George Whitmore (Lord Mayor)

Sir George Whitmore (died 12 December 1654) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1631. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.

Whitmore was the third son of William Whitmore (d. 1593), haberdasher of London, lessee of Balmes Manor in Hackney and owner of Apley Hall in Shropshire.[1] He was the grandson of William Bond who was an alderman and Sheriff of London from 1567 to 1578.[2] He was a city of London merchant and a member of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers. On 2 June 1621 he was elected an alderman of the City of London for Farringdon Within ward. He was Sheriff of London from 1621 to 1622 and Master of the Haberdashers Company for the same period. In 1626 he became alderman for Langbourn ward. In 1631, he was elected Lord Mayor of London and was Master of the Haberdashers Company again from 1631 to 1632. He was knighted on 27 May 1632. From 1632 to 1642 he was president of Bethlem and Bridewell.[3] He was a strong supporter of the King in the Civil War and was imprisoned by the Parliamentarians as a 'delinquent.' In 1641 he received King Charles I at Balmes Manor, which had been purchased for him in 1634 by his elder brother Sir William Whitmore of Apley, High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1620.[4]

Whitmore was the brother-in-law of Sir William Craven who was Lord Mayor in 1611. His daughter married Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of London who was Lord Mayor in 1662.[2]

References

  1. ↑ See will of William Whitemore dated 1593 in: 'Wills: 31-40 Elizabeth I (1588-98)', Calendar of wills proved and enrolled in the Court of Husting, London: Part 2: 1358-1688 (1890), pp. 713-725
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 'Notes on the aldermen, 1502-1700', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III - 1912 (1908), pp. 168-195. Date accessed: 15 July 2011
  3. ↑ 'Chronological list of aldermen: 1601-1650', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III - 1912 (1908), pp. 47-75. Date accessed: 16 July 2011
  4. ↑ Victoria County History, Middlesex, vol.10, 1995, Hackney, pp.75-91
Civic offices
Preceded by
Sir Robert Ducie, 1st Baronet		 Lord Mayor of the City of London
1631 		Succeeded by
Nicholas Rainton