Reform Club, Shaftesbury Street, Club Check or Token, Cox 3267
Item reference number: 180
REFORM CLUB - SHAFTESBURY STREET.
We are not sure this item relates to Newport, but it seems very likely.
The first mention we can find of the club is in Johns' 1903 Newport directory. The Gladstone Club, with George Gwyther steward, was situated at 52 and 54 Shaftesbury Street. We also found a newspaper report (Cardiff Times and South Wales Weekly News, Saturday May 2, 1903) stating that Mr Lewis Haslam, the Liberal candidate for the Monmouth Boroughs, visited the Gladstone Club to "get in touch with Liberal workers".
In the 1904 directory the property is listed as the Gladstone Workmen's Liberal Club & Institute, with Caleb Price steward. By 1910 it was known as the Workmen's Reform Club.
Sometime between 1916 and 1923 the club moved to 38 Shaftesbury Street. It remained here until the late 1960s when the area was razed to make way for the Old Green Interchange.
See the link below to a photo of the Club shortly before it was demolished.
If you know anything about the club or the token please contact us via the link at the foot of the page.
This token is listed in the third catalogue compiled by the Cox Brothers.
