Page 38 - Microsoft Word - The Constructor 2016 A5V28

The City of London

The most famous Lord Mayor?

How many of us are able to name a Lord Mayor? If we are talking about modern times I
suspect that (apart from the current incumbent) many of us would be challenged, but we
probably all know something about Sir Richard (Dick) Whittington, who was a Sheriff and
Lord Mayor four times at the end of the 14th Century. As Constructors we are justly proud
of our own modern day Sheriff – Past Master Dr Christine Rigden, and she has kindly provided “The
Constructor” with an article about her experiences during her year of office as the non-aldermanic
Sheriff 2015-16, but as Editor I thought we should look back about 600 years to probably the most
famous Sheriff and Lord Mayor of London.
Richard Whittington lived from about 1350-1423. He achieved many things in his life but he is now
best known for having a pet cat and ‘turning again’.

Richard or ‘Dick’ Whittington was the younger son of Sir William Whittington, Lord of the Manor of
Pauntley in Gloucestershire. Sir William died in 1358 and the oldest son inherited the estate, so
Richard travelled to London to find work.
Whittington served an apprenticeship, and eventually became a ‘mercer', dealing in valuable cloth
from abroad, such as silks, velvets and cloth of gold. The main market for selling these cloths was
the Royal Court. Whittington supplied large quantities to King Richard II (who owed Whittington
£1000 when he was deposed in 1399) and to King Henry IV. Whittington became rich. After 1397 he
often lent large sums of money to the Crown. In return it appears that he was allowed to export
wool without paying customs duty on it.
He became a City alderman, or magistrate, in 1393. In 1397 the then Mayor, Adam Bamme, died in
office and the King chose Whittington to become the new mayor. He was re-elected the following
year, and again for 1406-7 and 1419-20. This made him Mayor of London four times.

Whittington died in March 1423. His wife Alice, daughter of Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn (or Fitzwarren) of
Dorset, had died before him. They had no children.
Whittington's will
In his will Whittington asked that his great wealth be used to the benefit of the city. The money was
used to establish an almshouse (residence for poor people), a college of priests and a library, and to
carry out a number of other public works. These included improvements to the water supply and
building a public lavatory, which became known as ‘Whittington's longhouse'. Disadvantaged
Londoners can still benefit from Whittington's will through the Whittington Charity.
Medieval mercers and mayors
As a mercer Whittington would have belonged to the Mercers' Company, which was the leading livery
company of the time and the first of the “Great Twelve”. The various livery companies controlled
their respective trades and received rights from the King. The trade of a mercer does not exist
today, and the modern day Mercers’ Company is now devoted to charitable works.

In Whittington's time Westminster and the City of London had separate governments. The Mayor of
London was the head of Government for the City of London, and was based at Guildhall. The

38 | Autumn 2016 | The Journal of the Worshipful Company of Constructors