SEVEN Sir Richard Whittington. "Now I think of the sonne Of merchandy-Richard of Whitingdon, Old Poem. EVEN ancient cities claimed Homer as a native, and nearly as many English shires have disputed for the honor of having given birth to the hero of a favorite nursery tale-Dick Whittington, Lord Mayor of London. Sir Robert Atkyns long ago described him as belonging to a Pauntley family, and the researches and reasonings of Mr. Lysons seem fairly to settle the question; so that the counties of Hereford, Lancaster, Salop, Somerset, and Stafford must allow the honor to Gloucestershire.* About the beginning of the reign of Edward I. the Whittington family became possessors of an estate in the parish of Pauntley, nine miles from Gloucester and three from Newent, on the borders of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. In the reign of Edward III. this property was held by Sir William de Whittington, whose wife, Joan, was daughter of William Mansell, who had been high Sheriff of this county in 1308. He died leaving several sons. William, the eldest, inherited Pauntley; Robert, the second, who had a family estate at Soler's Hope, Herefordshire, became possessor of Pauntley at "THE MODEL MERCHANT OF THE MIDDLE AGES, exemplified in the story of Whittington and his cat: being an attempt to rescue that interesting story from the region of fable, and to place it in its proper position in the History of this country. By the Rev. SAMUEL LYSONS, M.A., Rector of Rodmarton, Gloucestershire, and perpetual curate of St. Luke's, Gloucester: author of the Romans in Gloucestershire, &c." This valuable work, which is illustrated with a fine portrait and other engravings, and enriched with many curious notes, has furnished most of the facts contained in this sketch. A memoir of Whittington may be found in Vol. I. of the Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archæological Society. It is written by Mr. Deputy Lott, and was published about 1860. William's death, and was Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1402, and again in 1407. The youngest son, RICHARD, who was probably born a year or two before his father's death, is the well-known Sir RICHARD WHITTINGTON of romance and history. The mother of these sons had been previously the wife of Sir Thomas de Berkeley, of Cubberley, a gentleman who was four times County High Sheriff. She outlived her second husband, and dying in 1373 was buried in Cubberley church.* The early history of her youngest son Richard is wrapped in obscurity, unless the nursery tale be allowed to cast some light upon it. His father being an outlaw, as we learn from the Inquisitiones post mortem (which outlawry was probably in consequence of his marrying Sir Thomas de Berkeley's widow without the royal consent) the estate would be considerably reduced until the fine was paid. The elder brothers, as they grew up, would take possession of such of the family property as was left by their departed father; but the young and portionless Richard would have to seek a living for himself. His home might not have been one of the most comfortable; and with the energy which marked his after life he resolved to leave his native village, and travel to London. The circumstances of his journey might have been even more romantic, and his early trials and struggles more varied and strange than the tale book tells. Even the story of the cat may not be an utter fable. Mr. Lysons has constructed a most ingenious and able argument in favor of its truth from the following evidences:-1st, From the ancient and generallyreceived tradition; 2nd, From the scarcity and value of domestic cats at that period; 3rd, From its not being a solitary instance of a fortune made by such means; 4th, From the ancient portraits and statues of Whittington in connection with a cat, some of which may be reasonably traced up to the times and orders of his own executors." The last part of this argument has been strengthened by the discovery, since the publication of Mr. Lysons's book, of a small basso relievo, apparently a portion of an ancient chimneypiece or tablet, representing the boy Whittington and his cat, * Carefully prepared Tables of Pedigrees "collected from Pedigrees in the British Museum, Herald's College, and other sources,' ," are given by Mr. Lysons to illustrate these statements. + In these days none could marry an heiress or a widow without purchasing the king's consent. It was a means by which the crown raised money; and those who attempted to evade it ran the risk of outlawry and a heavy fine. of which Mr. L. gave the following account at the meeting of the British Archæological Association held at Worcester : "This stone was recently dug up in the Westgate-street, Gloucester, in which locality the Whittington family possessed their town house, as was the custom with most county families. We are made aware of this fact in an ancient register or rent roll of rents, possessions, lands, and tenements of the abbots, priors, commoners, seneschals, and others, the burgesses, and divers others within the municipality of Gloucester, A.D. 1406, among which appears the following, translated from the Latin:-"The Prior of Llanthony holds all those houses and buildings, with their appurtenances, in the said lane, called Abbey-lane, up to the common processional way (qy. public road) adjoining the chancel of the church of St. Nicholas, and also the tenements of Richard Whitynton, lord of the manor of Staunton, which are called Rotten-row and Asschowellys-place." . Ashwell's-place, originally the property of Thomas de Ashwell, was about the centre of the Westgate-street, Gloucester, where this stone was discovered (singularly enough it stood upon the site also of a Roman temple). Richard Ashwell was representative of Gloucester 13 Richard II., and also bailiff of the same city. There is, or was, in the possession of the corporation of Gloucester, recited in Furney's MSS., a lease (temp. Richard II.) which exactly marks the spot of Ashwell's-place, being the northernmost of four houses in the parish of Trinity, in Ebruge (i.e. Westgate-street). As there are only four