Members of the Club supposedly came to meetings dressed as characters from the Bible. Wharton's club came to an end in 1721 when George I, under the influence of Wharton's political enemies (namely Robert Walpole) put forward a Bill "against 'horrid impieties'" (or immorality), aimed at the Hellfire Club.
After his Club was disbanded, Wharton became a Freemason, and in 1722 he became the Grand Master of England. ==Sir Francis Dashwood's clubs== Sir Francis Dashwood and the Earl of Sandwich are alleged to have been members of a Hellfire Club that met at the George and Vulture Inn throughout the 1730s.
After his Club was disbanded, Wharton became a Freemason, and in 1722 he became the Grand Master of England. ==Sir Francis Dashwood's clubs== Sir Francis Dashwood and the Earl of Sandwich are alleged to have been members of a Hellfire Club that met at the George and Vulture Inn throughout the 1730s.
Dashwood founded the Order of the Knights of St Francis in 1746, originally meeting at the George & Vulture. The club motto was Fais ce que tu voudras (Do what thou wilt), a philosophy of life associated with François Rabelais' fictional abbey at Thélème and later used by Aleister Crowley. Francis Dashwood was well known for his pranks: for example, while in the Royal Court in St Petersburg, he dressed up as the King of Sweden, a great enemy of Russia.
The most notorious club associated with the name was established in England by Sir Francis Dashwood, and met irregularly from around 1749 to around 1760, and possibly up until 1766.
In 1751, Dashwood, leased Medmenham Abbey on the Thames from a friend, Francis Duffield. On moving into Medmenham Abbey, Dashwood had numerous expensive works done on the building.
The first meeting at Sir Francis's family home in West Wycombe was held on Walpurgis Night, 1752; a much larger meeting, it was something of a failure and no large-scale meetings were held there again.
Benjamin Franklin is known to have occasionally attended the club's meetings in 1758 during his time in England.
The most notorious club associated with the name was established in England by Sir Francis Dashwood, and met irregularly from around 1749 to around 1760, and possibly up until 1766.
In its later years, the Hellfire was closely associated with Brooks's, established in 1764.
The most notorious club associated with the name was established in England by Sir Francis Dashwood, and met irregularly from around 1749 to around 1760, and possibly up until 1766.
As there are no records left (having been burned in 1774), many of these members are just assumed or linked by letters sent to each other. ===Meetings and club activities=== Sir Francis's club was never originally known as a Hellfire Club; it was given this name much later.
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