Theophilus Levett - Life

Life

Theophilus Levett was married to Mary Babington, the daughter of Zachary Babington, 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 31 January 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.