Philip Carteret Webb
Encyclopedia
Philip Carteret Webb was an English barrister, involved with the 18th-century antiquarian movement.
He became a member of the London Society of Antiquaries
in 1747, and as its lawyer, was responsible for securing the incorporation of the Society in 1751. This act was important in putting the society on level terms, in terms of finance and national prestige, with the Royal Society
, which some antiquaries saw as a rival.
Webb is remembered also as an agent of the crown in the North Briton
scandal (1763), assisting Robert Wood
to seize the papers of radical journalist John Wilkes
, whose inflammatory writings had offended the king.
in Wiltshire
, and was admitted attorney-at-law on 20 June 1724. He practised at first in Old Jewry
, then moved to Budge Row, and afterwards settled in Great Queen Street
, Lincoln's Inn Fields
. On 18 December 1727 he was admitted at the Middle Temple
, and on 8 April 1741 was admitted at Lincoln's Inn
.
Early in his career he acquired a reputation for knowledge of records and of precedents on constitutional law
. After the suppression of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 he acted for the state as solicitor in trials of the prisoners. Lord Hardwicke made him secretary of bankrupts in the court of chancery
, and he retained the post until 1766, when Lord Northington ceased to be lord chancellor.
In 1748 he purchased the estate of Busbridge
, near the borough of Haslemere
in Surrey
, which gave him considerable influence in a rotten borough
. He sat for Haslemere
in the parliaments from 1754 to 1761 and from 1761 to 1768. The first of these elections elicited in 1754 the ballad, attributed to Dr. William King, of St. Mary Hall, Oxford, of ‘The Cow of Haslemere,’ which had eight calves, for each of which a vote in Webb's interest was claimed.
, on 22 May 1764. The trial lasted seven hours, and the jury, after an absence of nearly an hour, returned a verdict of not guilty. A motion by Sir Joseph Mawbey in November 1768 for a return of all moneys paid to Webb for prosecutions was refused. On the charge made in the House of Commons on 31 January 1769 that Webb had bribed with public money Michael Curry, to betray Wilkes and give evidence against him, counsel pleaded on behalf of Webb that he was now blind and of impaired intellect, and the motion against him was defeated.
Webb was the leader in seizing, among the papers of Wilkes, the poem of the ‘Essay on Woman;’ and when the legality of general warrants was impugned, he printed privately and anonymously a volume of ‘Copies taken from the Records of the Court of King's Bench, the Office-books of the Secretaries of State, of Warrants issued by Secretaries of State,’ 1763. He also printed ‘Some Observations on the late determination for Discharging Mr. Wilkes from the Tower. By a Member of the House of Commons,’ 1763.
Other works of Webb were:
Webb wrote in the Moderator and contributed to the Philosophical Transactions. John Topham served under him.
.
Webb sold to the House of Lords thirty manuscript volumes of the rolls of parliament, and the rest of his library, including his manuscripts on vellum
, was sold on 25 February 1771 and sixteen following days. His most valuable coins and medals were acquired by Matthew Duane
; the remainder and his ancient marble busts and bronzes were sold in 1771. On the death of his widow his other collections were sold by Abraham Langford
.
's Illustrations of Literature (iv. 788–9). In July 1758 he obtained from the Society of Arts a silver medal for having planted a large quantity of acorns for timber.
. She died at Bath on 12 March 1756, aged 45, leaving one son, also called Philip Carteret Webb (d. 10 October 1793). Two other children died in infancy, and, at her own desire, Mrs. Webb was buried with them in a cave in the grounds at Busbridge. They were afterwards disinterred and placed in a vault under Godalming
church, with a monument to her and her husband.
In August 1758 Webb married Rhoda, daughter of John or James Cotes of Dodington
in Cheshire
, and by her had no issue. He bequeathed to her everything that he could. She married, on 5 September 1771, Edward Bever of Farnham
, Surrey
, and in 1775 sold the estate of Busbridge.
He became a member of the London Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries can refer to:*Society of Antiquaries of London*Society of Antiquaries of Scotland*Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne*Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland...
in 1747, and as its lawyer, was responsible for securing the incorporation of the Society in 1751. This act was important in putting the society on level terms, in terms of finance and national prestige, with the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, which some antiquaries saw as a rival.
