Whittington, Richard, 1358–1423, English merchant and lord mayor of London. He made his fortune as a mercer and then entered London politics to become successively councilman, alderman, sheriff, and finally (1397) lord mayor, an office to which he was elected three times. Like most of the London merchants, Whittington supported the usurpation of the throne by Henry IV in 1399, and in 1400 he was made a merchant of the London and Calais staples. He made several loans to Henry IV and Henry V in return for lucrative trading concessions. Whittington had no children and left his fortune in a trust administered by the Mercers' Company, largely for building purposes in the City of London. The famous story of Dick Whittington and his cat is far removed from the actual life of the lord mayor, who was born the son of a Gloucestershire knight. According to the story, Dick was an orphaned kitchen boy who put his one possession, a cat, on his master's ship in the hope that it might be traded. He then ran away but turned back when he heard the prophetic ringing of Bow Bells ("Turn again, Whittington, lord mayor of London") and found that his cat had been purchased, for a large fortune, by the ruler of Morocco, whose kingdom was plagued with rats and mice. Dick was thus able to marry his master's daughter and become a successful merchant. The story was first recorded in a play, now lost, that was licensed in 1605.

Bibliography

See W. Besant and J. Rice, Sir Richard Whittington (1894).

Whittington, Richard

known as Dick Whittington

(died March 1423, London) Lord mayor of London (1397–99, 1406–07, 1419–20). The son of a knight, he earned a vast fortune as a merchant and made loans to Henry IV and Henry V, then entered city politics and served three terms as lord mayor. In legend he is portrayed as an orphan who ventures his only possession, a cat, as an item to be sold on one of his master's trading ships. Ill-treated by the cook, he runs away, but at the edge of the city he hears the bells say, “Turn again, Whittington, lord mayor of great London.” He returns to find that his cat has been sold for a great sum to a Moorish ruler plagued by rats. He becomes a wealthy merchant and later lord mayor.