W H 1 



family. Sir John Lowther, about the beginning of the 

 reign of Charles I., purchafed the lands of the difTolved 

 monaftery of St. Bees for his fecoiid fon, fir Chrillopher, 

 who, as coals about that period came into general ufe, con- 

 ceived the idea of improving his pofTt- fTioiis hy opening fome 

 collieries. No efFeftual progrefs was, however, made till 

 after the Reftoration, when another fir .John Lowther, who 

 had fucceeded to the eftate, formed a plan for working the 

 mines on a very extenfive fcale. To obviate all oppofition 

 to his operations, he procured a gift of all the ungranted 

 lands within the dillridl, and alfo of the whole fea-coall for 

 two miles northward, between high and low water mark. 

 He then direfted his attention to the port, which was fmall 

 and inconvenient ; and, by his judicious fchemes, laid the 

 foundation of the prefent haven. Subfequent improvements 

 have been made, particularly during the reign of George II., 

 when an aft was pafled to perfeft and keep it in repair, by 

 a tonnage on ftiij^piiig. The mines are faid to be the deepeft 

 in England, and extend a confiderable way under the fea : 

 one has hem carried looo yards out from the (hore, at the 

 depth of 112 fathoms under the water. Mod of the coal 

 exported from this haven is conveyed to Ireland ; the quan- 

 tity raifed annually, on the average, is about 90,000 chal- 

 .drons. (See Coal.) The creek on wlrch Whitehaven is 

 'built is fo deeply feated, that the adjacent lands overlook it 

 on every fide. The approach from the north is fingular, as 

 the heights are fo much above the town, that only the roofs 

 of the houfes can be feen till near the entrance, which, on this 

 point, is through an archvsray of red free-flone. The town it- 

 ! felf is one of the moft refpeftable in all the northern counties ; 

 the ftreets being regular and fpacious, and crofling each 

 other at right angles ; the houfes in general are well built, 

 and even the tradefmen's /hops exhibit a degree of elegance. 

 jHere are three chapels, plain convenient ftruftures : they 

 were all erefted by fubfcription of the inhabitants, aided by 

 the benevolence of the Lowther family. St. Nicholas's 

 chapel was built in 1693 ; Trinity, in 1715 ; St. James's, 

 in 1752. The latter is neatly fitted up ; the roof and gal- 

 leries are fupported by ranges of pillars. Befides the eila- 

 'bliflied chapels, here are three meeting-houfes for Methodifts, 

 ■two for Prefbyterians, and one for each of the following 

 Ifefts, Anabaptifts, Roman Catholics, Glaflites, and Sande- 

 manians. The principal manufaftures are thofe of cordage 

 !and fail-cloth ; the latter was only eftablifhed in 1786, but 

 already gives employment to feveral hundred workmen, 

 I though much of the bufinefs is executed by machinery of 

 I great power. A fair is held annually, and there are three 

 weekly markets. The caftle, as it is called, adjoining the eaft 

 ;fide of the town, one of the feats of the earl of Lonfdale, 

 is a large quadrangular building, chiefly erefted by the late 

 learl, and containing fome good paintings. 

 ' Si. Bees, in which parifh Whitehaven is fituated, derives 

 I its origin from a religious houfe founded here by Bega, an 

 ' Irifh faint, about the year 650. On her death, a church 

 was erefted to her honour; but both thefe eftablifiiments 

 ■ having been deitroyed by the Danes, they were replaced, in 

 I the reign of Henry I., by a new foundation for Benediftine 

 ; monks. The church built at this period had the form of a 

 Jcrofs, and great part of it yet remains. The eaft end is 

 I unroofed, and in ruins ; the nave is fitted up as the parifh 

 jchurch ; and the crofs-aifle is ufed as a burial-place. The 

 Iwhole IS of a red free-ftone. In this village a free-fchool 

 'was fou idi'd by a bequeft of archbifhop Grindall, in the 

 lyear 15K7, under a charter of queen EHzabeth. The en- 

 dowments were increafed by James I., and have been fince 

 ifufther augmented by various benefaftions. — Beauties of 

 jEngrand and Wales, vol, iii. Cumberland, by J. Britton 



W H 1 



and E. W. Brayley, 1802. Magna Britannia, Cumberland, 



by Meflrs. Lyfons, 410. i8i6. 



