Richard Whittington

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]

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

• the rebuilding of the Guildhall
• a ward for unmarried mothers at St Thomas' Hospital
• drainage systems for areas around Billingsgate and Cripplegate
• the rebuilding of his parish church, St Michael Paternoster Royal
• a public toilet seating 128 called Whittington's Longhouse in the parish of St Martin Vintry that was cleansed by the River Thames at high tide
• most of Greyfriars library

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.

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]

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Having died childless, Whittington left £7,000 in his will to charity, in those days a large sum, equivalent to £7,500,000 in 2023. Some of this was used to:

• rebuild Newgate Prison and Newgate and accommodation in it for the Sheriffs and Recorder, which is the forerunner of that in the Old Bailey
• build the first library in Guildhall (the ancestor of the modern Guildhall Library)
• repair St Bartholomew's Hospital
• create his 'college' i.e. almshouse and hospital, originally at St Michael's
• install some of the first public drinking fountains

The almshouses were relocated in 1966 to

To mark his bequests, the

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

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]

• Dick Whittington and His Cat