Nobody's Friends
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The Club of Nobody's Friends, often referred to simply as Nobody's, is a private dining club with origins in the High Church tradition of the Church of England.[1].
The secretive club contains over 40 bishops and at least 30 high-ranking people from the legal system, senior lawyers and high court judges, [2], in addition to Tory grandees and public school headmasters.[3]. Many members have either been part of UK/VIPaedophile, or spent considerable effort covering up for fellow establishment child abusers.
History
The club, often referred to simply as Nobody's, was founded in honour of William Stevens and first met on 21 June 1800. Stevens was a wealthy hosier who became a writer and philanthropist, and leading figure in the High Church movement He wrote theological pamphlets under the pen name of Nobody which gave the club its curious name. It is one of the oldest of the London dining clubs and frequently meets in Lambeth Palace, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury
The club grew to consist of 50 members, half clergymen and half laymen, and met three times a year. Between 1800 and 1900 membership included three archbishops, forty-nine bishops, twenty Cathedral deans, many peers and baronets, and members of the House of Commons. It also included privy councillors, judges, and fellows of both the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries.[4][5]
Writing in his diaries The Old Boys' Network, John Rae the celebrated headmaster of Westminster School said of a 1984 dinner:
- The dinner is good and I enjoy the company of the Archbishop of Canterbury sitting beside me, but I can’t think why I joined except that Edward Carpenter and Burke Trend are both members. After dinner, we discuss the admission of women to membership and some very odd backwoodsman’s views are expressed, notably by three former headmasters – Frank Fisher, Tom Howarth and Oliver van Oss. The latter is particularly pompous, reducing the discussion to farce, an old trick that headmasters use when faced with pupils or masters demanding change. I say a few words in favour of admitting women but it is decided that there will be a postal vote and I guess the backwoodsmen will carry the day. In the obscurity of the closet, the bishops and deans will vote for the cosy status quo.[6]
It was reported back in 2003 that former PM Tony Blair had been keen to join.[2]
As of 2023, the President of Nobody's is believed to be Sir Philip Mawer, former Secretary General of the Church of England's Synod and current chair of Allchurches Trust. He was President in 2015. It is not known whether he has been replaced.[7]
IICSA hearing into abuse in the Church of England
In 2018 the club was subject of a question in the IICSA hearing into abuse in the Church of England. Lord Lloyd had sent a letter of influence in the Peter Ball case to Archbishop Carey prefaced with the phrase "May I presume on a brief acquaintanceship at dinners of Nobody's Friends?" When asked about the club in his evidence to the Inquiry, Lord Lloyd described Nobody's Friends as "simply a club, half consisting of the clergy, members of the clergy, and half consisting of members of the laity, which dine together probably twice a year, very often in Lambeth Palace." The IICSA counsel pointed out that the Daily Mail had once described it as "centred on a strong core of bishops, ex-Tory ministers and former military top brass, a highly secretive, all-male group representing Britain's most entrenched professions and institutions." Lord Lloyd replied, "That's a typical Daily Mail description of something they don't particularly like, but I can assure you that Nobody's Friends is a perfectly ordinary dining club..."
Stephen Parsons commented in an influential blog, following the IICSA hearing, that the forum Nobody’s Friends provided for influence in the Peter Ball case suggested a "toxic masculinity" in the Church of England. He went on to say:
- A men-only dining club that meets regularly at Lambeth Palace, known as Nobody’s Friends, appears to be a gathering for socially very well-connected Anglicans. Although originally high church in its origins, the club provides an opportunity for a privileged church group to network and sometimes lobby those in authority in the Church …… The Nobody’s Friends dining group has been described as ‘private’ rather than a secret group, but it still represents an exclusive world of male privilege within the heart of the Anglican establishment. When Bishop John Bickersteth once revealed that his appointment to Bath and Wells followed his being ‘spotted’ at a Nobody’s dinner, we began to get the feeling that the values of our church may incline towards corporate and institutional interests rather than a personal morality based on the Sermon on the Mount.
Known members
6 of the 29 of the members already have pages here:
| Member | Description |
|---|---|
| Robert Armstrong | Head of the UK Home Civil Service 1981-87. Allegations of Child abuse cover-up. |
| George Carey | Archbishop of Canterbury who held shielding hand over UK/VIPaedophile bishop Peter Ball. Regular at the World Economic Forum, where he was selected to speak on "values". |
| Douglas Hurd | UK Deep state operative, Eton, Trinity College, Chatham House/President |
| Francis Pym | |
| William Van Straubenzee | UK Conservative politician. Documents released in July 2015 showed the Thatcher government knew about his child sexual abuse. Also listed in Jeffrey Epstein's black book. |
| Justin Welby | Archbishop of Canterbury from 2013 |
References
- ↑ https://goodnessandharmony.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/update-on-peter-ball-establishment-cover-up-ball-investigated-in-2008-for-being-part-of-a-suspected-paedophile-ring/
- ↑ a b https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/tag/nobodys-friends-lambeth-dining-club/
- ↑ https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nobody%27s_Friends
- ↑ Lubenow, William (2010). Liberal Intellectuals and Public Culture in Modern Britain, 1815-1914. The Boydell Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-84383559-2. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ↑ Cokayne, George. The Club of Nobody's Friends. Nobody's Friends - Printed for Private Circulation. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ↑ Rae, John (April 2011). The Old Boys' Network: A Headmaster's Diaries 1970-1986. Short Books. ISBN 978-1-906021-63-4. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ↑ Robert. M., Andrews (2015). Lay Activism and the High Church Movement of the Late Eighteenth Century: The Life and Thought of William Stevens, 1732-1807. Brill. p. 263. ISBN 9789004293793. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
