Hellfire Club Research Paper

Human sacrifice, animal mutilation, Devil worship - all forever linked to the idea of a cult. Officially, a cult has been described as a “religious group that holds beliefs that diverge from mainstream religions.” The Hellfire Club, however, was an infamously exclusive and mysterious club founded at different points in the 18th century, and is only now being realized to be so much more. There were three distinct periods for the Club; the earliest happening sometime in the 17th and early 18th centuries, the second following later in the 18th century, and various others continuing from the 18th century onward. It was believed that Lord Wharton’s Hellfire Club came first, which created the name for centuries to come, while Sir Francis Dashwood’s

It was also said that members would come to meetings dressed as Biblical figures, admitting ladies with pillows up their skirts to pretend to be the pregnant Virgin Mary at their parties.3 It must be remembered, though, that Lord Wharton would not have the only Hellfire Club to come. Sir Francis Dashwood never actually called his club the Hellfire Club, but instead it was given this distinction years later3 - though it was no less legendary. There were a number of names that were said to have been chosen at the time, but the one most referred to by modern historians was the Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Dashwood allegedly made himself the first Abbot of the Order when first creating it, while membership was strictly kept to twelve so that the members would act as the Twelve Apostles; a few of the known original twelve members were Paul Whitehead, Robert

Officially, the Hellfire Club was an infamously exclusive and mysterious club founded at different times during the 18th century, but experts have only now began to uncover the truth and mysterious dealings around the Club. We may never know all there was about Wharton or Dashwood’s Clubs, or even the modern day Irish branches, but perhaps there are still skeletons in their closets that are waiting to be uncovered - or, rather, in their