John Wilkes

Born October 17, 1725
London, England
Died December 26, 1797
London, England

Political leader, writer, publisher

John Wilkes was a London radical who favored revolutionary changes in England's political structure. His newspaper articles irritated King George III see entry and British lawmakers (Parliament) so much that he was several times expelled from his seat in Parliament. The public was outraged over this treatment, and the important question was raised—whether Parliament could ignore the will of voters. Wilkes became known as a champion of the common people and a crusader for freedom of the press and the reform of Parliament. American colonists made a hero out of him because of his support for the American Revolution (1775–83).

John Wilkes was the second son and one of five children born to Israel Wilkes, a London malt distiller (a maker of alcoholic beverages), and Sarah Heaton Wilkes. The distillery provided a good income, and Israel Wilkes was rich enough to afford his own coach, six horses, and a fine London home. He supported the official Church of England, but his wife was a dissenter, one who did not like the form of worship used by the official church and who opposed government-controlled religion. Israel Wilkes was a tolerant man who respected his wife's dissenting views. The couple frequently entertained educated people in their home.

Israel Wilkes had planned that his son John would get only a basic education in reading and writing, but he changed his mind when he saw how bright the boy was. John was then sent to be educated in the classics by a Presbyterian minister (the classics are the art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome). London had a large number of well-educated churchmen, and being tutored by one was a common first step before going on to a university. Wilkes's teacher emphasized the importance of expressing oneself freely, a lesson Wilkes took to heart.

In 1744 Wilkes went to Leyden University in Holland, where he met Charles Townshend see entry and other rich young Englishmen. During his two years abroad, Wilkes did not study very hard, but he took advantage of every opportunity to travel throughout Europe. He returned home with the reputation of an educated man. In 1749 Wilkes was elected a member of the Royal Society, an exclusive group of rich, educated men who met to discuss scientific and other topics; members also wrote and published papers.

Early marriage; unsavory habits

In 1749, at his father's urging, Wilkes married Mary Mead, heiress of a wealthy grocer; she was ten years older than he was. In 1750, Mary Wilkes gave birth to a daughter, Mary (called Polly). The couple separated soon after the child's birth, and Wilkes kept custody of the child (it was common in those days for fathers to control their children). It was arranged that Wilkes would receive enough of his wife's property to allow him to live comfortably without working. In 1758, Mary Wilkes had to go to court to stop her husband from pestering her for more money.

For several years after his separation from his wife, Wilkes associated with a rich crowd of lazy young men. He did little that was useful, instead indulging in frequent affairs with women, gambling, and playing mean tricks on both his friends and his enemies. Wilkes belonged to a secret organization called the Hell-Fire Club, whose members met occasionally in the ruins of an old church to perform Black Masses (they celebrated the devil in a mockery of the Roman Catholic mass). At one such mass, Wilkes terrified his companions by suddenly releasing a baboon disguised as the devil.

Wilkes is described by biographers as extremely unattractive, with an odd squint that gave him an evil appearance. However, he could be charming and witty, and he had a talent for writing. By 1757, he seemed to have grown bored with his life. He embarked on a path that embraced both journalism and politics. However, he did not do it in a quiet way.

Enters public life

In 1757 Wilkes was elected to Parliament from the district of Aylesbury where, thanks to his wife, he had possession of a large estate. In Parliament, he was a strong supporter of the politician William Pitt see entry. He hoped that Pitt would use his influence to get him a position as ambassador to Constantinople (Turkey) or governor of Quebec (Canada). When neither position was forthcoming, Wilkes blamed Lord Bute (pronounced BOOT), another politician and the special favorite of King George III. He was so angry that he began to attack both Bute and King George in print.

Wilkes's nasty articles greatly offended the king and his advisers, but the public was delighted. In 1762 Wilkes and a friend founded their own newspaper, The North Briton (a Briton is a native of Great Britain). Wilkes now had a whole newspaper in which to attack and poke fun at King George and Lord Bute; he didn't stop with them, but made targets of old friends, other politicians, and even children he knew.

