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The National Club is a private club founded in 1874 for business professionals located in the financial district of downtown Toronto, Canada. It provides private dining and meeting facilities and accommodations to its members and guests. ==History== The National Club was founded by Ontario Letters Patent on July 6, 1874. There were 24 members in the original roster.〔"Hawkes, D.F., ed. "The National Century: A history of The National Club 1874 to 1974." Toronto, 1974, page IX〕 The National Club was created to provide a home and Toronto focus for Canada First, a nationalist movement founded in 1868 by George Denison, Henry Morgan, Charles Mair, William Foster and Robert Grant Haliburton. Canada First sought to “promote a sense of national purpose and to lay the intellectual foundations for Canadian nationality.” On March 30, 1875 the National Club moved into rented premises on the west side of Bay Street immediately south of the building that housed the original Toronto Stock Exchange.〔"The National Century", p. 3〕 The Club’s first president was Dr. Goldwin Smith, a prominent historian and journalist, and supporter of the Canada First movement. His First Vice President was William Pearce Howland, the second Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Other founders included the Hon. Edward Blake, Ontario’s first premier, and Sir Oliver Mowat, Ontario’s second premier.〔"125: The first 125 years - The National Club" Toronto, 1999, page 2 http://www.thenationalclub.com/images/sitepicts/images/125Book.pdf〕 By the 1880s the Canada First movement virtually disappeared〔Gough, Barry M., "Historical Dictionary of Canada", 2nd Ed., Scarecrow Press, 2010 pp. 112-13〕 and the National Club had established itself as a general business and social club for Toronto’s business and political leaders of all affiliations. In 1903 $50,000 of a total estimated construction cost of $90,000 was raised by subscription among National Club members to purchase a lot and build a new clubhouse at 303 Bay Street.〔"The National Century", p. 15〕〔"The National Club: Life membership provided on payment of $1000", ''The Toronto Star'', 6 January 1906〕〔"Members Indorse the Proposal to Purchase Old Robinson House", ''Toronto Daily Star'', 5 January 1904〕 On September 12, 1906 the cornerstone was laid and on December 17, 1907, the National Club’s new premises opened.〔"The National Century", p. 31〕 ''The Globe'' newspaper the following day described the new premises designed by noted Toronto architect S. George Curry as “Architecturally... a triumph.”〔 The National Club is one of the few remaining intact buildings on Bay Street from this period. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The National Club」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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