houses in Trinity parish which front the Westgate-street it clearly indicates the house of Mr. Compton, upholsterer, in the foundations of which the stone was dug up by the labourer in the employ of the late Mr. Bonnor, to whom the house then belonged. Now, if it be necessary in all cases to have contemporaneous evidence of history, I don't think we can have it more satisfactorily than in the present instance. દ "The Richard Whittington here alluded to was great nephew of the renowned Lord Mayor of London, living contemporaneously with his celebrated relative, the rent roll above quoted having been made within 37 years of Dick Whittington's death, and thus bearing testimony to the fact that, however sceptical some persons may be as to the truth of the story of the cat, it was at least entertained by his own family with satisfaction. This, then, forms another instance, in addition to the four others given in my life of that model merchant, of the representation of a cat in connection with Richard Whittington-executed at possibly a very early date, and showing that the story is no modern invention." But whatever were the means by which Whittington gained wealth and fame, it is historically certain that he became one of the richest and most famous men of London. That he served as a mercer's apprentice may be concluded from the fact that he engaged in that business on his own account; and in 1393, (17th Richard II.), was a member of the Mercers' Company. In the same year he was chosen alderman at the annual election by "the good men of the Ward of Broad Street;" and on Sept. 21st of the same year was elected one of the Sheriffs of the city. The following year he was again chosen alderman, and by a charter, granted in Parliament during his shrievalty, that annual elections should be abolished, and aldermen should not be removed from their offices during their lives, except for treasonable cause, he continued to retain his aldermanic honors. On June 6th, 1397, the city was deprived of its Lord Mayor by death, and two days afterwards King Richard II. issued a writ appointing Richard Whittington Mayor and escheator "in place of Adam Bamme who had gone the waye of all flesh." In this high office he appears to have given so much satisfaction that on the return of the day for the annual election of Mayor, Oct. 13, he was chosen by the assembled citizens to hold it for the succeeding year. He became Lord Mayor for the third time in 1406, (8th Henry IV.) In 1416 (4th Henry V.), he received a fresh expression of his fellow citizens' confidence and esteem by being elected one of their four representatives in a parliament summoned to meet at Winchester on Oct. 13th of that year. The prediction of Bow bells had already been fulfilled: Whittington had 'thrice' been Lord Mayor of London; but the honor awaited him a fourth time, and he was again elected in 1419. In marking the success and honor of such a man it is satisfactory to know that his riches and dignities were more than equalled by the high integrity and benevolence of his character. Living in an age of much religious and mental darkness, and connected with a church system unfavorable to spiritual growth, he yet stands forth as a man of marked enlightenment and liberality. One cannot help thinking with Mr. Lysons that he must have imbibed, even if imperceptibly, some of the enlightened religious views which were then making such stir in England, under the preaching of Wickliff." But whatever may have been the particular influences affecting his life and character, his acts were such as bespoke a desire to promote the welfare of his fellow men and the glory of God. In this age of drinking fountains it is interesting to know that more than four hundred and fifty years ago Whittington provided the inhabitants of Cripplegate with a 'bosse,' or tap of water from a conduit on the east side of St. Giles's church; and also erected an arch of stone over a spring on the back of the town ditch. He had come from a land of streams, and knew the value of good water. The brewers of his time do not appear to have been actuated by like benevolence, and in consequence incurred his displeasure. The Cotton MSS. in the British Museum says-" One of the last acts of his public life, indicating his honesty and public spirit, was his active prosecution of the London brewers for forestalling meat and selling dear ale; for which interference with their proceedings, the brewers were very wroth.” Moved with compassion for suffering prisoners, he resolved to rebuild Newgate, which " was then so small and infected that it occasioned the death of many." The work was begun during his lifetime, and was completed by his executors at his sole cost. The art of printing was yet unknown, and books in manuscript were scarce and costly; but Sir Richard determined to found a Library, and that of the Grey Friars Monastery, in Newgate Street, was the result. A noble building, which still stands, was erected, and then furnished with books at an outlay of £556 10s. Four hundred pounds (equal to £4000 of our present money) was given by Whittington himself; the rest being supplied by Dr. Thomas Winchelsy. In the church of St. Michael Royal, which was rebuilt at his expense, he founded and largely endowed a College for a Master, four Fellows (Masters of Arts), Clerks and Choristers. He also built the chapel at Guildhall. These and others of his works are referred to in a dramatic work, published in 1606, in which Dr. Nowell, introducing a party of friends to a gallery of portraits of good citizens, thus speaks of Whittington : "This Sir Richard Whittington, three times Mayor, Began the Library of Grey Friars in London, And his executors after him did build Whittington College, thirteen almshouses for poor men, Glaz'd the Guildhall, and built Newgate." An ancient engraving, representing the full robed Lord Mayor and his cat, is accompanied by the following description of his character: "The true portraiture of Richard Whittington, thrice Lord Maior of London, a virtuous and godly man, full of good works (and those famous); * This Portrait appears in "The Model Merchant." |