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{{For|the actor and assassin|John Wilkes Booth}}
{{Other people}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = John Wilkes
| honorific_suffix = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] [[Fellowship of the Royal Society|FRS]]
| image = John Wilkes after Richard Houston.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Wilkes by [[Richard Houston]] (1769)
| office = Parliamentary offices
| suboffice = [[Member of Parliament (UK)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Aylesbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Aylesbury]]
| subterm = 1757–1764
| suboffice1 = [[Member of Parliament (UK)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)|Middlesex]]
| subterm1 = 1768–1769
| suboffice2 = [[Member of Parliament (UK)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)|Middlesex]]
| subterm2 = 1774–1790
| office3 = Civic offices
| suboffice3 = [[High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire]]
| subterm3 = 1754–1755
| subterm4 = 1771–1772
| suboffice4 = [[Sheriff of London]]
| suboffice5 = [[Lord Mayor of London]]
| subterm5 = 1774–1775
| relatives = [[Mary Hayley]] (sister)
| party = [[Radicals (UK)|Radical]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1725|10|17|df=y}}
| birth_name = John Wilkes
| birth_place = [[Clerkenwell]], [[London]],
[[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1797|12|26|1725|10|17|df=y}}
| resting_place = [[Grosvenor Chapel]]
| nationality = [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]]
| death_place = [[Westminster]], London, Great Britain
| alma_mater = [[Leiden University]]
| signature =
| spouse = {{Marriage|Mary Meade|1747|1756|end=sep.}}
| children = 3
| module = {{infobox writer | embed=yes
| genre =
| pseudonym =
| language = English
| movement = [[Radicalism (historical)|Radicalism]]
| notableworks = ''An Essay on Woman''<br> ''[[The North Briton]]''
}}
| battles = [[Gordon Riots]]
}}
'''John Wilkes''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|FRS}} (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English [[Radicalism (historical)|radical]] journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the [[Middlesex election affair|Middlesex election dispute]], he fought for the right of his voters{{snd}}rather than the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]]{{snd}}to determine their representatives. In 1768, angry protests of his supporters were suppressed in the [[Massacre of St George's Fields]]. In 1771, he was instrumental in obliging the government to concede the right of printers to publish [[wikt:verbatim|verbatim]] accounts of parliamentary debates. In 1776, he introduced the first [[Bill (law)|bill]] for parliamentary reform in the [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament]].
During the [[American Revolutionary War|American War of Independence]], he was a supporter of the rebels, adding further to his popularity with [[Patriot (American Revolution)|American Whigs]]. However, in 1780 he commanded [[militia]] forces which helped put down the [[Gordon Riots]], damaging his popularity with many radicals. This marked a turning point, leading him to embrace increasingly [[Conservatism|conservative]] policies which caused dissatisfaction among the radical low-to-middle income [[forty shilling freeholders|landowners]]. This was instrumental in the loss of his Middlesex [[parliamentary seat]] in the [[1790 British general election|1790 general election]]. At the age of 65, Wilkes retired from politics and took no part in the social reforms following the [[French Revolution]], such as [[Catholic Emancipation]] in the 1790s. During his life, he earned a reputation as a [[libertine]].
==Early life and character==
Born in the [[Clerkenwell]] neighborhood of central [[London]], John Wilkes was the third child of distiller Israel Wilkes Jr. and Sarah Wilkes, ''née'' Heaton. His siblings included: eldest sister Sarah Wilkes, born 1721; elder brother Israel Wilkes III (1722–1805); younger brother Heaton Wilkes (1727–1803); younger sister [[Mary Hayley]], ''née'' Wilkes (1728–1808); and youngest sister Ann Wilkes (1736–1750), who died from smallpox at the age of 14.
John Wilkes was educated initially at an academy in [[Hertford]]; this was followed by private tutoring and finally a stint at the [[University of Leiden]] in the [[Dutch Republic]]. There he met [[Andrew Baxter]], a [[Presbyterian]] clergyman who greatly influenced Wilkes' views on religion.{{Sfn|Simkin|2011}}{{Sfn|Cash|2006|pp=13–16}} Although Wilkes remained in the [[Church of England]] throughout his life, he had a deep sympathy for [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformist]] Protestants and was an advocate of religious tolerance from an early age.{{Sfn|McCarthy|2006}}{{Sfn|Cash|2006|p=9}} Wilkes was also beginning to develop a deep patriotism for his country. During the [[Jacobite Rising of 1745|Jacobite rebellion]] of 1745, he rushed home to London to join a [[Loyal Association]] and readied to defend the capital. Once the rebellion had ended after the [[Battle of Culloden]], Wilkes returned to the Netherlands to complete his studies.
