Whiteley's Folly: The Life and Death of a Salesman

By Linda Stratmann

Whiteleys was the Harrods of the 19th century. Its clients included English and overseas royalty and it offered - and delivered - "Everything from a pin to an Elephant". Created by William Whiteley, a draper's assistant from Yorkshire, who come to London with just a few pounds in his pocket, it was a remarkable achievement by a remarkable man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Oct 14, 2004
• ISBN: 9780752495262

Reviews for Whiteley's Folly

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I watched a BBC4 documentary about shop girls in which the author of this biography, Linda Stratmann, talked about William Whiteley and made him sound fascinating. He wasn't, or rather this account isn't. Whiteley was a gruff Yorkshireman who left his home county - first mistake - for London to make his fortune, establishing the department store which still bears his name today. Basically, though, he was Not a Very Nice Man, who cheated on his wife with various shop girls, eventually getting one of them pregnant, and who was a bully to his staff in general. He got into legal battles with anyone who tried to oppose him, his shops were routinely burned down for a period of years, abandoned his wife and his mistress, and then a man claiming to be his son shot him in the head. Couldn't have happened to a nicer man, sort of Open All Hours meets an episode of Law and Order.The chapters are all fairly short and some are more interesting than others, but I think the snippet I heard about Whiteley on TV summed up his character. Some great research from the author, but what a horrible man!