Caleb Whitefoord (1734 – 25 January 1810) was a Scottish merchant, diplomat, and political satirist.

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1734, probably in the family home of Whitefoord House on the

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

, the illegitimate son of Colonel Charles (James) Whitefoord of the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

(son of Sir Adam Whitefoord, 1st Baronet),The Complete Baronetage, vol. IV, 1665–1707, ed. G. E. Cokayne, William Pollard & Co., 1904, p. 401 he was educated at James Mundell's School and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

. He moved to London, and in 1756 became a wine merchant. In 1782, he served as

Lord Shelburne William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (2 May 17377 May 1805), known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Anglo-Irish Whig statesman who was the first home secr ...

's envoy to

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

on the

Peace Commission A peace commission is an organization that operates at a local, regional, or national level within a country to reduce, counter, or prevent conflict. Typically, a peace commission will involve local communities and individuals in the peace building ...

at Paris. On 30 November 1782, during a meeting with Franklin and a French delegate, Whitefoord recorded that the Frenchman "talked of the growing greatness of America; & that the thirteen United States would form the greatest Empire in the World. — Yes sir, I replied & they will all speak English, every one of 'em. His Triumph was check'd, he understood what was intended to be convey'd, viz. that from a similarity of Language Manners and Religion that great Empire would be English not French". In 1784, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

, and in 1788, upon the proposal of Robert Arbuthnot, Sir William Forbes and

Alexander Fraser Tytler Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee FRSE (15 October 17475 January 1813) was a Scottish advocate, judge, writer, and historian who was a Professor of Universal History and of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh. L ...

he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. In 1790, Whitefoord was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. In 1800, he married a Miss Craven, and had issue, amongst whom an eldest son, Rev. Caleb Whitefoord, M.A. (Oxon.), rector of Burford with Whitton, Herefordshire, had five sons. He died at 28

Argyll Street Argyll Street is a street in the Soho district of Central London. It links Great Marlborough Street to the south to Oxford Street in the north and is connected to Regent Street to the west by Little Argyll Street. Historically it was sometimes w ...

, London, on 25 January 1810, and was interred at

St Mary on Paddington Green Church St Mary on Paddington Green is an Anglican church in the Parish of Maida Vale, Little Venice, London, and forms part of Paddington Green conservation area. Today it stands at the junction of Edgware Road and Harrow Road, overlooking the East end ...

yard.

Works

* In 1766, Whitefoord published whimsical misreadings of newspaper texts, using the pseudonym Papyrius Cursor (a play on the name of

Lucius Papirius Cursor Lucius Papirius Cursor (c.365–after 310 BC) was a celebrated politician and general of the early Roman Republic, who was five times consul, three times magister equitum, and twice Roman dictator, dictator. He was the most important Roman command ...

).John Thomas Smith, ''A Book for a Rainy Day'' (London: Methuen, 1905), p. 113. * *

Co-authored

* * – Charles Whitefoord served in Wynyard's (4th Marines), Gooch's, and the 5th Marines in the 1740s.

References

1734 births 1810 deaths People educated at James Mundell's School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Businesspeople from Edinburgh Diplomats from Edinburgh Writers from Edinburgh 18th-century Scottish merchants 19th-century Scottish merchants Scottish political writers Scottish satirists British political satire British diplomats International members of the American Philosophical Society Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts {{UK-diplomat-stub