Author: WHITAKER, T.
Biography:
WHITAKER, T. (fl 1815)
Next to nothing is known about T. Whitaker, author of The Corsican Hydra, one of scores of anti-Napoleonic works published in the period. The subtitle “a Pindaric Poem” refers of course not to the Greek poet Pindar but to the popular poet Peter Pindar (John Wolcot, q.v.) who founded a school of merry political satires in the late eighteenth century. No other works are attributed to the author under this form of his name, with the initial letter “T.” only. In some library catalogues that is expanded as “Tobias” although “Tobias Whitaker” is almost entirely absent from public records of births and burials of the time, and it is possible that the original cataloguer was thinking of the one famous Tobias Whitaker (1601-64), physician to Charles II, whose name was invoked in newspapers in the 1820s for his prescription of wine for longevity. If the author really was “T. Whitaker” and it is not a pen name, Thomas is a more likely candidate than Tobias—but there are too many Thomas Whitakers to make an exact identification possible. There was a Thomas Whitaker, stationer, in business in London at 4 Wallbrook St. c. 1825-6; and there is Thomas R. Whitaker (q.v.) who was publishing poetry in 1813, but writers usually choose their preferred name for title-pages and stick with it. T. Whitaker remains a mystery. (ancestry.com 14 May 2024; findmypast.com 14 May 2024; Pigot’s Directory [London] for 1825-6) HJ