WILKES, JOHN

born Oct. 17, 1725, London died Dec. 26, 1797, London outspoken 18th-century journalist and popular London politician who came to be regarded as a victim of persecution and as a champion of liberty because he was repeatedly expelled from Parliament. His widespread popular support may have been the beginning of English Radicalism. Additional reading The fullest biography is H.W. Bleackley, Life of John Wilkes (1917). R.W. Postgate, That Devil Wilkes, rev. ed. (1956); and C.P. Chenevix Trench, Portrait of a Patriot (1962), add details. All are defective in understanding of the political background, on which see: G.F.E. Rude, Wilkes and Liberty: A Social Study of 1763 to 1774 (1962); and I.R. Christie, Wilkes, Wyvill and Reform: The Parliamentary Reform Movement in British Politics, 17601785 (1962). Ian R. Christie