Editing Hellfire Club (section)

==Duke of Wharton's club==
[[Image:wharton p.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Philip, Duke of Wharton]]]]

[[Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton|Lord Wharton]] was made a duke by [[George I of Great Britain|George I]]<ref>Ashe p. 52.</ref> and was a prominent politician with two separate lives: the first as a "man of letters" and the second as "a drunkard, a rioter, an infidel and a [[Rake (character)|rake]]".<ref>Blackett-Ord p. 70.</ref> The members of Wharton's club are largely unknown. Mark Blackett-Ord assumes that members included Wharton's immediate friends: the [[Trevor Hill, 1st Viscount Hillsborough|Earl of Hillsborough]], cousin; the Earl of Lichfield{{Clarify|date=April 2025|reason=Which one?}}; and Sir Ed. O'Brien. Aside from these names, other members are not revealed.

At the time of the London [[gentlemen's club]], when there was a meeting place for every interest, including poetry, philosophy and politics,<ref name="Blackett-Ord p. 43">Blackett-Ord p. 43.</ref><ref>Ashe p. 46.</ref> Wharton's Hellfire Club was, according to Blackett-Ord, a satirical "gentleman's club" which was known to ridicule religion, catching onto the contemporary trend in England of blasphemy.<ref name="Blackett-Ord p. 43"/><ref name="Ashe p. 48">Ashe p. 48.</ref> The club was more a joke, meant to shock the outside world, than a serious attack on religion or morality. The supposed president of this club was the Devil, although the members themselves did not apparently worship demons or the Devil, but called themselves devils.<ref>Blackett-Ord pp. 44-6.</ref> Wharton's club admitted men and women as equals, unlike other clubs of the time.<ref name="Ashe p. 48"/> The club met on Sundays at a number of different locations around London. The Greyhound Tavern was one of the meeting places used regularly, but because women were not to be seen in taverns, the meetings were also held at members' houses and at Wharton's riding club.<ref name="Blackett-Ord p. 44">Blackett-Ord p. 44.</ref><ref name="Ashe p. 48"/>

According to at least one source, their activities included [[Parody religion|mock religious]] ceremonies and partaking of meals featuring such dishes as "Holy Ghost Pie", "Breast of Venus", and "Devil's Loin", while drinking "Hell Fire Punch".<ref name="Blackett-Ord p. 44"/><ref name="Ashe p. 49">Ashe p. 49.</ref> Members of the club supposedly came to meetings dressed as characters from the Bible.<ref name="Ashe p. 49"/>

Wharton's club came to an end in 1721<ref name="Ashe p. 48"/> when George I, under the influence of Wharton's political enemies (in particular, [[Robert Walpole]]) put forward a Bill "against 'horrid impieties'" (or immorality), aimed at the Hellfire Club.<ref name="Ashe p.48"/><ref name="Blackett-Ord p. 70">Blackett-Ord p. 70.</ref> Wharton's political opposition used his membership as a way to pit him against his political allies, thus removing him from [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]].<ref name="Blackett-Ord p. 70"/> After his Club was disbanded, Wharton became a [[Freemasonry|Freemason]], and in 1722 he became the Grand Master of England.<ref>Ashe p. 62.</ref>