and Huxley but their fellow-members of the X-Club. ‘Our time’ had been the 1870s and early 1880s. For a five-year period from November 1873 to November 1878 Hooker had been President of the Society, Huxley one of the Secretaries, and fellow X-Club member, William Spottiswoode, the Treasurer. Hooker was followed in the Presidency by Spottiswoode, and on Spottiswoode's death in 1883 Huxley was elected President. During this period other X-Club members—Edward Frankland, John Tyndall, George Busk, Sir John Lubbock, and Thomas Hirst—were ordinary members of the Council of the Society. As the Table below (p. 60) shows, there were at least three members of the X-Club on the Council of the Royal Society from November 1870 until November 1882. On eight occasions in this period there were four or more X-Club members on the Council. ‘Our time’ came to an end in 1885 when ill-health forced Huxley's retirement after only two years in the Presidency, and G. G. Stokes at last became President.

Draper in Spain: The Conflicting Circulation of the Conflict Thesis

“…This interpretation is consistent with, for instance, the nuanced most recent readings of the agendas of the members of the X‐Club and the Belfast address (Barton , , ; Stanley ). It was institutionalized religions, with their traditional power on universities and education at large and their dogmatic claims to truth and morals, that a number of mid‐Victorian scientists saw as the enemy to beat in their attempts to professionalize science.…”

Sir Joseph Banks, PRS Mr Science 1778–1820

“…Yet Banks' example of using a voyage as a preparation for a life in science was followed by Brown and Darwin, and by future Presidents of The' Royal Society: Edward Sabine, Joseph Hooker, and Thomas Huxley -the last two being very keen on making science a se1fgoverning profession. 25 We can see in Banks' career in administration and in his close links with government, something much more modern than we might have expected. His emphasis on utility, and on public understanding of science, is also familiar to us.…”

John Lubbock, science, and the liberal intellectual

“…Opposed to dogmatic theology and committed to the cause of science, Lubbock and eight other men-Joseph Dalton Hooker, Thomas Henry Huxley, William Spottiswoode, John Tyndall, Edward Frankland, Thomas Archer Hirst, George Busk and Herbert Spencer-united to create an informal dining club in late 1864. 76 Meeting on the first Thursday of every month between October and June, the X Club wielded unparalleled influence within the scientific world for almost 30 years. In combination, the members of the X Club 'conspired' to promote their ideal of unfettered, scientific research.…”