Mediterranean by Sir George Byng, with whom he remained as second, till he again became chief by Byng's return to England in July 1709. In the summer of 1710 he also returned to England, and had no further sea service. He lived afterwards in retirement, and died on 20 Nov. 1735 at Carshalton in Surrey, where he was buried. His will (in Somerset House: Ducie, 260) was proved on 3 Dec. by his niece, Mary Whitaker, spinster, sole executrix. His wife Elizabeth (Charnock, ii. 370) died on 1 Sept. 1727. The will mentions his nephew, Captain Samuel Whitaker (ib. iii. 118), who, as commanding a ship at Gibraltar and Malaga, has been often confused with his uncle; and his granddaughter Ann, daughter of his son, Captain Edward Whitaker, deceased, who is ordered to be brought up by Mary Whitaker, 'separate from and without the advice, direction, or control of her mother.' Mary afterwards married Peter St. Eloy, who administered her will on 26 July 1738.
[Charnock's Biogr. Nav. ii. 366; Memoirs relating to the Lord Torrington (Camden Soc.), pp. 140-3, 192-3, 195; Lediard's Naval History; Manning and Bray's Surrey, ii. 517, 548; Gent. Mag. 1735, p. 682; Official letters, and commission and warrant books in the Public Record Office.]
WHITAKER, EDWARD WILLIAM (1752–1818), divine, historian, and philanthropist, son of William Whitaker of London, serjeant-at-law, born in 1752, was matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, 2 April 1773, and graduated B.A. 4 Feb. 1777. He was instituted to the rectory of St. John's, Clerkenwell, in 1778, afterwards to the rectory of St. Mildred, Bread Street, London, and from 1783 until his death he held the rectory of St. Mary-de-Castro with that of All Saints, Canterbury. He was the founder of the Refuge for the Destitute. For many years he resided at Egham, Surrey, where he kept a school. He died at Breadstreet Hill, London, on 14 Oct. 1818.
His numerous works include:
- 'Four Dialogues on the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, taught throughout the Scriptures, and on other points which have of late been subjects of … discussion,' Canterbury, 1786, 8vo.
- 'Sermons on Education,' London, 1788, 8vo.
- 'A Letter to the People of the Jews,' London, 1788, 8vo.
- 'A General and Connected View of the Prophecies relating to the times of the Gentiles, delivered by our blessed Saviour, the Prophet David, and the Apostles Paul and John; with a brief account of their accomplishment to the present age,' Egham, 1795, 12mo. An enlarged edition was published under the title of 'A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John,' London, 1802, 8vo.
- 'Family Sermons,' 2nd edit. London, 1801-2, 3 vols. 8vo.
- 'The Manual of Prophecy,' Egham, 1808, 12mo. 7. 'An Abridgment of Universal History,' London, 1817, 4 vols. 4to.
[Biogr. Dict. of Living Authors, 1816, p. 382; Darling's Cycl. Bibl. pp. 3180, 3181; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1715-1886; Gent. Mag. 1818, ii. 474; Pinks's Clerkenwell, p. 229; Watt's Bibl. Brit.]
WHITAKER, Sir FREDERICK (1812–1891), premier of New Zealand, eldest son of Frederick Whitaker, deputy-lieutenant of Oxfordshire, was born on 23 April 1812 at Bampton, Oxfordshire, and brought up to the profession of a solicitor. In 1839, soon after he had qualified, he emigrated to Sydney, and thence went on to New Zealand in 1840, settling down to practice at Kororareka, then the seat of government, and moving with the government to Auckland in the following year. In 1842 he was appointed a county-court judge; but in 1844 these courts were abolished, and he once more returned to the practice of his profession.
In 1845 Whitaker was appointed an unofficial member of the legislative council; and during the first native war of 1845 and 1846 he was called upon to serve in the militia, of which he was a major. In 1851 he was elected to represent Auckland in the legislative council for the province of New Ulster; but the council was superseded before meeting by the constitution of 1852. Under the new constitution he was elected a member of the new provincial council, becoming somewhat later provincial law officer and a member of the provincial executive council. In 1853 he was nominated a member of the legislative council, and in 1854 took his seat as such in the first general assembly of the colony. In 1855 he was appointed attorney-general in succession to William Swainson (1809-1883) [q. v.], and later in the year he became speaker of the legislative council. On 7 May 1856, with the introduction of responsible government, Whitaker became attorney-general in the Bell-Sewell ministry, and, although before the end of May he was out of office, he was during June again attorney-general under (Sir) Edward William Stafford; in this capacity he was leader of the government in the legislative council. The two main questions which this government had to face were those of the organisation of provincial administrations and of the adjustment of native rights. On 12 July 1861 they were de-
