Richard Whittington (c. 1350-1423) was a medieval merchant and politician, the real-life inspiration for the pantomime character Dick Whittington. He was born in 1350 in Gloucestershire although his family came from Kinver in Staffordshire, England, where his grandfather Sir William de Whittington was a knight at arms. (His date of birth is sometimes given as late as 1359.) However, he was a younger son and so would not inherit his father's estate. Wikipedia
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Richard Whittington. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Whittington