With the edition of the paper printed on April 23, 1763, Wilkes went too far. In an anonymous article, the king's advisers were attacked as "tools of despotism and corruption." (Despotism is rule by absolute power, not by law.) The article hinted that a peace treaty recently signed with France was dishonorable and dishonest, and the king knew it. As a result of Wilkes's article, the king became very angry.

Tossed into Tower of London

King George's secretary of state issued a warrant (a legal document) commanding that the authors, printers, and publishers of The North Briton, issue number 45, be arrested. As a result, nearly fifty people were arrested and jailed, including John Wilkes. Wilkes protested that the warrant was illegal, because it did not mention any names. He also claimed that he had special privileges against being arrested, because he was a Member of Parliament. In spite of his protests, Wilkes was imprisoned in the Tower of London and charged with seditious libel. This was a very serious charge; libel is any written, printed, or pictorial statement that damages a person by attacking his good name or exposing him to ridicule, and sedition is conduct or language intended to incite rebellion against the authority of the state.

In prison, Wilkes was not allowed to speak to anyone. His house was thoroughly and messily searched, and even his personal papers were seized. At a court hearing, the judge ruled that as a Member of Parliament, Wilkes could not be arrested for libel and was let go. Wilkes was hailed as the hero of the common people of London. Some time later, Wilkes's success led to reforms that protected other people from similar treatment by the government.

Wilkes went back to attacking the king and his advisers in print. On November 16, 1763, Wilkes was shot in the stomach by a supporter of King George. The man had challenged Wilkes to a duel, a move that many people believed was a government plot to get rid of Wilkes. The following week, Parliament voted that a member could indeed be arrested for publishing seditious libel. Wilkes fled to Paris, France, rather than be arrested. While he was away, Parliament expelled him for having previously published an "obscene libel" entitled Essay on Woman, and Wilkes was declared an outlaw.

Exiled; returns to fight for free press

Wilkes had a fine time in Europe. After he recovered from his wound, he took a mistress and traveled through Italy. He began work on a book, History of England, which he never finished. His mistress deserted him and he returned to Paris, but he felt uncomfortable there. His lifestyle was costly, his daughter's education was expensive, his writing earned little money, and he was running out of funds.

In early 1768, Wilkes returned to London, hoping to restore his good name and his government position. He wrote to ask for the king's pardon but was ignored. Londoners had not forgotten him, however, and in March 1768, a huge majority elected him a Member of Parliament for the district of Middlesex. Wilkes was still considered an outlaw; after his election he surrendered and was imprisoned. A mob tried to rescue him as he went from court to jail, but he escaped the mob and returned to jail. From his cell he wrote a passionate letter to his supporters, who continued to surround the jail. By May 10, 1768, a crowd of 15,000 had gathered outside the prison, shouting "Wilkes and Liberty," "No Liberty, No King," and "Damn the King! Damn the Government! Damn the Justices!" ("Justice" is another word for judge). British soldiers tried to break up the mob, and seven people were killed.

Wilkes was sentenced to a jail term and a fine, and he was again expelled from Parliament. Elections for his Middlesex seat were held in February, March, and April 1769; each time Wilkes was re-elected, and each time, Parliament over-turned the elections. Wilkes declared war on the government, publishing letters attacking the government for its unfair and illegal treatment of him and blaming them for what he called the "massacre" outside the jail.

In April 1770 Wilkes was released from prison. He was banned from Parliament, but he could still write articles for the newspapers. He continued to attack what he believed to be a corrupt government. (Benjamin Franklin see entry, who was living in London as a representative of the American colonies, agreed with Wilkes that Parliament was corrupt). When Parliament tried to prevent London newspapers from publishing reports of government debates, Wilkes challenged the decision. Faced with the opposition of Wilkes and a huge crowd outside their doors, Parliament gave up their attempt to suppress the news. Wilkes had struck a blow for freedom of the press.

