Theophilus Levett
Encyclopedia
Theophilus Levett was an attorney and early town clerk of Lichfield
, Staffordshire
, a prominent early Staffordshire politician and landowner, and a member of a thriving Lichfield social and intellectual circle which included his friends Samuel Johnson
, the physician Erasmus Darwin
, the writer Anna Seward
and the actor David Garrick
, among others.
, a lawyer, High Sheriff of Staffordshire
and influential early figure in Lichfield history. Levett and his wife later inherited Babington properties at Curburough, Whittington
and elsewhere in Staffordshire. The Babington family had been prominent in the Lichfield Cathedral
for two centuries and as local barristers. Dr. Zachary Babington, great-grandfather of barrister Zachary, was precentor of Lichfield Cathedral
, as well as diocesan chancellor, and died at his estate Curborough Hall in 1613.
An early friend of Samuel Johnson's before the author went off to Oxford, Levett later assumed the mortgage on Johnson's mother's Lichfield home
for £80 on January 31, 1739, when Johnson was 31 years old, a debt that Theophilus Levett's son John continued to carry after his father's death. Hardpressed for cash, Johnson and his mother had only one substantial asset after the death of his father, who had invested in a parchment-making operation that failed. Levett offered Johnson favorable terms and advanced him ready money in return for holding the mortgage, easing Johnson's financial bind. Theophilus Levett and Johnson were frequent correspondents, and they remained lifelong friends, despite Levett's occasional inquiries about overdue payments.
Theophilus Levett had St. John's House (later Yeomanry House) opposite St. John's hospital built for himself before 1732. Levett's new home "replaced a house known in 1577 as Culstubbe Hall, the home of the physician Sir John Floyer
in the late 17th century," according to the Victoria County History of Staffordshire. The Levett home was demolished in 1925.
, the early paramour of actor David Garrick
. Garrick, wrote Seward, "was the lover of her early youth. When he quitted Lichfield to become a theatrical adventurer, he had her promise to be his the instant his situation became profitable." The romance was not to be: Anna Levett ultimately married her cousin Rev. Richard Levett of West Wycombe
, Buckinghamshire
. The episode prompted Seward to pen her poem Portrait of Miss Levett about the fickle Lichfield beauty.
The descendants of Theophilus Levett and his wife Mary Babington went on to become prominent in Lichfield and Staffordshire for more than two centuries, serving as High Sheriffs of Staffordshire
, Members of Parliament, investors in Matthew Boulton
's Soho Manufactory
at Birmingham, as well as rectors of the local church at Whittington
and elsewhere. Several streets in today's Lichfield are named for the early town clerk and his family. The family is of Anglo-Norman
descent and originated in Sussex
, arriving in Staffordshire from Cheshire
. Theophilus Levett was named for Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon
, whose wife the Countess of Huntingdon was Levett's godmother.
served as Steward (town clerk) of Lichfield from 1721–1746, during which time he was a prominent player in the town's political affairs, occasionally narrowly averting political disaster. In 1718 and 1721 Levett narrowly escaped prosecution for sedition after declaring his Jacobite
sympathies. After Levett retracted his statements, the matter was dropped but not without a storm of controversy.
The imbroglio began in 1718 when Levett prevented the Town Clerk from saying 'amen' to the final 'God Save the King' when a brief was read in church. Levett, according to testimony, had "clapt his Hand upon the Deponent's Mouth," and the Clerk "Blubbered" to the bemusement of the congregation. Three years passed before Levett again stirred up controversy. A candidate for coroner and Town Clerk, Levett was accused of wearing white roses on June 10, as well as drinking toasts to the Pretender "with other Gentlemen who were reconned the Jacobites of the Town."
Subsequently, all Levett's accusers retracted their statements, and he was elected to office as Town Clerk. Levett's accusers claimed they had been manipulated into testifying against him by local Whigs. One accuser, a "poor servant girl" named Alice Hayes, even claimed that one prominent local Whig gentleman had promised to marry her if she swore falsely against the aspiring politico. Shortly afterwards, a petition was sent to the King, signed by 185 Lichfield worthies, including Michael Johnson, the father of Samuel, a favor that Levett later repaid when he arranged a tutor's job for Samuel Johnson at the home of Thomas Whitby in Great Haywood
, near Lichfield, after Johnson's father's death.
Because of his position, Levett became a major powerbroker in LIchfield. In a letter to the Earl of Dartmouth and the Deputy Lieutenants from 1745, Levett gives a snapshot of the influence he wielded, and showed there was little doubt about where he stood on the question of the Monarchy. "By command of Lord Gower," Levett wrote, "I beg to call a meeting for 9 October to consider whether it will be more for his Majesty's service and the ease of the county, to call out the militia or to raise some companies of foot and a troop or two of horse, by virtue of commissions to be granted by Lord Gower, with a declaration that they shall be disbanded as soon as the present troubles are over."
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, a prominent early Staffordshire politician and landowner, and a member of a thriving Lichfield social and intellectual circle which included his friends Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
, the physician Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
, the writer Anna Seward
Anna Seward
Anna Seward was an English Romantic poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield.-Life:Seward was the elder daughter of Thomas Seward , prebendary of Lichfield and Salisbury, and author...
and the actor David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
, among others.
Life
Theophilus Levett was married to Mary Babington, the daughter of Zachary BabingtonZachary Babington
Zachary Babington , High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1713 and 1724, was a barrister.He was the son of John Babington , and was named for his grandfather Dr. Zachary Babington, chancellor of Lichfield Cathedral...
