Caleb Whitefoord FRS FRSE |
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Caleb Whitefoord, by Sir Joshua Reynolds
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Born | 1734 Edinburgh |
Died | 25 January 1810 Argyll Street, London |
Nationality | Scottish |
Citizenship | Great Britain |
Alma mater | Edinburgh University |
Notable work | Secretary to the commission which concluded peace between Great Britain and the United States at Paris, 1782 |
Caleb Whitefoord FRS FRSE RSA (Edinburgh 1734 – 25 January 1810 London) was a Scottish merchant, diplomat, and political satirist.
Born in Edinburgh in 1734, the illegitimate son of Colonel Charles (James) Whitefoord of the Royal Marines (son of Sir Adam Whitefoord, 1st Baronet), he was educated at James Mundell's School and Edinburgh University.
He moved to London, and in 1756 became a wine merchant.
In 1782 he served as Lord Shelburne's envoy to Benjamin Franklin on the Peace Commission at Paris.
In 1784 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and in 1788, upon the proposal of Robert Arbuthnot, Sir William Forbes and Alexander Fraser Tytler he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Whitefoord married, in 1800, a Miss Craven, and had issue, amongst whom an eldest son, Rev. Caleb Whitefoord, M.A. (Oxon.), rector of Burford with Whitton, Herefordshire, had five sons. He died at 28 Argyll Street, London, on 25 January 1810, and was interred at Paddington Churchyard.