Find Dick Whittington's House

As many will already be aware, the chap with the cat from the pantomimes was based on a real man, and one from England's best county at that. For Richard Whittington was born in Pauntley in Gloucestershire and came to London - with or without cat - to become a textile trader, before eventually becoming Lord Mayor of London and then a Member of Parliament.


The evidence seems to suggest Whittington gave a lot of money to the City, paying for drainage, a public toilet, Greyfriars library, and the rebuilding of St Michael Paternoster Royal and Guildhall. He is also credited with leaving money in his will to rebuild Newgate Prison, repair St Bartholomew's Hospital and install some of early public drinking fountains. A plaque remembers Whittington at 20 College Hill, EC4, in the City of London.

For more, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Whittington

_{^Picture © Dave Pickersgill used under a Creative Commons license^}