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.