In 1747, he married Mary Meade (1715–1784) and came into possession of an estate and income in [[Buckinghamshire]].{{Sfn|Simkin|2011}} They had one child, Mary (known as Polly), to whom John was utterly devoted for the rest of his life. Wilkes and Mary, however, separated in 1756, a separation that became permanent. Wilkes never married again, but he gained a reputation as a [[rake (character)|rake]]. He was known to have fathered two other children, John Henry Smith and Harriet Wilkes.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuRKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22John+Smith%22+%22Harriet+Wilkes%22+%22John+Wilkes%22&pg=PA47 |chapter=Almon's Correspondence of John Wilkes |title=The Monthly Review |page=47 |date=1806 |publisher=R. Griffiths. |language=en}}</ref>
Wilkes was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1749 and appointed [[High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire]] in 1754. He was an unsuccessful candidate for [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick]] in the 1754 parliamentary elections but was elected for [[Aylesbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Aylesbury]] in 1757 and again in 1761.{{Sfn|Bloy|2011}} Elections took place at [[St Mary the Virgin's Church, Aylesbury]] where he held a manorial [[pew]]. He lived at the [[Architecture of Aylesbury|Prebendal House, Parsons Fee]], [[Aylesbury]].
He was a member of the Knights of St Francis of Wycombe, also known as the [[Hellfire Club]] or the ''Medmenham Monks'', and was the instigator of a prank that may have hastened its dissolution. The club had many distinguished members, including [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich]] and [[Sir Francis Dashwood]]. Wilkes reportedly brought a [[mandrill]], dressed in a cape and horns and his natural features made even more striking with daubs of phosphorus, into the rituals performed at the club, producing considerable mayhem among the inebriated initiates.{{Sfn|Lynch|2003}}
Wilkes was notoriously ugly, being called the ugliest man in England at the time. He possessed an unsightly squint and protruding jaw, but he had a charm that carried all before it. He boasted that it "took him only half an hour to talk away his face", though the duration required changed on the several occasions Wilkes repeated the claim. He also declared that "a month's start of his rival on account of his face" would secure him the conquest in any love affair.
He was well known for his verbal wit and his snappy responses to insults. For instance, when told by a constituent that he would rather vote for the devil, Wilkes responded: "Naturally." He then added: "And if your friend decides against standing, can I count on your vote?"{{Sfn|Cash|2006|p=211}}
In an exchange with [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich]], where the latter exclaimed, "Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox," Wilkes is reported to have replied, "That depends, my lord, on whether I embrace your lordship's principles or your mistress." Fred R. Shapiro, in ''[[The Yale Book of Quotations]]'' (2006), disputes the attribution based on a claim that it first appeared in a book published in 1935,{{Sfn|Shapiro|2006|pp=281–282}} but it is ascribed to Wilkes in [[Henry Brougham, Lord Brougham and Vaux|Henry Brougham]]'s ''Historical Sketches'' (1844), related from [[Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk]], who claims to have been present,{{Sfn|Brougham|1844|p=146}} as well as in [[Charles Marsh (barrister)|Charles Marsh]]'s ''Clubs of London'' (1828).{{Sfn|Marsh|1828|p=17}} Brougham notes the exchange had in France previously been ascribed to [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau]] and Cardinal [[Jean-Sifrein Maury]].{{Sfn|Brougham|1844|p=146}}
==Radical journalism==
[[File:JohnStuartBute.jpg|thumb|right|[[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute|Lord Bute]], prime minister between 1762 and 1763, and a major target for Wilkes' paper ''[[The North Briton]]''. It angered Wilkes that Bute had displaced [[William Pitt the Elder|Pitt the Elder]], and he attacked the terms of the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]].]]
