The Kensington Club is an exclusive all-male dining society composed of students of the University of St Andrews. Founded circa 1739 by Alexander the Laird Balgonie as a social club, the Kensington Club flourished predominately in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a retreat for aristocratic and moneyed members of the student population. Renewed interest in the club after a period of decline in the second part of the twentieth century has led to a surge in membership since the early 2000s.