Richard Whittington

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Richard Whittington, see Richard Whittington (disambiguation).
"Dick Whittington" redirects here. For other uses, see Dick Whittington (disambiguation).

merchant mark
Guildhall
, City of London
difference of his paternal arms.[1] As formerly visible sculpted within a quatrefoil on the Library of the Greyfriars
, founded by him
Merchant mark of Richard Whittington, as shown in his portrait c.1590 by Reginald Elstrack

Richard Whittington (c. 1354 – March 1423) of the parish of

Sheriff of London. In his lifetime he financed a number of public projects, such as drainage systems in poor areas of medieval London, and a hospital ward for unmarried mothers. He bequeathed his fortune to form the Charity of Sir Richard Whittington which, nearly 600 years later, continues to assist people in need.[3]

Origins

He was born, in around 1354, into an ancient and wealthy

Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1313.[5] His elder brothers were Robert Whittington (d.1423/4), six times a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire,[6] and William Whittington, MP, the eldest brother.[7]

Early life

As a younger son, under the system of

money-lending in 1388, preferring this to outward shows of wealth such as buying property. By 1397 he was also lending large sums of money to the king.[8]

In 1384 Whittington had become a

Worshipful Company of Mercers. Two days after the death of Adam Bamme in June 1397, Whittington was imposed on the City by the king as his replacement as Lord Mayor of London. Within days Whittington had negotiated with the king a deal in which the City bought back its liberties for £10,000 (equivalent to £7,900,000 in 2021). He was formally elected as mayor by a grateful populace on 13 October 1397.[8]

The

import duties. A long dispute with the Worshipful Company of Brewers over standard prices and measures of ale was won by Whittington.[8]

Marriage

differenced version (with ermine) as shown, for his wife, in the portrait of Richard Whittington circa 1590 by Reginald Elstrack
, also known to have been used by the family of Baron FitzWarin

In 1402, at the age of 48, he married Alice FitzWaryn (d.1411), but she died without producing any

Marcher Lords. A portrait of Richard Whittington circa 1590 by Reginald Elstrack shows his paternal heraldic arms and also for his wife a differenced version of the usual arms of Baron FitzWarin with ermine in the 1st and 4th quarters in place of argent, which variant was also used by Wiliam FitzWarin, a member of the Shropshire family, as depicted in the Gelre Armorial
, c.1370–1414.

The last in the male line was Fulk FitzWarin, 7th Baron FitzWarin (1406–1420), whose eventual successor (via a female line) was William Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin, second son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (1386–1420,) one of the wealthy noblemen to whom Richard Whittington lent money.[12]

Benefactions

In his lifetime Whittington donated much of his profit to the city and left further endowments by his will. He financed:

He also provided accommodation for his apprentices in his own house. He passed a law prohibiting the washing of animal skins by apprentices in the River Thames in cold, wet weather because many young boys had died through hypothermia or drowning in the strong river currents.

Death and burial

Whittington on his death bed, at his side the four executors of his will, John Coventre, John White, clerk, John Carpenter, and William Grove,[13] with many of the beneficiaries of his charities at the foot of his bed. A physician examines a bottle of urine

Whittington died in March 1423, aged around 68 or 69, and was buried in the church of St Michael Paternoster Royal, to which he had donated large sums during his lifetime. The tomb is now lost, and the mummified cat found in the church tower in 1949 during a search for its location probably dates to the time of the Wren restoration.[14]

Bequests

Having died childless, Whittington left £7,000 in his will to charity, in those days a large sum, equivalent to £6,300,000 in 2021. Some of this was used to:

The

Mercers' Company
.

To mark his bequests, the

Whittington hospital at Archway in the London Borough of Islington
was named for him on its establishment in 1948.

Dick Whittington—stage character

Further information:
Dick Whittington and his Cat
Mercers' Hall
".

The gifts left in Whittington's will made him well known and he became a character in an English story that was adapted for the stage as a play, The History of Richard Whittington, of his lowe byrth, his great fortune, in February 1604.

Bow Bells of London ringing, and believes they are sending him a message. There is now a large hospital on Highgate Hill, named the Whittington Hospital
, after this supposed episode. A traditional rhyme associated with this tale is:

Turn again, Whittington,
Once Lord Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington,
Twice Lord Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington,
Thrice Lord Mayor of London!

On returning to London, Dick embarks on a series of adventures. In one version of the tale, he travels abroad on a ship, and wins many friends as a result of the rat-catching activities of his cat; in another he sends his cat and it is sold to make his fortune. Eventually he does become prosperous, marries his master's daughter Alice Fitzwarren (the name of the real Whittington's wife), and is made Lord Mayor of London three times. The common belief that he served three rather than four times as Lord Mayor stems from the City's records 'Liber Albus' compiled at his request by the City Clerk John Carpenter wherein his name appears only three times as the remainder term of his deceased predecessor Adam Bamme and his own consequent term immediately afterwards appear as one entry for 1397.

As the son of gentry Whittington was never very poor and there is no evidence that he kept a cat. Whittington may have become associated with a thirteenth-century

skull in the original, with the change being made to conform to the story already in existence, to increase sales.[19]

There was also known to be a painted portrait of Whittington shown with a cat, hanging at Mercer Hall, but it was reported that the painting had been trimmed down to smaller size, and the date "1572" that appears there was something painted after the cropping, which raises doubt as to the authenticity of the date, though Malcolm who witnessed it c. early 1800s felt the date should be taken in good faith.[20] The print published in The New Wonderful Museum (vol. III, 1805, pictured above) is presumably a replica of this painting.[21]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Heraldic Register, J. Bernard Burke, p.56
  2. ^ a b Will of Richard Whittington: " I leave to my executors named below the entire tenement in which I live in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, London"[1]
  3. Worshipful Company of Mercers
    . Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  4. History of Parliament: House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe, 1993 [2]
  5. ^ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 61, Whittington, Richard, by James Tait [3]
  6. ^ "WHITTINGTON, Robert (d.1423/4), of Pauntley, Glos. and Sollershope, Herefs. | History of Of Clock tower Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  7. ^ The ancient de Whittington family possibly took its name from the manor of Whittington in Gloucestershire; not from Whittington in Shropshire, whose lords were the FitzWarin family, as is well known, and into which, by coincidence, Richard Whittington married
  8. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29330. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  9. OCLC 884588. the said Mayor chose Richard Whytyndone, [sic
    ] Alderman...to be Sheriff...of London for the ensuing year.
  10. ISBN 0-415-18583-1
    .
  11. ^ a b "FITZWARYN, Sir Ivo (1347-1414), of Caundle Haddon, Dorset. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  12. ^ "WHITTINGTON, Richard (d.1423), of London. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  13. ^ Will of Whittington
  14. OCLC 492430064
    .
  15. OCLC 457585907
    .
  16. OCLC 457155095
    .
  17. OCLC 246807577
    .
  18. OCLC 1305737
    .
  19. OCLC 249848844
    .
  20. ^ James Peller Malcolm in Londinium Redivivum, Vol. 4 (1807).
  21. ^ Granger, William; Caulfield, James (1805), "History of the Memorable Sir Richard Whittington", The New Wonderful Museum, and Extraordinary Magazine, vol. 3, Alex. Hogg & Co., p. 1420

References

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Whittington&oldid=1186299146"