Sex, war, life, death and the future prospects of the Emperor Napoleon – there was, quite literally, nothing upon which the members of White’s would not gamble when they tired of the gaming tables.

Hundreds of guineas – a fortune in today’s money – would change hands as the members of London’s oldest gentlemen’s club placed wagers on everything from the French retreat from Moscow to a race to see which raindrop reached the bottom of the window first.

They were even prepared to bet on how many of their fellow members would last out the year. In the summer of 1818 a Mr Howard morbidly bet Colonel Cooke 10 guineas that six members of White’s would die “between the 1st of July, 1818, and the 1st day of 1819”.

The wagers were recorded in the club’s betting book, and now a club history – which includes an account of the bets made between 1743 and 1878 – has surfaced at a London auction house, offering a remarkable insight into the gambling habits of the higher echelons of society in the 18th and 19th centuries.

While contemporary gamblers risk their money on the outcome of the 2.30 at Plumpton, or the winner of Big Brother, the sporting members of White’s preferred to bet on the great issues of the day, including the war with Napoleon.

In May 1803, two years before the Battle of Trafalgar, the book records that: “Mr Balfour bets Lord Conyngham ten guineas to five guineas that Buonaparte (sic) is alive six months after the commencement of hostilities between England and France.” Napoleon survived until 1821.

When they were not betting on war they were betting on sex. One record states: “Mr. Bouverie bets Ld. Yarmouth a hundred to fifty, that H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence has not a legitimate child within two years from this day. Novr. 28th, 1817.”

Sometimes, White’s members even managed to combine the bellicose and the erotic in one bet: “Mr. Raikes bets Mr. Greville one guinea that the Empress Maria Louise is in Paris before the Emperor Napoleon is in her person.”

The betting records provide a telling footnote to the disgrace of the great dandy Beau Brummell, one of the club’s most enthusiastic gamblers, who fled to France when he fell out with his protector, the Prince Regent, and his creditors demanded settlement of his debts.

The last bet he made at White’s was 100 guineas to 50 that the Bourbons would return to the French throne. The final record reads: “Not paid, 20th January, 1816.”

The two-volume book, an 1892 limited edition, is to be auctioned by Bonhams in Knightsbridge on October 14, together with a collection of White’s ivory gambling tokens, including one for 250 guineas, worth about £40,000 today.

In black and White

— The leading gentleman’s club in Regency London, White’s began as a chocolate house founded in 1693 by an Italian, Francesco Bianco – hence White’s

— Beau Brummell used to hold court in a bow-front window until his fall from grace in 1816. His place was taken by his friend, the wit and dandy Lord Alvanley

— It was notorious as a den of gamblers; Jonathan Swift called it “the Common Rendezvous of infamous Sharpers and noble Cullies”. [Cully: a fool or dupe]

— Famous members have included the Prince of Wales, Lord Black of Crossharbour, David Niven, Evelyn Waugh – and David Cameron

— Meals were strictly regulated. In 1797 the rules stated: “Dinner at 10s. 6d. per head, (malt liquor, biscuits, oranges, apples, and olives included), to be on table at six o’clock; bill to be brought at nine”

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