Samuel Whitbread (18 January 1764 – 6 July 1815) was a British

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. The heir of a wealthy

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

, he was a staunch Whig sitting in Parliament from 1790 to his death. Shortly after the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

he committed suicide, having been very sympathetic to the defeated French emperor

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Early life

Whitbread was born on 18 January 1764 in Cardington, Bedfordshire, the son of the brewer Samuel Whitbread.Ritchie, p. 24. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, after which he embarked on a European " Grand Tour", visiting Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Poland,

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, France, and Italy. He returned to England in May 1786 and joined his father's successful brewing business.

Member of Parliament

Whitbread was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

in 1790 (his father too had been MP) and he remained MP for twenty-three years. Whitbread was a reformer – a champion of religious and civil rights, for the abolition of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, a proponent of a national education system and, in 1795, sponsor of an unsuccessful bill for the introduction of minimum wages.Hammond & Hammond, pp. 139–40.
/ref> He was a close friend and colleague of

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

. After Fox's death, Whitbread took over the leadership of the Whigs, and in 1805 led the campaign to have

Viscount Melville Viscount Melville, of Melville in the County of Edinburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Origins The title was created on 24 December 1802 for the notable lawyer and politician Henry Dundas. He was created Baron Dunira, ...

impeached. In 1806 the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

found Melville not guilty of all charges. In a shocking admission, Whitbread later confessed that he never suspected that Melville had enriched himself with public funds. Whitbread took over the control of his father's estate, including Southill Park and the family brewing company following his father's death in 1796 and by the early 1810s, had introduced several new partners to bring investment to stabilise the finances of the company. These included his cousin Jacob Whitbread and John Martineau (who would subsequently merge his brewery with Whitbreads in 1812). He raised a regiment of

Volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

in Bedford in 1803 and commanded it with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1808 this became the 1st Bedfordshire Local Militia and he shared the command with Lt-Col the Marquess of Tavistock. Whitbread admired

and his reforms in France and Europe. He hoped that many of Napoleon's reforms would be implemented in Britain. Throughout the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

he played down French defeats convinced that sooner or later Napoleon would triumph, and he did all he could to bring about a withdrawal of Britain from the continent. When Napoleon abdicated in 1814 he was devastated. Whitbread began to suffer from depression, and on the morning of 6 July 1815, he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by cutting his throat with a razor.Ritchie, p. 45. The Hammonds comment that "Whitbread is a politician to whom history has done less than justice... His most notable quality was his vivid and energetic sympathy; he spent his life in hopeless battles and died by his own hand of public despair."

Family

Whitbread married Lady Elizabeth (1765–1846), the eldest daughter of the first

Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscoun ...

on 26 December 1787.Ritchie, p. 43. Their sons, William Henry Whitbread and

Samuel Charles Whitbread Samuel Charles Whitbread (16 February 1796 – 27 May 1879) was a British Member of Parliament, member of the Whitbread brewing family and founding president of the Royal Meteorological Society. Early life and education Whitbread was the ...

, were also Members of Parliament. Samuel Whitbread Academy in

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a Districts of England, local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council, a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority. It was created ...

, England, is named after him.

References

Sources

* Lt-Col Sir John M. Burgoyne, Bart, ''Regimental Records of the Bedfordshire Militia 1759–1884'', London: W.H. Allen, 1884. * * . * War Office, ''A List of the Officers of the Militia, the Gentlemen & Yeomanry Cavalry, and Volunteer Infantry of the United Kingdom'', 11th Edn, London: War Office, 14 October 1805/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84574-207-2. * Charles Duke Yonge, ''The Life and Administration of Robert Banks, Second Earl of Liverpool, K. G., Late First Lord of the Treasury'', Macmillan and Company, 1868.

Early life

Member of Parliament

Family

References

Sources

External links

Further reading