Webb is remembered also as an agent of the crown in the North Briton
North Briton
A North Briton is a term used for a person from North Britain, the northern parts of the islands of Great Britain. The adjective form of the name is North British....
scandal (1763), assisting Robert Wood
Robert Wood (engraver)
Robert Wood was a British traveller, classical scholar, civil servant and politician.In 1750-1751 Wood travelled around the Levant with two wealthy young Oxford scholars James Dawkins and John Bouverie and an Italian draftsman Giovanni Battista Borra...
to seize the papers of radical journalist John Wilkes
John Wilkes
John Wilkes was an English radical, journalist and politician.He was first elected Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives...
, whose inflammatory writings had offended the king.
Early life
He was born at DevizesDevizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The town is about southeast of Chippenham and about east of Trowbridge.Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops, with a large open market place where a market is held once a week...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, and was admitted attorney-at-law on 20 June 1724. He practised at first in Old Jewry
Old Jewry
Old Jewry is the name of a street in the City of London, in Coleman Street Ward, linking Gresham Street with The Poultry.William the Conqueror encouraged Jews to come to England soon after the Norman Conquest; some settled in cities throughout his new domain, including in London. According to Rev....
, then moved to Budge Row, and afterwards settled in Great Queen Street
Great Queen Street
Great Queen Street is a street in central London, England in the West End. It is a continuation of Long Acre from Drury Lane to Kingsway. It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, west to east...
, Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London, UK. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in developing London", as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner observes...
. On 18 December 1727 he was admitted at the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, and on 8 April 1741 was admitted at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
.
Early in his career he acquired a reputation for knowledge of records and of precedents on constitutional law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
. After the suppression of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 he acted for the state as solicitor in trials of the prisoners. Lord Hardwicke made him secretary of bankrupts in the court of chancery
Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...
, and he retained the post until 1766, when Lord Northington ceased to be lord chancellor.
In politics
Webb was elected F.S.A. on 26 November 1747 and F.R.S. on 9 November 1749, and in 1751 he assisted materially in obtaining the charter of incorporation for the Society of Antiquaries.In 1748 he purchased the estate of Busbridge
Busbridge
Busbridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey. It has a population of 758. It forms part of the Waverley ward of Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe....
, near the borough of Haslemere
Haslemere
Haslemere is a town in Surrey, England, close to the border with both Hampshire and West Sussex. The major road between London and Portsmouth, the A3, lies to the west, and a branch of the River Wey to the south. Haslemere is approximately south-west of Guildford.Haslemere is surrounded by hills,...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, which gave him considerable influence in a rotten borough
Rotten borough
A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....
. He sat for Haslemere
Haslemere (UK Parliament constituency)
Haslemere was a parliamentary borough in Surrey, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1584 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-1584-1640:-1640-1832:Notes- References :...
in the parliaments from 1754 to 1761 and from 1761 to 1768. The first of these elections elicited in 1754 the ballad, attributed to Dr. William King, of St. Mary Hall, Oxford, of ‘The Cow of Haslemere,’ which had eight calves, for each of which a vote in Webb's interest was claimed.
The Wilkes case
In December 1756 Webb was made joint-solicitor to the treasury, and held that post until June 1765; he was consequently a leading official in the proceedings against John Wilkes, and for his acts was dubbed by Horace Walpole ‘a most villainous tool and agent in any iniquity,’ ‘that dirty wretch,’ and ‘a sorry knave.’ In the action brought against Wood, Lord Egremont's secretary, for seizing Wilkes's papers, Webb, as a witness, swore that while in the house he had no key in his hand. For this he was tried before Lord Mansfield, with a special jury, for perjuryPerjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
, on 22 May 1764. The trial lasted seven hours, and the jury, after an absence of nearly an hour, returned a verdict of not guilty. A motion by Sir Joseph Mawbey in November 1768 for a return of all moneys paid to Webb for prosecutions was refused. On the charge made in the House of Commons on 31 January 1769 that Webb had bribed with public money Michael Curry, to betray Wilkes and give evidence against him, counsel pleaded on behalf of Webb that he was now blind and of impaired intellect, and the motion against him was defeated.
Works
He was the author of ‘Remarks on the Pretender's Declaration and Commission,’ 1745, dated from Lincoln's Inn on 12 October in that year, and of ‘Remarks on the Pretender's Eldest Son's Second Declaration,’ 1745, which came out subsequently.Webb was the leader in seizing, among the papers of Wilkes, the poem of the ‘Essay on Woman;’ and when the legality of general warrants was impugned, he printed privately and anonymously a volume of ‘Copies taken from the Records of the Court of King's Bench, the Office-books of the Secretaries of State, of Warrants issued by Secretaries of State,’ 1763. He also printed ‘Some Observations on the late determination for Discharging Mr. Wilkes from the Tower. By a Member of the House of Commons,’ 1763.