[[File:William Hogarth - John Wilkes, Esq.png|thumb|upright|"[[John Wilkes Esq.]]", a satirical engraving by [[William Hogarth]], who shows him with a demonic-looking wig, [[crossed eyes]], and two editions of his ''[[The North Briton]]'': Numbers 17 (in which he attacked, among others, Hogarth) and the famous 45]]
Wilkes began his parliamentary career as a follower of [[William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham|William Pitt the Elder]] and enthusiastically supported [[Great Britain in the Seven Years War|Britain's involvement in the Seven Years War]] of 1756–1763. When the Scottish [[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute]], came to head the government in 1762, Wilkes started a [[Radicalism (historical)|radical]] weekly publication, ''[[The North Briton]]'', to attack him, using an anti-Scots tone. Typical of Wilkes, the title made satirical reference to the pro-government newspaper, ''[[The Briton]]'', with "North Briton" referring to [[Scotland]]. Wilkes became particularly incensed by what he regarded as Bute's betrayal in agreeing to overly generous peace terms with France to end the war.{{Sfn|Lynch|2003}}
On 5 October 1762, Wilkes fought a [[duel]] with [[William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot]]. Talbot was the [[Lord Steward]] and a follower of Bute; he challenged Wilkes to a pistol duel after being ridiculed in issue 12 of ''The North Briton''.{{Sfn|Sainsbury|2006|p=71}} The encounter took place at [[Bagshot]] – at night to avoid attracting judicial attention. At a range of eight yards, Talbot and Wilkes both fired their pistols but neither was hit. Somewhat reconciled, they then went to a nearby inn and shared a bottle of claret. When the affair later became widely known, some viewed it as comical, and a satirical print made fun of the duelists. Some commentators even denounced the duel as a stunt, stage-managed to enhance the reputations of both men.{{Sfn|Sainsbury|2006|p=73}}
Wilkes faced a charge of [[seditious libel]] over attacks on [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]'s speech endorsing the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Paris Peace Treaty]] of 1763 at the opening of Parliament on 23 April 1763. Wilkes was highly critical of the King's speech, which was recognised as having been written by Bute {{Citation needed|date=November 2016}}. He attacked it in an article of issue 45 of ''The North Briton''. The issue number in which Wilkes published his critical editorial was appropriate because the number 45 was synonymous with the [[Jacobite Rising of 1745]], commonly known as "The '45". Popular perception associated Bute – Scottish, and politically controversial as an adviser to the King – with Jacobitism, a perception which Wilkes played on.
The King felt personally insulted and ordered the issuing of [[general warrant]]s for the arrest of Wilkes and the publishers on 30 April 1763. Forty-nine people, including Wilkes, were arrested, but general warrants were unpopular and Wilkes gained considerable popular support as he asserted their unconstitutionality. At his court hearing he claimed that [[parliamentary privilege]] protected him, as an MP, from arrest on a charge of libel. [[Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden|Chief Justice Pratt]] ruled that parliamentary privilege did indeed protect him and he was soon restored to his seat. Wilkes sued his arresters for trespass. As a result of this episode, people were chanting, "Wilkes, Liberty and Number 45", referring to the newspaper.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rudbeck|first1=Jens|title=Popular Sovereignty and the Historical Origin of the Social Movement|journal=Theory & Society|date=2012|volume=41|issue=6|page=588|doi=10.1007/s11186-012-9180-x|s2cid=143513084}}</ref> Parliament swiftly voted in a measure that removed protection of MPs from arrest for the writing and publishing of seditious libel.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rounce|first1=Adam|title='Stuarts without End': Wilkes, Churchill, and Anti-Scottishness|journal=Eighteenth-Century Life|date=2005|volume=29|issue=3|page=20|doi=10.1215/00982601-29-3-20|s2cid=144944872}}</ref>
Bute had resigned (8 April 1763), but Wilkes opposed Bute's successor as chief advisor to the King, [[George Grenville]], just as strenuously. On 16 November 1763, [[Samuel Martin (Secretary to the Treasury)|Samuel Martin]], a supporter of George III, challenged Wilkes to a duel. Martin shot Wilkes in the belly.
