Life
He was an elder brother of the cleric Joseph Whately of Nonsuch Park, Surrey, and so uncle of Richard Whately. For many years he was in the close confidence of George Grenville, to whom he passed the political gossip. He also corresponded with Lord Temple, Lord George Sackville, and James Harris, M.P.
Whately sat in parliament from 1761 to 1768 for the borough of Ludgershall in Wiltshire, and from 1768 until his death he represented the borough of Castle Rising in Norfolk. From 5 April 1764 until its dismissal in July 1765 he held the post of secretary to the treasury in George Grenville's administration, and he then went into opposition.
On Grenville's death in November 1770 Whately attached himself to Lord North, and acted as the go-between for his old patron's friends. Junius denounced him as possessing "the talents of an attorney" and "the agility of Colonel Bodens" (who could scarcely move), and as deserting Grenville's cause. He was appointed a commissioner on the board of trade in January 1771, the keeper of his Majesty's private roads in January 1772, and he was under-secretary of state from June 1771 for the northern department. These appointments he held for the rest of his life.
Whately died unmarried and intestate on 26 May 1772; his brother, William Whately, a banker in Lombard Street, London, administered to the effects.
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“What is life but the angle of vision? A man is measured by the angle at which he looks at objects. What is life but what a man is thinking all day? This is his fate and his employer. Knowing is the measure of the man. By how much we know, so much we are.”
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