The Wimbledon Philosophical Society grew out of the Wimbledon Literary and Scientific Society founded in 1891. Membership of the Wimbledon Lit & Sci, as it was known, was by invitation only and you needed to be knowledgeable and make a presentation in order to be accepted. Black tie and evening dress were required at meetings which took place in members’ (rather large) houses in and around Wimbledon.
‘Chronicles of the Literary & Scientific Society’ was written by Mrs Joanna Spencer CB, CBE, MA and published in 1988 (see attached).
Take a look at this article on the front page of the Wimbledon Society Newsletter (March 2015) for a taste of the days of the Wimbledon Lit & Sci.
Wimbledon has another claim to Philosophical fame in that the famous German Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) lived and studied in Eagle House in 1803. He is best known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation, wherein he characterizes the phenomenal world as the product of a blind and insatiable metaphysical will.