WHITEHEAD, William, in Biography, an Englifh 

 poet, w^'S born at Cambridge in 17 14-5, educated at Win- 

 cheiter fcliool, where from his talent in writing verfe he ac- 

 quired the notice of Pope ; and upon his return to Cam- 

 bridge, obtained a fcholarfhip of Clare-hall. As a poet. 

 Whitehead's higheft ambition was to rv*lemble the manner 

 of Pope ; and of his proficiency he gave a fpecimen in his 

 " Epiftle on the Danger of writing Verfe," 1741. In the 

 following year he was elefted fellow of Clare-hall, and pur- 

 fned his ftudies with a view to the church ; but his poetical 

 talents produced a change in his circumftances and in his 

 purpofe. Being recommended to the earl of Jerfey as a 

 proper tutor for his eldeft fon, he removed in 1745 to the 

 earl's houfe in London, where his treatment was in the 

 higheil degree liberal. Having leifure for indulging his 

 taile for literary purfuits, he turned his attention to dramatic 

 compofition, and produced a tragedy, entitled " The Ro- 

 man Father," which was exhibited with applaufe upon the 

 ftage in Drury-lane in 1750. In 1754 he pubhfhed another, 

 the title of which was " Creufa," which was alfo favourably 

 received. With the profits arifing from thefe two perform- 

 ances he very honourably difcharged the debts of his father, 

 who had died infolvent. In this year he accompanied his 

 pupil, vifcount Villiers, and vifcount Nuneham, fon of earl 

 Harcourt, on their travels, which continued more than two 

 years ; and on his return he publifiied an " Ode to the 

 Tiber," and fix elegiac epiftles, which were much ap- 

 plauded. Lady Jerfey, during his abfence, had procured 

 for him the appointment of fecretary and regifter to the 

 order of the Bath ; and in 1757, on the death of Cibber, 

 he fucceeded to the laureat, which he rendered refpeftable ; 

 though in the difcharge of the cuftomary duties of the 

 office, he did not efcape abufe, and efpecially that of 

 Churchill, whofe popular fatire almoft overwhelmed the re- 

 putation of the laureat. Lady Jerfey, in confideration ot 

 his fervices as governor to her fon, invited him to take up 

 his refidence in her houfe, where lie pafTed fourteen years, 

 frequently vifiting lord Harcourt, much refpefted by his 

 noble hofts and his former pupils. He ftill amufed himfelf 

 by prefenting to the public occafional produftions, one of 

 which was a comedy of the moral or fentimental clafs, en- 

 titled " The School for Lovers." After paffing through 

 life tranquilly and pleafantly, and maintaining an eftimable 

 charafter, he died fuddenly, April 1785, in his 70th year. 

 Of his works two volumes were publifhed by himfelf, and to 

 thefe a third was added by Mr. Mafon, who prefixed me- 

 moirs of his life and writings, to which we refer. Gen. 

 Biog. 



Whitehead, George, an eminent perfon among the 

 Quakers, was born in 1636 at Sunbigg, in Weftmoreland. 

 Attaching himfelf early in life to this fociety, and engaging 

 in the propagation of its doftrine, he partook of the fuffer- 

 ings which, in that age, were the ordinary lot of its aftive 

 members ; and was once, fimply for having preached at 

 Nayland, in Suffolk, feverely whipped by order of two 

 juftices as a vagabond ; a proceeding which ferved, as might 

 have been expefted, to increafe the difpoficion of the people 

 to hear hira. Soon after the Reftoration of the monarchy, 

 the Quakers were made the exprefs fubjefts of a law, the 

 precurfor of others of like nature, which impofcd on their 

 profefTion and worftiip penalties extending to baniftiment. 

 In the progrefs of the bill through the houfe of commons. 

 Whitehead, with three other Q.iakeri!, was admitted to the 

 bar of the houfe, and heard in defence of the fociety. 

 They pleaded its caufe with the freedom of confcious inno- 



cence. 