==Outlaw==
[[File:John Wilkes Esq before the Court of King's Bench.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|"John Wilkes Esq; before the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|Court of King's Bench]]", engraving from ''[[The Gentleman's Magazine]]'' for May 1768]]
Wilkes and [[Thomas Potter (British Parliament)|Thomas Potter]] wrote a pornographic poem dedicated to the courtesan [[Fanny Murray]] entitled "An Essay on Woman" as a parody of [[Alexander Pope]]'s "[[An Essay on Man]]".<ref>The definitive scholarly edition of the "Essay on Woman" is that of Arthur H. Cash, titled ''An Essay on Woman by John Wilkes and Thomas Potter: A Reconstruction of a Lost Book, with a Historical Essay on the Writing, Printing, and Suppressing of This "Blasphemous and Obscene" Work'', (NY: AMS Press), 2001. It includes Pope's text of the original poem with the Wilkes-Potter parody juxtaposed on the facing pages.</ref>
Wilkes's political enemies, foremost among them [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich]], who was also a member of the [[Hellfire Club]], obtained the parody. Sandwich had a personal [[Feud|vendetta]] against Wilkes that stemmed in large part from embarrassment caused by a prank of Wilkes involving the Earl at one of the Hellfire Club's meetings; he was delighted at the chance for revenge. Wilkes had frightened Sandwich during a [[seance]] put on by the club. Sandwich read the poem to the House of Lords in an effort to denounce Wilkes's moral behaviour, despite the hypocrisy of his action. The Lords declared the poem obscene and blasphemous, and it caused a great scandal. The House of Lords moved to expel Wilkes again; he fled to Paris before any expulsion or trial. He was tried and found guilty ''in absentia'' of obscene [[libel]] and [[sedition|seditious]] libel, and was declared an [[outlaw]] on 19 January 1764.{{Sfn|Cash|2006|pp = 151–79}}
Wilkes hoped for a change in power to remove the charges, but this did not come to pass. As his French creditors began to pressure him, in 1768 he had little choice but to return to England. He returned intending to stand as a Member of Parliament on an anti-government ticket; the government did not issue warrants for his immediate arrest as it did not want to inflame popular support.{{Sfn|Cash|2006|pp=179–208}}
[[File:Jingdezhen "Arms of Liberty" Punchbowl.jpg|thumb|The [[Arms of Liberty Punch Bowl|''Arms of Liberty Punch Bowl'']], commemorating Wilkes actions on 1768 (1769, [[Art Institute of Chicago]])]]
Wilkes stood in the [[City of London (UK Parliament constituency)|City of London]] and came in bottom of the poll of seven candidates, possibly due to his late entry into the race for the position. He was quickly elected as a [[Radicals (UK)|Radical]] Member of Parliament for [[Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)|Middlesex]], where most of his support was located. He surrendered himself to the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|King's Bench]] in April. On waiving his [[parliamentary privilege]] to immunity, he was sentenced by Judge [[Joseph Yates (judge)|Joseph Yates]] to two years and fined £1,000; the Lords' sentence of outlawry was overturned.{{Sfn|Cash|2006|pp=204–26}}
When Wilkes was imprisoned in the [[King's Bench Prison]] on 10 May 1768, his supporters gathered nearby on [[St George's Fields]], London, chanting "No liberty, no King." Troops opened fire on the unarmed men, killing several of them and wounding fifteen, an incident that came to be known as the [[Massacre of St George's Fields]]. The Irish playwright [[Hugh Kelly (poet)|Hugh Kelly]], a prominent supporter of the government, defended the right of the army to use force against rioters, which drew the anger of Wilkes' supporters and they began a riot at the [[Drury Lane Theatre, London|Drury Lane Theatre]] during the performance of Kelly's new play ''[[A Word to the Wise]]'', forcing it to be abandoned.{{Sfn|Cash|2006|pp=216–26}}
==Middlesex election dispute==
{{main|Middlesex election affair}}
[[File:The Brentford Sweepstakes high.png|thumb|right|upright=1.6|''The Brentford Sweepstakes'', drawing from ''[[Town and Country Magazine]]'' (13 April 1769) satirising the election. Wilkes' riderless horse labelled "1143" indicating he got a majority of the vote, while his opponents founder.]]
Parliament expelled Wilkes in February 1769, on the grounds that he was an outlaw when returned. His Middlesex constituents re-elected him in the same month with the support of [[John Wheble]], editor of the ''Middlesex Journal'', only to see him expelled again and re-elected in March. In April, after his expulsion and another re-election, Parliament declared his opponent, [[Henry Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton|Henry Luttrell]], the winner.
