Book review: Champion of English Freedom by Robin Eagles
Champion of English Freedom by Robin Eagles, from Amberley Publishing
The life of John Wilkes, MP and Lord Mayor of London
How long before the life of John Wilkes is dramatised on our screens? It’s certainly a colourful tale.
Wilkes is very much the eighteenth century man. Born in 1725, he didn’t quite make it to the 1800s, dying in 1797. He enjoyed more than a veneer of respectability: Fellow of the Royal Society, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, a Member of Parliament and Lord Mayor of London. But beneath these titles was a libertine, an outlaw and a convict, and the inspiration for many who agitated for liberty.
It’s this life that Robin Eagle describes in his book Champion of English Freedom. In it he charts John Wilkes’s journey from a free-thinking radical to a solid part of the British establishment. He makes it clear that Wilkes was a complex character, whose way of thinking is hard to pin down.
The distiller’s boy with plenty of spirit
The Wilkes family made their money distilling spirits. Despite suffering from facial deformities, and not being the oldest son, John was the favoured child. Almost immediately on completing his education he entered into an arranged marriage. It helped him secure wealth and status, but he wasn’t less satisfied with Mary, his bride.
Wilkes could have settled for life as a country squire in Aylesbury. However, he decided to stand for election to Parliament. When he wasn’t working towards winning support, he was enjoying a promiscuous lifestyle. By the time he was elected as Member of Parliament in 1757 he was separated from his wife.
In 1759 Wilkes became a governor of the London Foundling Hospital and helped set up a branch in Aylesbury. This reveals another side to the man who enjoyed a libertine lifestyle and was part of the notorious Hellfire Club. He had one legitimate daughter with his wife and at least two other children outside marriage. Foundling Hospitals were set up to care for children born to unmarried mothers who lacked resources to care for them.
In 1762 Wilkes launched the North Briton. This weekly paper mocked the government and, particularly, John Bute, Prime Minister under the new king, George III. Wilkes disagreed with much of government policy and detested the Scottish Earl, who the monarch relied on.
The Tower, exile, prison and respectability
In April 1763 issue 45 of the North Briton triggered Wilkes’ most serious battles with the state, because of his attacks on the king. He was accused of treason and locked up in the Tower of London.
‘Whether by accident or design, Wilkes had now become a symbol of something much bigger. Members of fashionable society were suddenly eager to be seen with him.’
He also attracted support from the masses. ‘Wilkes and Liberty’ became a rallying cry from noisy crowds gathering in protest against the authorities.
Much of Eagle’s book concentrates on the eventful decade following Wilkes’ initial arrest. It describes attempts to expel him from Parliament, his flight to Paris, his being declared an outlaw, and then his journey back to respectability.
This journey includes again being elected as an MP, two years in King’s Bench prison, becoming an Alderman of London, then Lord Mayor, and finally, Chamberlain of the City of London.
A theme through all of this was Wilkes being continually in debt and seeking a source of income.
The final chapter describes Wilkes as a ‘patriot in retirement’, living on the Isle of Wight.
Throughout this book Eagles highlightsWilkes’ capacity for self-publicity, his ability to capitalise on his predicaments, and to reinvent himself. The author concludes that Wilkes was a man of persistent determination, who was personally brave, yet whose motivations and legacy remain contested.
This book will engage readers drawn to a major character in late Georgian British political history. It’s a well-written, thoroughly researched account of John Wilkes’ life, focused on his journey from radical to respectable.
The book includes several pages of illustrations, an extensive bibliography, pages of endnotes and an index.
Champion of English Freedom: John Wilkes, MP, and Lord Mayor of London is published by Amberley.
Andrew Knowles researches and writes about the late Georgian and Regency period. He’s also a freelance writer and editor for business. He lives with his wife Rachel, co-author of this blog, in the Dorset seaside town of Weymouth.
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Regency History
by Andrew & Rachel Knowles
We research and write about the late Georgian and Regency period.
Rachel also writes faith-based Regency romance with rich historical detail.
