vative member for Enniskillen. In 1859 he was chosen as one of the representatives of Dublin University, and held this position until his elevation to the bench. Whiteside's striking talent as a speaker made him a valuable accession to his party in the House of Commons, and on the formation of Lord Derby's first administration in 1852 he was appointed solicitor-general for Ireland, his brother-in-law, (Sir) Joseph Napier [q. v.], being attorney-general. In the same premier's second government Whiteside filled the office of attorney-general. During the liberal administration (1859–66) Whiteside was in opposition; but, despite the claims of his profession, he was able to devote much of his time to his parliamentary duties, and took an eminent part in the counsels of the conservative opposition. He attained a high position in the House of Commons, where his eloquence, wit, and geniality made him popular with all parties. In 1861, on his return to London after the marvellous speech in the celebrated Yelverton case—the most famous of all his forensic efforts—Whiteside received a remarkable compliment, being greeted with general cheers as he entered the House of Commons for the first time after the conclusion of the trial.
On the return of Lord Derby to office in 1866 Whiteside was again appointed attorney-general, but shortly afterwards accepted the office of chief justice of the queen's bench in Ireland, on the retirement of Thomas Langlois Lefroy [q. v.] Whiteside's talents were rhetorical and forensic rather than judicial; and though he brought to his high position great personal dignity and the charm of a singularly attractive personality, he was not very successful as a judge. He presided in the queen's bench division for ten years; but the last of these were clouded by ill-health. He died at Brighton on 25 Nov. 1876, and was buried at Mount Jerome cemetery near Dublin. He married, in July 1833, Rosetta, daughter of William Napier and sister of Sir Joseph Napier [q. v.], sometime lord chancellor of Ireland.
Whiteside's is one of the most brilliant names in the annals of the Irish bar. He was unapproached in point of eloquence by any of his contemporaries, and his powerful personality, at once winning and commanding, gave him an almost unexampled pre-eminence. His forensic style has been described as ‘impetuously burying facts and law under a golden avalanche of discursive eloquence;’ and his parliamentary oratory has been praised by Lord Lytton in his poem of ‘St. Stephen's.’ In person he was tall and gracefully proportioned. There is a statue of Whiteside in the hall of the Four Courts at Dublin, by Woolner.
[Webb's Compendium of Irish Biography; Annual Register, 1876; Dublin Univ. Mag. xxxiii. 326, xxxv. 213; Temple Bar, xiii. 264; Remains of Sir Joseph Napier; Todd's Catalogue of Graduates, Dublin Univ.; Law Magazine and Review, May 1877; O'Flanagan's Irish Bar; Brooke's Recollections of the Irish Church, 2nd ser.]
WHITFELD or WHITFIELD, HENRY (d. 1660?), divine, is said by Mather to have been second son of Ralph Whitfeld of Gray's Inn, by Dorothy, daughter of Sir Henry Spelman [q. v.] He was more probably son of Thomas Whitfeld, lord of the manor of East Sheen and of Mortlake, who was licensed to marry Mildred Manning of Greenwich on 10 Jan. 1585 (Addit. MS. 27984, f. 20b). He appears to have taken holy orders, is described as B.D., and is said to have been appointed to the rich living of Ockley, Surrey, in 1616, although the register there contains no mention of his induction. Mather (Hist. of New England, 1853, i. 592) says that, possessing a fair estate of his own besides the rectory, he put ‘another godly minister’ in at Ockley, and went about preaching in the neighbourhood for twenty years as a conformist. As Nicholas Culpepper was instituted on 14 Sept. 1615, and the next rector, Hubert Nowell, on 15 Jan. 1638–9, this may have been the case. Whitfeld wrote during this period ‘Some Helpes to stirre up to Christian Duties’ (2nd edit. corrected and enlarged, London, 1634; 3rd edit. 1636).
In 1639 Whitfield, who had become a nonconformist at the same time as Cotton, and refused to read the ‘Book of Sports,’ resigned the rectory, sold his estate, and, accompanied by a number of his hearers from Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, embarked in May for New England. In July 1639 they landed at Newhaven, ‘the first ship that ever cast anchor in that port,’ and founded Guildford, Connecticut, Whitfield being the wealthiest of the six settlers who purchased the land. One of the first houses built was Whitfield's, called ‘the Stone House’ (figured in Appleton's Cyclop. of American Biogr.) Members increased but slowly until 1643, when seven ‘pillars’ were chosen to draw up a doctrine of faith. After eleven years at Guildford, Whitfield returned to England. He settled at Winchester, where he became a member of the corporation. Brook says he died about 1660.
By his wife, who came from Cranbrook, Whitfield had nine children, baptised at Ockley between 1619 and 1635.
