Kit-Cat Club, London political and literary club, active c.1700–1720. The membership of some four dozen included leading Whig politicians and London's best young writers. Among them were Charles Seymour, 6th duke of Somerset; Sir Robert Walpole; Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of Newcastle; William Congreve; Joseph Addison; Sir Richard Steele; and Sir Godfrey Kneller Kneller, Sir Godfrey (nĕl`ər) or Gottfried von Kniller
..... Click the link for more information. , who did portraits of the members. The club was the center of opposition during Queen Anne's Tory ministry (1710–14).

Kit-Cat Club

Association of early 18th-century Whig leaders that met in London. Members included the writers Richard Steele, Joseph Addison, and William Congreve and such political figures as Robert Walpole and the duke of Marlborough. They first met in the tavern of Christopher Cat, whose mutton pies were called kit-cats. Portraits of the 42 members were painted by Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723), and the specific size of the canvas (36 × 28 in. [91 × 71 cm]) used for the portraits became known as a kit-cat.