John Wilkes: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:01, 21 July 2003

Revision as of 17:30, 21 November 2003

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'''John Wilkes''' ([[October 17]], [[1727]] - [[December 26]], [[1797]]) was an [[England|English]] radical, journalist and politician.

Wilkes was born in [[London]], the son of the distiller Israel Wilkes. He was educated at Leiden, a school in Hertford and also privately. In 1747 he married Mary Meade and so came into possession of an estate and income in [[Buckinghamshire]]. He soon gained the reputation as something of a rake and was a member of the [[The Hellfire Club]]; and instigator of a prank that may have hastened its dissolution.

He stood for election to Parliament in 1754 in [[Berwick-on-Tweed]] but lost despite considerable efforts, including bribery. He became MP for [[Aylesbury]] in 1757 when, it was claimed, he spent over £6,000 during the campaign.

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Wilkes' opponents were quick to strike back; a manuscript of Wilkes was obtained and produced in the House of Lords where it was declared libel. Moves were soon underway to expell Wilkes again and this time he fled to [[Paris]] before his expulsion or trial. He was found guilty, ''in absentia'', of obscene libel and of seditious libel and was declared an outlaw.

Wilkes hoped for a change in power to remove the charges, but exhausting his money and stock of goodwill on the continent he returned to England in [[1768]]. He returned intending to stand as MP on an anti-government ticket and curiously warrants were not issued for his immediate arrest. He stood in London and lost but was quickly elected MP for [[Middlesex]] before surrendering to the King's Bench in April and on waiving his right to immunity he was sentenced to two years and fined a £1,000. The charge of outlawry was overturned. When Wilkes was imprisoned on [[May 10]] of that year for writing an article for the ''[[The North Briton]]'' severely criticizing [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]] rioting broke out in [[London]].

Wilkes expected an immediate pardon, which he did not receive and he was also expelled from Parliament in February 1769. He was re-elected by Middlesex in the same month only to be expelled and re-elected in March. In April, having been expelled and won the election again, Parliament declared his opponent the winner under an unconstitutional privilege. In defiance Wilkes had himself elected an [[alderman]] of London in 1769, using his supporters group, the Society for the Defence of the Bill of Rights, to campaign for him.