Whittington, Richard

Richard Whittington (c. 1354 or 1358 - 1423 ) is an English medieval merchant who became the prototype of the famous character of the English pantomime legends Dick Whittington.

Born into a family of a nobleman from Gloucestershire , he set up a large textile store in London and became known as one of the leading suppliers of brocade and velvet to the English nobility. He was thrice Lord Mayor of London (in 1397–1399, 1406–1407 and 1419–1420), was a member of parliament and a sheriff of London. During his life, he financed a number of government projects, such as drainage systems in poor areas of medieval London and the construction of hospital wards for single mothers. He bequeathed his great fortune to create a charitable foundation of Sir Richard Whittington, which almost 600 years later continues to provide assistance to people in need. Although he was acquainted with three of the five kings and even granted loans to Henry IV (1399-1413) and Henry V (1413-1422), who ruled during his lifetime, there is no evidence that he was knighted.

A folk tale about him, which became pantomime by the 19th century, appeared in 1604, 1605 or 1607. She talks about a poor boy who, along with his cat, went from his native village to London to earn a fortune. There are several versions of the tale. Success accompanies him from the very beginning, and, having earned enough money in the merchant’s shop, where he was a cook (according to another version, escaping from the ill-treatment of the cook), he wants to return home, but he is stopped by the sound of the bell in which he hears the prediction that will be thrice Lord Mayor of London, and remains. There are several versions of the tale. In one of them, after the bell, he goes to serve on a ship sailing abroad, and gains wealth with the help of his cat, skilled in catching rats, in the other, he simply sells the wonderful cat to the Moroccan sultan, whose palace the rats defeated, and receives for it A fortune. At the end of the tale, he marries his master’s daughter Alice Fitzworren (the name of Whittington’s real wife) and becomes Lord Mayor of London three times, as was predicted.

The real Whittington, coming from the nobility, could hardly have been poor from birth, nor is there any evidence that he had a cat. The legend itself, perhaps, is connected with the Persian tale of a poor young man who became rich thanks to the sale of a cat, known in Europe since the 13th century.