The Australian Club is an exclusive private club founded in 1838 and located in Sydney at 165 Macquarie Street. Its membership is men-only and it's the oldest "Gentlemen's club" in the sothern hemisphere. It enjoys reciprocal arrangements with other clubs of its type including; the Melbourne Club, Brooks's in London, the Pacific-Union Club in San Francisco, California Club in Los Angeles, Union Club of New York City and the Somerset Club in Boston.

Presidents

1. Hon Alexander Macleay MLC FLS FRS 1838 - 1848
2. Hon Campbell Drummond Riddell 1848 - 1856
3. Hon Sir Edward Deas-Thomson KCMG CB MLC 1857 - 1879
4. Hon Sir William Macarthur MLC 1879 - 1882
5. Christopher Rolleston CMG 1882 -1888
6. Edward Merewether FRGS 1888 - 1893
7. Hon Philip Gidley King MLC 1894 - 1900
8. Hon Sir Francis Bathurst Suttor MLC 1900 - 1908
9. Hon Henry Edward Kater MLC 1909 - 1924
10. John Archibald Anderson 1924 - 1933
11. Major-General Hon James William Macarthur-Onslow VD MLC 1933 - 1936
12. William Deuchar Gordon 1936 - 1939
13. Pat Hamilton Osborne 1939 - 1942
14. Hon Sir Colin Archibald Sinclair KBE MLC 1942 - 1945
15. Hon Sir Norman William Kater MLC 1945 - 1948
16. Edmund Irving Body 1948 - 1951
17. Hon Sir Colin Archibald Sinclair KBE MLC 1951 - 1954
18. John Gordon Crowther 1954 - 1957
19. Edmund Irving Body 1957 - 1959
20. John Gordon Crowther 1959 - 1960
21. Rt Hon Sir Victor Windeyer KBE, CB, DSO, ED, QC 1960 - 1963
22. Donald Brian Hardy Arnott 1963 - 1966
23. Major-General Sir Denzil Macarthur-Onslow CBE DSO ED 1966 - 1969
24. Sir Norman Lethbridge Cowper CBE 1969 - 1972
25. Sir William Morrow DSO ED 1972 - 1975

Prominent members

The club has a distinguised list of current and former members who include:

• Hon John Howard, Prime Minister
• Hon Andrew Peacock AC, politician & diplomat
• Rt Hon Sir Edmund Barton GCMG, PC, QC, Australia's first Prime Minister
• Sir William McMahon GCMG CH, former Prime Minister
• Sir Earle Page KCMG, PC, CH, former Prime Minister
• Hon John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister
• William Charles Wentworth, explorer and politician
• Hon Sir Stuart Donaldson KCMG, first Premier of the Colony of New South Wales
• Sir Charles Cowper, Premier of the Colony of New South Wales
• Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, Colonial Surveyor-General
• Rt Hon Sir Owen Dixon OM, GCMG, KBE, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Hon Murray Gleeson AC, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Hon William Gummow AC, Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Hon Dyson Heydon, Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Rt Hon Sir Harry Gibbs GCMG, AC, QC, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Rt Hon Sir Gerard Brennan KBE, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Rt Hon Sir Garfield Barwick, AK, GCMG, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Rt Hon Sir Victor Windeyer, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Rt Hon Sir Frank Walters Kitto KC KBE PC AC, former Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Banjo Paterson CBE, poet and journalist
• Hon Alexander Macleay MLC FLS FRS, colonial administrator and scientist
• General Sir John Northcott KCMG, KCVO, CB, Commander in Chief, British Commonwealth Occupation Force, Japan and Governor New South Wales
• Rear Admiral Sir David Martin (Governor) KCMG AO, former Governor of New South Wales
• Air Vice Marshal Sir James Rowland (Australia) AC, KBE, DFC, AFC, former Governor of New South Wales
• Sir Arthur Roden Cutler VC AK, KCMG, KCVO, CBE, KStJ, former Governor of New South Wales
• Lieutenant-General Sir Eric Woodward KCMG, CB, CBE, DSO, former Governor of New South Wales
• Kerry Packer AC, businessman
• Hon Clyde Packer, businessman
• James Packer, businessman
• Hugh Morgan AC, mining executive
• Hon Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, early Australian industrialist
• Conrad Martens, colonial artist
• Robert Campbell, Sydney's first merchant and landowner
• David Gonski AO, businessman
• Paul D. Scully-Power AM, astronaut
• Alastair Mackerras AO, headmaster
• Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Joseph Daly KBE, CB, DSO, Chief of General Staff
• General Sir Harry George Chauvel, GCMG, KCB, soldier
• Major General William Throsby Bridges KCB, CMG, soldier
• Lieutenant-General Sir Leslie James Morshead, KBE, CMG, DSO, ED, KC, soldier
• Sir James Ralph Darling, headmaster & Chairman of the ABC

See also

• White's
• Club-house
• List of London's Gentleman's clubs

External links

• The Garrick Club
• The Somerset Club
• The California Club
• The Australian Club Photograph Powerhouse Museum

Traditional gentlemen's clubs | 1838 establishments | Organisations based in Sydney