Wilkes was said to hold his supporters in contempt during the election campaign. EP Thompson, in his celebrated 1963 text ''[[The Making of the English Working Class]]'' wrote: “‘Do you suppose’ it is said that he asked his opponent, Colonel Luttrell, while watching the cheering throngs on the [[Husting|hustings]], ‘that there are more fools or rogues in that assembly?’”<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=E.P. |title=The Making Of The English Working Class |publisher=Pelican Books |year=1980 |isbn=0140210008 |pages=76 |language=English}}</ref>
In defiance, Wilkes became an [[Alderman]] of [[City of London|London]] in 1769, using his supporters' group, the [[Society for the Supporters of the Bill of Rights]],<ref>
{{cite web
|url= http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/18reform/ssbr.htm
|title = The Society for the Supporters of the Bill of Rights (SSBR)
}}
</ref>
for his campaign. Wilkes eventually succeeded in convincing Parliament to expunge the resolution barring him from sitting. While in Parliament, he condemned Government policy towards the American colonies. In addition, he introduced one of the earliest radical [[Bill (proposed law)|Bill]]s to Parliament, although it failed to gain passage. On his release from prison in March 1770, Wilkes was appointed a [[Sheriffs of the City of London|sheriff]] in London, and in 1771 the law on publicity of the parliamentary discussions was voted in Parliament, of which Wilkes was a great defender and who authorised the literal reproduction of the interventions of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]].
==Later life==
[[File:The Gordon Riots by John Seymour Lucas.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|''[[The Gordon Riots]]'' by [[John Seymour Lucas]], 1879. Wilkes' popularity with radicals declined after he led [[militia]] to protect the [[Bank of England]] during the [[Gordon Riots]] in 1780. Wilkes became a supporter of [[William Pitt the Younger]] who became prime minister in 1783, and severed most of his former radical connections.]]
In 1774 he became [[Lord Mayor of the City of London|Lord Mayor of London]];<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Mayoralty |url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/history-and-heritage/mansion-house/Pages/history-of-the-mayoralty.aspx |publisher=City of London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020124623/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/history-and-heritage/mansion-house/Pages/history-of-the-mayoralty.aspx |archive-date=20 October 2013 }}</ref> he was simultaneously Master of the [[Joiners' Company]], where he changed the motto from "God Grannte Us To Use Justice Withe Mercye" to "Join Loyalty and Liberty", a political slogan associated with Wilkes.{{Sfn|Joiners|2008}} That year Wilkes was re-elected to Parliament, again representing Middlesex. He was one of those opposed to war with the American colonies. He was also a supporter of the [[War of the Regulation|Association Movement]] and of [[religious tolerance]]. His key success was to protect the [[freedom of the press]] by gaining passage of a bill to remove the power of [[general warrant]]s and to end Parliament's ability to punish political reports of debates.{{Sfn|Lynch|2003}} In 1779 he was elected to the position of [[Chamberlain of London|Chamberlain of the City of London]], a post of great responsibility which he was to hold until his death in 1797.
After 1780, his popularity declined as he was popularly perceived as less radical. During the uprising known as the [[Gordon Riots]], Wilkes was in charge of the soldiers defending the [[Bank of England]] from the attacking mobs. It was under his orders that troops fired into the crowds of rioters. The working classes who had previously seen Wilkes as a "man of the people", then criticised him as a hypocrite; his middle-class support was scared off by the violent action. The Gordon Riots nearly extinguished his popularity.
While he was returned for the county seat of Middlesex in 1784, he found so little support that by 1790, he withdrew early in the election. The [[French Revolution]] of 1789 had proved extremely divisive in England, and Wilkes had been against it due to the violent murders in France. His position was different from that of many radicals of the time and was a view more associated with conservative figures, including expressed indifference as to [[Catholic Emancipation]]. [[Edmund Burke]], who had also supported [[American Independence]], who took a similar position.
Wilkes worked in his final years as a [[magistrate]], campaigning for more moderate punishment for disobedient household servants.
Between 1788 and 1797 he occupied a property named "Villakin" in [[Sandown]], Isle of Wight. The site is marked by a [[blue plaque]].{{Sfn|Allan|2011}}
[[File:StatueOfJohnWilkes.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of John Wilkes ([[Fetter Lane]], London)]]
He was a member of the [[Oddfellows]]{{Sfn|Dennis|2008|p=90}} and today, a [[statue]] in his memory stands at [[Fetter Lane]] [[EC4]].
