South African family history, genealogy, heritage and interesting places, past and present. All articles researched and written by Anne Lehmkuhl. COPYRIGHT ANNE LEHMKUHL, no article can be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission. EMAIL ME
Albany Club headed by female
One of the oldest gentlemen's clubs in South Africa, the 113-year-old Albany Club at 114 High Street in Grahamstown, was saved by the woman who now heads the club. Club members include judges, advocates, attorneys, doctors, teachers, academics, farmers and business people. Eleanor Louw was recently elected as the first female president of Grahamstown‘s Albany Club. She is the financial manager of Kenrich Motors and a former national president of women‘s service organisation Soroptimist. Women were first admitted to the Albany Club in 1992. Before that women could only sit in the lounge and wait for their husbands. It was through the efforts of Port Elizabeth businesswoman Jenny Hartle, who settled in Grahamstown in the early 1990s and worked for Standard Bank, that women gained admittance. She was a member of the Port Elizabeth Club and had reciprocal rights, except at the Albany Club. Before Jenny could become a member, she was transferred and Eleanor became a member. In the mid- to late-1990s, the club was declining. Eleanor's husband, Neville, is an honorary life member and was on the club committee. She decided to help him and started started looking after the club‘s financial and administrative systems. The membership eventually grew to 250. The club‘s decor, much of it dating back to the 1890s, has been restored and the complex repainted. Membership costs R550 and is through a proposal system, followed by an approval period.