Robert Waithman
{{Short description|Lord Mayor of London}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
File:ONL (1887) 1.066 - Alderman Waithman, from an authentic portrait.jpg
Robert Waithman (1764 – 6 February 1833) was a master draper who in later life was a British politician; an economic progressive Whig from an industrial background and a political reformist. He became an alderman of the Corporation of London who elected him as Lord Mayor of London for a standard tenure, one ceremonial year.
Biography
Waithman was born at Wrexham, to John Waithman, a joiner at the Bersham Ironworks, and Mary (née Roberts).
After being employed for some time in a London linen draper's, he opened, about 1786, a draper's shop of his own, and made a considerable fortune. On 14 July 1787 he married Mary Davis, his cousin.{{Cite web|url=https://biography.wales/article/s-WAIT-ROB-1764|title=The National Library of Wales :: Dictionary of Welsh Biography|website=yba.llgc.org.uk|access-date=2017-04-13}} In 1818 he was returned to Parliament, as a Whig, for the City of London. He lost his seat at the election of 1820, but regained it in 1826, and retained it till his death, taking part vigorously in the parliamentary debates, and strenuously supporting reform.
File:Salisbury Square, London, January 2018 03.jpg
In 1820 he was appointed Sheriff of the City of London and in 1823 elected Lord Mayor of London. Waithman died in London on 6 February 1833. An obelisk erected by his friends in Ludgate Circus, London, adjoining the site of his first shop, commemorated his memory. The obelisk today forms the main monument in Salisbury Square.
Notes
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References
- {{EB1911|wstitle=Waithman, Robert}}
External links
- {{cite DNB|wstitle=Waithman, Robert |short=x}}
- {{Hansard-contribs | mr-robert-waithman | Robert Waithman }}
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| with = Sir Matthew Wood, Bt 1817–43
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{{s-ttl|title=Lord Mayor of London |years = 1823 – 1824 }}
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Category:Sheriffs of the City of London
Category:19th-century lord mayors of London
Category:19th-century English politicians
Category:Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies