Cambridge (after originally going to Christ Church, Oxford), he began by entering the brewing business; but after his marriage with the daughter of the 1st Earl Grey in 1789 he took to politics, and in 1790 was elected for Bedfordshire as a Whig, attaching himself to Fox. He became known as a social and financial reformer and a constant assailant in parliament of all sorts of abuses. It was on his motion in 1805 that Lord Melville was impeached for financial maladministration of the navy, and he conducted the case for the prosecution. His Poor Law bill in 1807, an elaborate Radical scheme, came to nothing. Whitbread continued to be a constant speaker in parliament, and the principal representative of Liberal criticism, a monument of opposition tactics. He opposed the regency, championed the princess of Wales, and led the peace party; and the caricaturists were busy with his personality. In 1809 he became chairman of the committee for rebuilding Drury Lane theatre, and for some time he was immersed in controversies connected with it, which eventually seem to have unstrung his mind, for he committed suicide on the 6th of July 1815. The Whitbread influence in Liberal politics continued to be very strong in Bedfordshire in later generations, his son William Henry (from 1818 to 1837) and grandson Samuel (from 1852 to 1895) representing Bedford for many years.
WHITBY, a seaport, watering-place and market town in the Whitby parliamentary division of the North Riding of Yorkshire, England, 245 m. N from London, on the North-Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 11,755. There are a terminal station in the town and a station at West Cliff on the Saltburn branch. Whitby is beautifully situated at the mouth and on both banks of the River Esk; the old town of narrow streets and picturesque houses standing on the steep slopes above the river, while the modern residential quarter is mainly on the summit of West Cliff. A long flight of steps leads up the eastern height to the abbey, the ruins of which gain a wonderful dignity from their commanding position. This was a foundation of Oswy, king of Northumbria, in 658, in fulfilment of a vow for a victory over Penda, king of Mercia. It embraced an establishment for monks and (until the Conquest) for nuns of the Benedictine order, and under Hilda, a grand-niece of Edwin, a former king of Northumbria, acquired high celebrity. The existing ruins comprise parts of the Early English choir, the north transept, also Early English but of later date, and the rich Decorated nave. The west side of the nave fell in 1763 and the tower in 1830. On the south side are foundations of cloisters and domestic buildings. Adjoining the abbey is Whitby Hall, built by Sir Francis Cholmley about 1580 from the materials of the monastic buildings, and enlarged and fortified by Sir Hugh Cholmley about 1635. A little below the abbey is the parish church of St Mary, originally Norman, and retaining traces of the first building; owing to a variety of alterations at different periods, and the erection of high wooden pews and galleries, its appearance is more remarkable than beautiful. A modern cross in the churchyard commemorates St Caedmon, the Northumbrian poet (c. 670), who was a monk at the abbey and there died. Other features of the town are the pleasant promenades and gardens on West Cliff, the antiquarian and geological museum, and an excellent golf course. The coast is cliff-bound and very beautiful both to the north and to the south, while inland the Esk traverses a lovely wooded vale, surrounded by open, high-lying moors. Whitby is a quiet resort, possessing none of the brilliance of Scarborough on the same coast. A large fishing industry is carried on from the harbour, which is formed by the mouth of the river and protected by two piers. The manufacture of ornaments from the jet found in the vicinity forms a considerable industry. The jet is a species of petrified wood found towards the bottom of the Upper Lias, and its use for the purpose of ornament dates from very early times. A former activity in shipbuilding is of interest through the recollection that here were constructed the ships for Captain Cook's voyages. Wooden ships and boats are still built, and rope-making and sail-making are carried on.
Whitby (Streanaeshalch c. 657–857; Prestebi c. 857–1080; Witeby, &c. c. 857 onwards) is first mentioned by Bede, who states that a religious house was established here about A.D. 657. In the 9th century it was destroyed by the Danes, but being refounded became the centre of a Danish colony, and until laid waste by the Conqueror was the most prosperous town in the district. Henry I. made a grant to the abbot and convent of Whitby of a burgage in the vill of Whitby, and Richard de Waterville, abbot 1175–1190, granted the town in free burgage to the burgesses. In 1200 King John, bribed by the burgesses, confirmed this charter, but in 1201, bribed by the successor of Richard de Waterville, quashed it as injurious to the dignity of the church of Whitby. A bitter struggle went on, however, till the 14th century, when a trial resulted in a judgment against the burgesses. In 1629 Whitby petitioned for incorporation on the ground that the town was in decay through want of good government and received letters patent giving them self-government. However, in 1674–1675 the crown, probably in gratitude for the part played by the Cholmleys in the Civil War, restored to the lords of the manor all the liberties ever enjoyed by the abbots of Whitby in Whitby and Whitby Strand. Whitby became a parliamentary borough under the Reform Act of 1832, returning one member until it was disfranchised under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, At the beginning of the 14th century Sir Alexander Percy claimed the hereditary right of buying and selling in Whitby without payment of toll. The market was held time out of mind on Sunday until the reign of Henry VI., who changed the day to Saturday, still the market day. A fortnightly cattle market was granted by Charles I. Henry I. granted to the abbot of Whitby a fair at the feast of St Hilda and the king's firm peace to all coming to the fair. A second fair was used later, but neither of them is any longer held. There was a port at Whitby in the 12th century and probably before, and though never important there have always since been traces of Whitby shipping and merchandise. In medieval times the salting and sale of herrings and the sale of cod, fish and other products of the North Sea fishery were the only industries. Whale-fishing began in 1753.
See J. C. Atkinson, Memorials of Old Whitby (London, 1894); Lionel Charlton, History of Whitby (York, 1779); George Young, History of Whitby (Whitby, 1817); Victoria County History, Yorkshire, North Riding.
WHITCHURCH, a market town in the Newport parliamentary division of Shropshire, England, 171 m. N.W. from London on a joint line of the London & North-Western and Great Western railways, and the terminus of the Cambrian railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 5221. Malting and cheese-making are the principal industries. The church of St Alkmund, rebuilt in the 18th century, retains the fine tomb of John Talbot, first earl of Shrewsbury, who fell at the battle of Bordeaux (1453). The town hall and other public buildings are modern. The grammar school was founded in 1550, and here (c. 1791) Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta, was educated. The parish of Whitchurch extends into Cheshire.
Whitchurch was at first known as Westun and belonged before the Conquest to King Harold, but was afterwards granted to Earl Roger, of whom William de Warenne was holding it at the time of the Domesday Survey. The name is said to have been altered to Whitchurch or Album Monasterium on account of a stone church built there soon after 1086. The manor appears to have been held by a younger branch of the Warenne family, from whom it passed by marriage to the families of Lestrange and Talbot. It was sold by the Talbots to Thomas Egerton, from whom it passed to the earls cf Bridgwater and eventually to the present owner, Earl Brownlow. Whitchurch is mentioned as a borough in the 14th century, and was governed by a bailiff, but its privileges, which sprang up with the castle, appear to have disappeared after its decay. The town has never been represented in parliament nor noted for any trade except agriculture. In 1228 John Fitz-Alan received the right of changing the day of the market he held at Whitchurch from Thursday to Monday, and in 1362 a fair lasting three days from the feast of SS. Simon and Jude was granted to John Lestrange. Lord Brownlow granted the market rights to the local authority.
