WHITBREAD, SAMUEL (1830-1915), English politician, born at Cardington, Beds., on May 5, 1830, the grandson of Samuel Whitbread, M.P. for Bedfordshire, was head of the brewery founded by his great-grandfather from 1867 to 1889, and then became chairman of the company to which it was trans ferred. Like his father and grandfather, he became Liberal M.P. for Bedford (1852-95). He died at Biggleswade on Dec. 25, 1915. WHITBY, market-town and urban district, Yorks., Eng. Pop. (1930, 11,441. The town is situated on the cliff-bound north-east coast, at the mouth of the river Esk, which follows a wooded course almost due east through the open, high-lying moors. The old town of narrow streets and picturesque houses stands on the steep slopes above the river, while the modern residential quarter is mainly on the summit of the west cliff. On the east cliff, which dominates the harbour, called of old Streoneshalh, the ruins of the famous abbey hold a commanding position. The existing ruins comprise parts of the Early English choir, the north transepts of slightly later date, and a richly Decorated nave. The west side of the nave fell in 1763 and the tower in 1830. On the south side are the foundations of cloisters and domestic buildings. Extensive excavations are being carried out in the castle ruins.
Whitby is first mentioned by Bede, who states that a religious house was founded here in about 657. It included establishments for monks and, until the Conquest, for nuns of the Benedictine order, and under Abbess Hilda it acquired considerable celebrity. In the 9th century the town was destroyed by the Danes, but was later refounded and became the centre of a Danish colony; it was the most prosperous town in the district until laid waste by the Conqueror. Henry I. made a grant of a burgage to the abbot and convent of Whitby and, towards the end of the 12th century, the abbot granted the town a free burgage to the burgesses. In 1200, King John, bribed by the burgesses, con
firmed this charter, but the following year, on being bribed by the abbot, he quashed it as injurious to the dignity of the church of Whitby. The struggle continued until the 14th century, when a trial resulted in judgment against the burgesses. In 1629, Whitby petitioned for incorporation on the ground that the town was in decay through lack of good government, and received let ters patent giving it self-government. But in 1674-75 the Crown restored to the lords of the manor all liberties ever enjoyed by the abbots of Whitby in Whitby and Whitby Strand, probably in gratitude for the part they played in the Civil War.
Whitby has been a port at least since the 12th century, ranking seventh in England in 1828. Here were constructed the ships for Captain Cook's voyages. The yard was used for building ferro concrete boats during the World War. Wooden ships are still built, and rope and sail making are carried on. In mediaeval times herrings and cod from the North sea formed the only indus tries. Whale fishing began in 1753.
The manufacture of alum from rocks near Whitby was an important industry from the beginning of the 17th century to well into the 19th century. The Yorkshire Lias was the sole source in England. With the development of Cleveland iron, the trade declined, but alum is manufactured for medicines, tanning and dyeing. Jet was also mined.
Adjoining the abbey is Whitby Hall, built about 158o from the materials of the monastic buildings, and enlarged and fortified about 1635. A little below the abbey is the parish church of St. Mary, originally Norman, but much altered. The geological and antiquarian museums at Whitby are famous.