Wilkes died at his home at 30 [[Grosvenor Square]], Westminster, London on 26 December 1797. The cause of death was a wasting disease known at the time as [[marasmus]].<ref name="ODNB">Peter D. G. Thomas, 'Wilkes, John (1725–1797)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29410, accessed 19 February 2014]</ref> His body was buried in a vault in [[Grosvenor Chapel]], South Audley Street, London on 4 January 1798.<ref name=":0">[http://www.answers.com/topic/john-wilkes An Essay On Woman In Three Epistles] Gale Encyclopedia of Biography: John Wilkes entry. Accessed February 2014.</ref>
==Influence==
Wilkes was at one point a hero to radicals in Britain and North America, and the slogan "Wilkes and Liberty" was heard on both sides of the Atlantic.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peTnoR_-PdAC|page=155|first=Merrill|last=Jensen|title=The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution, 1763–1776|publisher=Hackett|year=2004|isbn=0872207056|orig-year=1968}}</ref>
A radical contemporary Irish politician [[Charles Lucas (politician)|Charles Lucas]], who sat for [[Dublin City (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Dublin City]] in the Irish Parliament, was known as the "Irish Wilkes".{{Sfn|Thomas|2002|p=111}} The Dutch politician [[Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol]] (1741–1784), who advocated [[American Revolution|American independence]] and criticised the ''[[Stadtholder]]'' [[regime]], was inspired by Wilkes.
British colonists in the American colonies closely followed Wilkes's career. His struggles convinced many colonists that the British constitution was being subverted by a corrupt ministry, an idea that contributed to the coming of the [[American Revolution]].<!-- Bailyn, ''Ideological Origins'', 110–12. --> Wilkes was widely admired in the American colonies as a political journalist, a radical politician, and a fighter for liberty. He greatly influenced the revolutionaries who fought for American independence and played a role in establishing the right to freedom of the press in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mellen|first1=Roger P.|title=John Wilkes and the Constitutional Right to a Free Press in the United States|journal=Journalism History|date=2015|volume=41|issue=1|page=2|doi=10.1080/00947679.2015.12059116|s2cid=141817525}}</ref> In reaction, after the Revolution, representatives included provisions in the new [[United States Constitution|American constitution]] to prevent Congress from rejecting any legally elected member and to proscribe general warrants for arrest.
John Wilkes's brother Israel Wilkes (1722–1805) was the grandfather of U.S. Naval Admiral [[Charles Wilkes]].<ref>Israel Wilkes and his wife Elizabeth née de Ponthieu (1726–1802) had a son, John de Ponthieu Wilkes (1755–1818) who married Mary née Seton (1767–1802) wife, the parents of Charles Wilkes.</ref>
== Eponyms ==
* [[John Wilkes (train)|''John Wilkes'']] – a passenger train of the [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]] that went to the City of Wilkes-Barre, which was named after John Wilkes.
* [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]] – named for John Wilkes and [[Isaac Barré]].
* [[Wilkes University]], a private, non-denominational university located in [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]]
* Wilkes Street in Spitalfields, London
* [[Wilkes County, Georgia]]<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/w.pdf| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | ___location=Macon, GA | pages=254 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref> and [[Wilkes County, North Carolina]]
* Wilkes Street in [[Alexandria, Virginia]], U.S.
* Fox & Wilkes Books, the publishing arm of [[Laissez Faire Books]]
* American actor and assassin of President [[Abraham Lincoln]], [[John Wilkes Booth]] (1838–1865), a distant relative<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Gene|title=American Gothic: the story of America's legendary theatrical family, Junius, Edwin, and John Wilkes Booth|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|___location=New York|year=1992|isbn=0-671-76713-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780671767136/page/18 18]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780671767136/page/18}}</ref>
[[File:John Wilkes Plaque Grosvenor.jpg|thumb|right|200px|John Wilkes plaque in [[Grosvenor Chapel]], London. The plaque beneath is to his daughter.]]
* The Wilkes Head (public house), Eastergate, West Sussex
* The Wilkes Head (public house), Leek, North Staffordshire
* The Three Johns (public house), Islington, London - named for John Wilkes, [[John Glynn]] and [[John Horne Tooke]]
==References==
===Notes===
{{reflist}}
===Sources===
*{{Cite web |title = Sandown Blue Plaques{{snd}}John Wilkes, MP
|last = Allan
|first = Geoff
|work = Memorials & Monuments on the Isle of Wight
|date = 17 May 2011
|access-date = 29 July 2011
|url = http://www.isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk/others/sandown_bp_wilkes.htm
}}
*{{Cite web |title = John Wilkes (1725−1798)
|last = Bloy
|first = Marjie
|work = A Web of English History
|date = 5 January 2011
|url = http://www.historyhome.co.uk/people/wilkes.htm
|access-date = 10 November 2010
}}
* {{cite book |last1=Brougham |first1=Henry |title=Historical Sketches of Statesmen who Flourished in the Time of George III: To which is Added Remarks on Party, and an Appendix |date=1844 |publisher=Lea and Blanchard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ro5KAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}
*{{Cite book |title = John Wilkes: the scandalous Father of Civil Liberty
|last = Cash
|first = Arthur H.
