e of the upper middle
class, and were connected by marriage with John Howard the
Prison-Reformer, whose property near Bedford they inherited. As
years went on, their wealth and station increased. Samuel Whitbread,
who died in 1796, founded the brewery in Chiswell Street, E.C.,
which still bears his name, was Member for the Borough of Bedford,
and purchased from the fourth Lord Torrington a fine place near
Biggleswade, called Southill, of which the wooded uplands supplied
John Bunyan, dwelling on the flats of Elstow, with his idea of
the Delectable Mountains.

This Samuel Whitbread was succeeded as M.P. for Bedford by a more
famous Samuel, his eldest son, who was born in 1758, and married
Lady Elizabeth Grey; sister of

"That Earl who taught his compeers to be just,
And wrought in brave old age what youth had planned."

Samuel Whitbread became one of the most active and influential
members of the Whig party, a staunch ally of Fox and a coadjutor
of Wilberforce in his attack on the Slave Trade. He was closely
and unfortunately involved in the affairs of Drury Lane Theatre,
and, for that reason, figures frequently in _Rejected Addresses_.
He died before his time in 1815, and his eldest son, William Henry
Whitbread, became M.P. for Bedford. This William Henry died without
issue, and his nephew and heir was the admirable man and distinguished
Parliamentarian who is here commemorated.

Samuel Whitbread was born in 1830, and educated at Rugby, where
he was a contemporary of Lord Goschen, and at Trinity College,
Cambridge, where one of his closest friends was James Payn, the
novelist. He married Lady Isabella Pelham, daughter of the third
Earl of Chichester. In those days Bedford returned two members,
and at the General Election of 1852, which scotched Lord Derby's
attempt to revive Protection, "Young Sam Whitbread" was returned
as junior Member for the Borough, and at the elections of 1857,
1859, 1865, 1868, 1874, 1880, 1885, 1886, and 1892 he was again
elected, each time after a contest and each time at the top of
the poll. Had he stood again in 1895, and been again successful,
he would have been "Father of the House."

It may be said, without doubt or exaggeration, that Samuel Whitbread
was the ideal Member of Parliament. To begin with physical attributes,
he was unusually tall, carried himself nobly, and had a beautiful and
benignant countenance. His speaking was calm, deliberate, dignified;
his reasoning close a