For the reader who is not familiar with the myth, the story is as follows: Dick Whittington was a poor boy who walked all the way to London, from his home in Gloucestershire, to seek his fortune. He began work in the house of a rich merchant and soon fell in love with his employer's daughter, Alice. Dick's bedroom was in the attic but it was plagued by many mice, so Dick decided to get a cat to deal with the problem, but, when his boss gave the servants a chance to invest in a sailing venture, Dick sold the cat to raise money.
Later Dick decided to leave London and go home to Gloucestershire because he couldn't see any future for himself in London. He got as far as the top of Highgate Hill and stopped because he heard the bells of London ringing - they seemed to be saying: 'Turn again, Whittington, three times Lord Mayor of London'.
Because Dick thought this was a good omen, he returned to the Fitzwarren household and learnt that the ship he had invested in had returned with very good news. The boat had arrived in a foreign land only to find the king's court was overrun by rats. Dick's cat drove out all the rats and the grateful king paid a very large sum of gold to buy the cat. Now a very wealthy man, Dick married Alice and later became Lord Mayor of London.
But, even the people who are familiar with the story of Dick Whittington and the cat that made his fortune, don't know "the man behind the myth". Richard Whittington was very "real" in his day and was a friend of princes and poor people alike.
Born in the 1350's, he was a Gloucestshire boy who was the youngest son of a Gloucester knight. Dick may well have been inspired by the sound of Bow Bells and may even have had a cat - for two 16th century portraits of him depict the cat. He didn't find the streets of London paved with gold but he did eventually became a 'mercer' and provided fine and valuable cloth to the Royal Court. He became a very rich man and it is said that when the King and Queen Catherine came to dine with him in Hart Street, Whittington burned a bond by which Henry IV was to pay him back 60,000.
In 1397 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 Richard Whittington, the Mayor of London four times.
He used his great wealth to build almshouses for the old and gave London a drinking fountain long before any other city had one. Due to his generosity, the crumbling Hospital of St. Bartholomew and the notorious Newgate Prison, were rebuilt. In his will he left valuable land to the city and disadvantaged Londoners still benefit through the Whittington Charity.
Whittington, who never had any children, died in March 1423 and was buried in St. Michael Paternoster Royal in London. His wife Alice, daughter of Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn, died before him and is buried alongside her husband.
In 1821, a stone was placed on Highgate Hill in London, to mark the spot where Dick is supposed to have sat and listened to the Bow Bells calling him - in 1964, a statue of a cat was added.
This article is by Josephine Moss - web-mistress of Spend Time in London: A free guide to your Time in London.
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