A cool Paternoster image:
184/365 – a photo a day for 2015
Image by wirewiper
Friday 3rd July 2015 – the Whittington Stone on Highgate Hill.
This is said to be the point at which a poor Dick Whittington, walking away from London as he had been unsuccessful in seeking his fortune, heard the bells of St Mary le Bow church. They seemed to be encouraging him to turn back and return to London, as he was destined to be three times Lord Mayor.
The story of Dick Whittington is based on a real man, and like all good stories it has been somewhat embellished in the telling! In reality Richard Whittington had been born into a wealthy family in Gloucestershire, but as he was not the eldest son he knew he would have to earn his own income. He therefore came to London to serve a seven-year apprenticeship under a Master Mercer (traders of fine cloths and silks) after which he was able to trade in his own right as a Freeman of the City of London. Therefore he would be unlikely to have had good reason to be leaving London, especially to the North. Having become a Sheriff of the City in 1393 (an office which still exists today) he went on to become Lord Mayor on three separate occasions, in 1397, 1406 and 1420.
He is probably commemorated because of the good he did for the people of London. He may have become very wealthy as a Mercer, but he was a serious and moral man and he bequeathed his fortune, both while alive and after his death (his wife predeceased him and they had no heirs) to the people of London. One of his works was the founding of a "college" (actually a hospital and almshouses) next to St Michael Paternoster Royal in the City. This was relocated to Highgate Hill in 1822 and the hospital still survives here, if much altered (the almshouses were demolished in 1966 to make way for the widening of the Archway Road and their replacements are located in Felbridge, Surrey).
The stone itself was erected around the same time; its location here may be pure coincidence. Carved into the stone on the road side is:
Whittington Stone
Richard Whittington
Thrice Lord Mayor of London
1397 – Richard II
1406 – Henry IV
1420 – Henry V
Sheriff – in 1393
The cat is a more recent addition, appearing in 1964. Although an integral part of the Dick Whittington story, there there is no evidence that Richard Whittington ever actually did own a cat; and one theory is that a similar word has been misspelt or misunderstood.
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