The Bengal Club in Calcutta, one of the oldest clubs set up by Europeans in India, was established on this day. According to the club website, the event was recorded in the Government Gazette on February 5 and February 8, 1827. Viscount Combermere, great grandson of Stapleton Cotton, first Viscount Combermere, who had fought alongside Wellington at the battle of Salamanca, was requested by representatives to become its patron.

For the club committee, one of the first tasks was the acquisition of a place of its own.

By July 1827, the club was functioning from the ground and first floors of a large four-storeyed block in Esplanade East, known as Gordon’s Building, says the website. Rooms were available for rent at ₹4 per week to members.

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