Other works of Webb were:
- ‘A Letter to Rev. William Warburton on some Passages in the “Divine Legation of Moses.” By a Gentleman of Lincoln's Inn,’ 1742.
- ‘Observations on the course of Proceedings in the Admiralty Courts,’ 1747.
- ‘Excerpta ex Instrumentis Publicis de Judæis,’ 1753.
- ‘Short but True State of Facts relative to the Jew Bill,’ 1753.
- ‘The Question whether a Jew born within the British Dominions could before the late Act purchase and hold Lands. By a Gentleman of Lincoln's Inn,’ 1753; a reply to the question was written by Joseph GroveJoseph Grove-Life:Grove says in his account of William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire , that his parents lived in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, where the family had resided above a century and a half, and that his mother, who had been married to his father above fifty-three years, died on 22 Jan. 1739, aged...
. - ‘A Short Account of Danegeld. By a Member of the Society of Antiquaries. Read at a meeting 1 April 1756.’
- ‘A Short Account of Domesday Book, with a view to its Publication. By a Member of the Society of Antiquaries. Read 18 Dec. 1755,’ 1756.
- ‘State of Facts on his Majesty's Right to certain Fee-farm Rents in Norfolk,’ 1758; hundred copies only.
- ‘Account of a Copper Table with two inscriptions, Greek and Latin, discovered in 1732 near Heraclea. Read before Antiquaries, 13 Dec. 1759,’ 1760. On 12 March 1760 he presented this table to the king of Spain, through the Neapolitan minister, for the royal collection at Naples, and he received in return a diamond ring.
Webb wrote in the Moderator and contributed to the Philosophical Transactions. John Topham served under him.
Collector
The manuscripts of Sir Julius Cæsar were dispersed by auction in 1757, and nearly one-third of the collection was purchased by Webb. These, with his other manuscripts on paper, were bought from his widow by Lord Shelburne, and later went to the Lansdowne manuscripts at the British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
Webb sold to the House of Lords thirty manuscript volumes of the rolls of parliament, and the rest of his library, including his manuscripts on vellum
Vellum
Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
, was sold on 25 February 1771 and sixteen following days. His most valuable coins and medals were acquired by Matthew Duane
Matthew Duane
Matthew Duane was an English Roman Catholic conveyancer and art patron.Of obscure family origins, by the 1730s Duane had established himself as a 'chamber counsel' and conveyancer in Newcastle and London. He married Dorothy Dawson in 1742. He became a member of Lincoln's Inn in 1748. Amongst his...
; the remainder and his ancient marble busts and bronzes were sold in 1771. On the death of his widow his other collections were sold by Abraham Langford
Abraham Langford
Abraham Langford was an English auctioneer and playwright.-Life:He was born in the parish of St Paul, Covent Garden. As a young man he wrote for the stage, and was responsible, according to the Biographia Dramatica, for an 'entertainment' called 'The Judgement of Paris,' which was produced in 1730...
.
Naturalist
A letter from Emanuel Mendes da Costa to Webb is in John NicholsJohn Nichols (printer)
John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary.-Early life and apprenticeship:He was born in Islington, London to Edward Nichols and Anne Wilmot. On 22 June 1766 he married Anne Cradock daughter of William Cradock...
's Illustrations of Literature (iv. 788–9). In July 1758 he obtained from the Society of Arts a silver medal for having planted a large quantity of acorns for timber.
Family
He married, on 2 November 1730, Susanna, daughter of Benjamin Lodington, many years consul at TripoliTripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
. She died at Bath on 12 March 1756, aged 45, leaving one son, also called Philip Carteret Webb (d. 10 October 1793). Two other children died in infancy, and, at her own desire, Mrs. Webb was buried with them in a cave in the grounds at Busbridge. They were afterwards disinterred and placed in a vault under Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
church, with a monument to her and her husband.
In August 1758 Webb married Rhoda, daughter of John or James Cotes of Dodington
Dodington
Dodington is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies in a small, fertile valley between Codrington and Old Sodbury, and runs together with the even tinier hamlet of Coombes End...
in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, and by her had no issue. He bequeathed to her everything that he could. She married, on 5 September 1771, Edward Bever of Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, and in 1775 sold the estate of Busbridge.