X Club

A small London dining club of nine leading Victorian scientists, founded in 1864 by Thomas Henry Huxley to promote science and liberal intellectual values. Members supported Darwinism, freedom of thought, scientific education, and increased public recognition and funding for science. All were members of the Athenaeum, and most were Fellows of the Royal Society. The Club was particularly influential during the 1870s and 1880s, when three of its members successively served as Presidents of the Royal Society.