AustLit

The Brisbane Johnsonian Club was founded in 1878 and remained in existence until 1991. It began as an exclusively male literary and social club, comprised mainly of journalists and a smaller number of Brisbane literati. However, by the end of the 19th century it had evolved into a more genteel outfit, with membership drawn mainly from the ranks of the legal profession.

Some of the early members were J. Brunton Stephens, Horace Earle, William Senior, H. Willoughby, Carl Feilberg, James G. Drake, John Warde, Gresely Lukin, John Henry Nicholson, Joseph Augustin Clarke, and Angus Mackay (qq.v.).

During the first decades of the 20th century the Johnsonian Club lost its literary connections and became a social club for lawyers and other professionals. Women were admitted as members for the first time in 1983. The entire original Johnsonian Club library was sold at auction in 1930.