, a lawyer, High Sheriff of Staffordshire
High Sheriff of Staffordshire
This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Staffordshire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...
and influential early figure in Lichfield history. Levett and his wife later inherited Babington properties at Curburough, Whittington
Whittington, Staffordshire
Whittington is a village and civil parish which lies approximately 3 miles south east of Lichfield in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,591. The parish council is a joint one with Fisherwick...
and elsewhere in Staffordshire. The Babington family had been prominent in the Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...
for two centuries and as local barristers. Dr. Zachary Babington, great-grandfather of barrister Zachary, was precentor of Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...
, as well as diocesan chancellor, and died at his estate Curborough Hall in 1613.
An early friend of Samuel Johnson's before the author went off to Oxford, Levett later assumed the mortgage on Johnson's mother's Lichfield home
Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum
Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum is a biographical museum and bookshop located in the centre of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire in the United Kingdom...
for £80 on January 31, 1739, when Johnson was 31 years old, a debt that Theophilus Levett's son John continued to carry after his father's death. Hardpressed for cash, Johnson and his mother had only one substantial asset after the death of his father, who had invested in a parchment-making operation that failed. Levett offered Johnson favorable terms and advanced him ready money in return for holding the mortgage, easing Johnson's financial bind. Theophilus Levett and Johnson were frequent correspondents, and they remained lifelong friends, despite Levett's occasional inquiries about overdue payments.
Theophilus Levett had St. John's House (later Yeomanry House) opposite St. John's hospital built for himself before 1732. Levett's new home "replaced a house known in 1577 as Culstubbe Hall, the home of the physician Sir John Floyer
John Floyer
Sir John Floyer , English physician and author, was the third child and second son of Elizabeth Babington and Richard Floyer, of Hints Hall, a since demolished country house. Hints is a quiet village lying a short distance from Lichfield in Staffordshire...
in the late 17th century," according to the Victoria County History of Staffordshire. The Levett home was demolished in 1925.
Descendants
Theophilus Levett's daughter Anne was, according to Anna SewardAnna Seward
Anna Seward was an English Romantic poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield.-Life:Seward was the elder daughter of Thomas Seward , prebendary of Lichfield and Salisbury, and author...
, the early paramour of actor David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
. Garrick, wrote Seward, "was the lover of her early youth. When he quitted Lichfield to become a theatrical adventurer, he had her promise to be his the instant his situation became profitable." The romance was not to be: Anna Levett ultimately married her cousin Rev. Richard Levett of West Wycombe
West Wycombe
West Wycombe is a small village situated along the A40 road, due three miles west of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England.The historic village is largely a National Trust property and receives a large annual influx of tourists - being the site of West Wycombe Park, West Wycombe Caves and the...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. The episode prompted Seward to pen her poem Portrait of Miss Levett about the fickle Lichfield beauty.
High Sheriff of Staffordshire
This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Staffordshire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...
, Members of Parliament, investors in Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
's Soho Manufactory
Soho Manufactory
The Soho Manufactory was an early factory which pioneered mass production on the assembly line principle, in Soho, Smethwick, England, during the Industrial Revolution.-Beginnings:...
at Birmingham, as well as rectors of the local church at Whittington
Whittington, Staffordshire
Whittington is a village and civil parish which lies approximately 3 miles south east of Lichfield in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,591. The parish council is a joint one with Fisherwick...
and elsewhere. Several streets in today's Lichfield are named for the early town clerk and his family. The family is of Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
descent and originated in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, arriving in Staffordshire from 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...
. Theophilus Levett was named for Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon
Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon
Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon PC was an English politician. He was the son of Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon, born in the 27th year of his parents' marriage, and became Earl of Huntingdon on 13 February 1656 on his father's death...
, whose wife the Countess of Huntingdon was Levett's godmother.
Career
Theophilus LevettLevett
Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
served as Steward (town clerk) of Lichfield from 1721–1746, during which time he was a prominent player in the town's political affairs, occasionally narrowly averting political disaster. In 1718 and 1721 Levett narrowly escaped prosecution for sedition after declaring his Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
sympathies. After Levett retracted his statements, the matter was dropped but not without a storm of controversy.
The imbroglio began in 1718 when Levett prevented the Town Clerk from saying 'amen' to the final 'God Save the King' when a brief was read in church. Levett, according to testimony, had "clapt his Hand upon the Deponent's Mouth," and the Clerk "Blubbered" to the bemusement of the congregation. Three years passed before Levett again stirred up controversy. A candidate for coroner and Town Clerk, Levett was accused of wearing white roses on June 10, as well as drinking toasts to the Pretender "with other Gentlemen who were reconned the Jacobites of the Town."
Subsequently, all Levett's accusers retracted their statements, and he was elected to office as Town Clerk. Levett's accusers claimed they had been manipulated into testifying against him by local Whigs. One accuser, a "poor servant girl" named Alice Hayes, even claimed that one prominent local Whig gentleman had promised to marry her if she swore falsely against the aspiring politico. Shortly afterwards, a petition was sent to the King, signed by 185 Lichfield worthies, including Michael Johnson, the father of Samuel, a favor that Levett later repaid when he arranged a tutor's job for Samuel Johnson at the home of Thomas Whitby in Great Haywood
Great Haywood
Great Haywood is a village in central Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 about four miles from Rugeley.Great Haywood lies on the River Trent, where the Trent is met by its tributary, the River Sow...
, near Lichfield, after Johnson's father's death.
Because of his position, Levett became a major powerbroker in LIchfield. In a letter to the Earl of Dartmouth and the Deputy Lieutenants from 1745, Levett gives a snapshot of the influence he wielded, and showed there was little doubt about where he stood on the question of the Monarchy. "By command of Lord Gower," Levett wrote, "I beg to call a meeting for 9 October to consider whether it will be more for his Majesty's service and the ease of the county, to call out the militia or to raise some companies of foot and a troop or two of horse, by virtue of commissions to be granted by Lord Gower, with a declaration that they shall be disbanded as soon as the present troubles are over."