|author-link = Arthur H. Cash
|year = 2006
|___location = New Haven; London
|publisher = [[Yale University Press]]
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=S7xC_Uo98R0C
|isbn = 0-300-10871-0
}}
*{{Cite book |title = Discovering Friendly and Fraternal Societies: Their Badges and Regalia
|last = Dennis
|first = Victoria Solt
|year = 2008
|___location = Malta
|publisher = Osprey Publishing
|isbn = 978-0-7478-0628-8
}}
*{{Cite web
|title = History − Armorial bearings
|publisher = The Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers of the City of London
|date = 14 October 2008
|url = http://www.joinersandceilers.co.uk/history/amorialbearings.asp
|ref = {{harvid|Joiners|2008}}
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20140221041029/http://www.joinersandceilers.co.uk/history/amorialbearings.asp
|archive-date = 21 February 2014}}
*{{Cite journal |title = Wilkes, Liberty, and Number 45
|last = Lynch
|first = Jack
|url = http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/summer03/wilkes.cfm
|journal = [[Colonial Williamsburg]]
|year = 2003
|issue = Summer 2003
|publisher = The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
|access-date =28 October 2010
}}
*{{Cite book |title = The Clubs of London; with Anecdotes of Their Members, Sketches of Character, and Conversations
|last = Marsh
|first = Charles
|author-link = Charles Marsh (barrister)
|___location = London
|publisher = Henry Colburn
|year = 1828
|volume = II
}}
*{{Cite web |title = In praise of John Wilkes: how a filthy, philandering dead-beat helped secure British{{snd}}and American{{snd}}liberty
|last = McCarthy
|first = Daniel
|date = 1 July 2006
|publisher = [[The Free Library]]
|access-date = 10 November 2010
|url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/In%20praise%20of%20John%20Wilkes:%20how%20a%20filthy,%20philandering%20dead-beat%20helped...-a0147215743
}}
*{{Cite book |title = John Wilkes: The Lives of a Libertine
|last = Sainsbury
|first = John
|year = 2006
|___location = New Haven; London
|publisher = Ashgate Publishing
|isbn = 0754656268
}}
*{{Cite book
|title = The Yale Book of Quotations
|editor-last = Shapiro
|editor-first = Fred R.
|editor-link = Fred R. Shapiro
|publisher = [[Yale University Press]]
|year = 2006
|isbn = 978-0-300-10798-2
|url-access = registration
|url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780300107982
}}
*{{Cite web |title = John Wilkes
|work = Spartacus Educational
|last = Simkin
|first = John
|date = 17 July 2011
|access-date = 28 July 2011
|url = http://www.spartacus-educational.com/PRwilkes.htm
}}
*{{Cite book |title = George III: King and Politicians, 1760−1770
|last = Thomas
|first = Peter D.G.
|year = 2002
|publisher = [[Manchester University Press]]
}}
==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |title = The Life of John Wilkes
|last = Bleakly
|first = Horace
|year = 1917
|___location = London
|publisher = Bodley Head
|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.org/books/Life_of_John_Wilkes_1000556611
}}
* {{Cite EB1911| wstitle = Wilkes, John | volume = 28 | last1 = Courtney | first1 = William Prideaux | author1-link = William Prideaux Courtney | pages = 642–643 | short = 1}}
*{{Cite book |title = A History of English Law
|last = Holdsworth
|first = William
|year = 1938
|volume = 10
|___location = London
|publisher = Methuen
|isbn = 0-421-05100-0
|pages = 659–672
}}
*{{Cite book |title = Wilkes and Liberty: a social study of 1763 to 1774
|last = Rudé
|first = George
|year = 1962
|___location = Oxford
|publisher = Clarendon Press
|isbn = 0-19-881091-1
}}
* Rudé, George. "Wilkes and Liberty" ''History Today'' (September 1957) 7#9 pp 571–579.
*{{Cite book |title = John Wilkes: a friend to liberty
|last = Thomas
|first = Peter D.G.
|year = 1996
|___location = Oxford
|publisher = Clarendon Press
|isbn = 0-19-820544-9
}}
*{{Cite book |title = Portrait of a Patriot: A Biography of John Wilkes
|last = Trench
|first = Charles Chenevix
|author-link = Charles Chenevix Trench
|year = 1969
|___location = Edinburgh
|publisher = Blackwood
}}
* Tugdual de Langlais, ''L'armateur préféré de Beaumarchais Jean Peltier Dudoyer, de Nantes à l'Isle de France'', (2015), Éd. Coiffard, 2015, 340 p {{ISBN|978-2919339280}}.