Darling of London mobs, American revolutionaries

In 1771 Wilkes was elected sheriff of London and Middlesex. In a time when Great Britain operated under a harsh system of treating prisoners, Wilkes courted popularity by stopping the practice of holding a prisoner in chains during the prisoner's trial. He passed a measure that forbade soldiers to attend executions. Witnessing executions was a form of entertainment in those days, and soldiers were stationed to keep the crowds in order. Without crowd control, the common people loved him; however, people high up in Parliament dismissed him as the darling of the mobs.

In 1774 Wilkes was elected Lord Mayor of London and a Member of Parliament from Middlesex. He was obviously a very popular man, and this time, no one opposed his taking his seat in Parliament. Wilkes was just in time to voice his opinion on the Intolerable Acts, the measures adopted by Parliament to punish the city of Boston, Massachusetts, for the Boston Tea Party.

For more than ten years, anger had been building in the American colonies over taxes and other measures imposed on them by Parliament. The matter reached a head with the dumping of 342 chests of British tea in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. Relations between England and America went downhill from there, and the first shots of the American Revolution rang out at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775. Just nine days before, John Wilkes had presented to King George a protest over British treatment of the colonies.

Throughout the American Revolution, Wilkes continued to speak out against his government's conduct, in the process becoming the man King George most disliked. At the same time, he pressed for "just and equal representation of the people of England in parliament." His protests came at a time when industrial cities in England were growing quickly but had fewer representatives in Parliament than older, smaller districts, whose representatives jealously guarded their power. It would be another fifty years before Wilkes's ideal of fair representation was realized. Wilkes's phrase "the rights of Englishmen" was adopted by American rebels as they pleaded their cause to King George and Parliament. To American patriots, Wilkes became a hero.

Gordon Riots

Wilkes was involved in another ugly mob incident in 1780 called the Gordon riots. English Catholics had been persecuted for hundreds of years, and beginning in 1778, some of the punishing laws against them were lifted. In 1780, Catholic-hating mobs reacted angrily to these changes in the laws. Wilkes played a courageous role in the event, reminding the mob of the authority of the law.

Wilkes kept his seat in Parliament until 1790. Wilkes was more interested in French and Italian literature and painting than in politics. He continued writing essays, translated some ancient poems from Latin, and wrote some of his own poetry, which he dedicated to his beloved daughter.

Last days

Wilkes divided his time during the last seven years of his life among his three homes, one on the Isle of Wight and two in London. He died nearly penniless in one of his London homes on the day after Christmas, 1797. He was buried in a London chapel with only a wall tablet to mark the burial spot. It read: "The Remains of John Wilkes, a friend to liberty." He left behind his daughter Mary, who died unmarried in 1802. He also had a son and a daughter by someone other than his wife.

Wilkes is summed up in The Dictionary of National Biography this way: "Wilkes had fine manners and an inexhaustible fund of wit and humour which made his society acceptable even to those who … thoroughly distrusted him. In his vices he was by no means [unusual]; and his tender affection for his daughter and the constancy of his friendship … are redeeming traits in his character."

For More Information

Boatner, Mark M., III. "Wilkes, John." Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1994, pp. 1203-05.

Churchhill, Winston S. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. Volume 3: The Age of Revolution. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1983, pp. 163-99.

Web Sites

"Wilkes, John." [Online] Available http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRwilkes.htm (accessed on October 13, 1999).

The John Wilkes Connection

Some interesting people are connected in one way or another to John Wilkes. Another British politician who lived at the same time as Wilkes, a man named Isaac Barré, also became famous in America as a champion of freedom. It was Barré who coined the term "sons of liberty" to describe the American rebels; the name was taken up by a radical group formed by Samuel Adams see entry. Today, the town of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, pays homage to Wilkes and Barré.

John Wilkes's older brother Israel had a son, Charles Wilkes, who discovered Antarctica in 1840 and later became a hero during the American Civil War (1861–65). A distant relative of John Wilkes, John Wilkes Booth, will always be remembered as the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.