*{{Cite book |title = Wilkes, a friend to liberty
|last = Williamson
|first = Audrey
|year = 1974
|___location = London
|publisher = Allen & Unwin
|isbn = 0-04-923064-6
}}
*{{Cite book |title = Trials at law with council pleadings : for John Wilkes vs. George Montagu Dunk, Earl of Halifax : manuscript |date = 1769|url= http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:5110180 |place =
Houghton Library, Harvard University}}
==External links==
{{Sister project links|author=yes|commons=Category:John Wilkes|q=John Wilkes|wikt=no|v=no|n=no|b=no}}
* [https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/houseofcommons/reformacts/overview/wilkeslib1/ John Wilkes on the UK Parliament website]
* [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-229wil John Wilkes papers.] William L. Clements Library.
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp04827 John Wilkes] at the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]
== Offices and titles ==
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Thomas Potter (British Parliament)|Thomas Potter]]
| before2 = [[John Willes (1721–1784)|John Willes]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Aylesbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Aylesbury]]
| years = [[1757 Aylesbury by-election|1757]]–[[1764 Aylesbury by-election|1764]]
| with = [[John Willes (1721–1784)|John Willes]] 1757–1761
| with2 = [[Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip|Welbore Ellis]] 1761–1764
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip|Welbore Ellis]]
| after2 = [[Anthony Bacon (industrialist)|Anthony Bacon]]
}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, 1st Baronet|Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, Bt]]
| before2 = [[George Cooke (died 1768)|George Cooke]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)|Middlesex]]
| years = [[1768 British general election|1768]]–[[1769 Middlesex by-election|1769]]
| with = [[George Cooke (died 1768)|George Cooke]] 1768
| with2 = [[John Glynn]] 1768–1769
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[John Glynn]]
| after2 = [[Henry Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton|Henry Luttrell]]
}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[John Glynn]]
| before2 = [[Henry Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton|Henry Luttrell]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)|Middlesex]]
| years = [[1774 British general election|1774]]–[[1790 British general election|1790]]
| with = [[John Glynn]] 1774–1779
| with2 = [[Thomas Wood (1708–1799)|Thomas Wood]] 1779–1780
| with3 = [[George Byng (d. 1789)|George Byng]] 1780–1784
| with4 = [[William Mainwaring (English politician)|William Mainwaring]] 1784–1790
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[William Mainwaring (English politician)|William Mainwaring]]
| after2 = [[George Byng (1764–1847)|George Byng]]
}}
{{s-civ}}
{{succession box
| title = [[High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire]]
| years = 1754–1755
| before = Charles Woodnoth, of Maid's Moreton
| after = Henry Uthwaite, of Lathbury
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Sheriff of London]]
| years = 1771–1772
| with = [[Frederick Bull (Lord Mayor of London)|Frederick Bull]]
| before = [[William Baker (1743–1824)|William Baker]]
| before2= [[Joseph_Martin_(1726–1776)|Joseph Martin]]
| after = [[Richard_Oliver_(radical)|Richard Oliver]]
| after2 = [[Watkin_Lewes|Sir Watkin Lewes]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Lord Mayor of London]]
| years = 1774–1775
| before = [[Frederick Bull (Lord Mayor of London)|Frederick Bull]]
| after = [[John Sawbridge|John Sawbridge, MP]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Odd Fellows}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkes, John}}
[[Category:1725 births]]
[[Category:1797 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century lord mayors of London]]
[[Category:British duellists]]
[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:British MPs 1754–1761]]
[[Category:British MPs 1761–1768]]
[[Category:British MPs 1768–1774]]
[[Category:British MPs 1774–1780]]
[[Category:British MPs 1780–1784]]
[[Category:British MPs 1784–1790]]
[[Category:British radicals]]
[[Category:Councilmen and Aldermen of the City of London]]
[[Category:English male journalists]]
[[Category:English politicians convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:Expelled members of the Parliament of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England]]
[[Category:Hellfire Club]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:Inmates of King's Bench Prison]]
[[Category:Leiden University alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the Odd Fellows]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:People from Clerkenwell]]
[[Category:Sheriffs of the City of London]]
[[Category:Wilkes County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Wilkes County, North Carolina]]
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