John Whitaker, an English clergyman, born in Manchester about 1735, died at Ruan-Langhorne, Cornwall, Oct. 30, 1808. He was educated at Oxford, and became a fellow of Corpus Christi college. In 1771 he published a " History of Manchester" (enlarged eds., 2 vols., 1773, and 3 vols., 1775). In refutation of Macpherson's theory that the modern highlanders are descendants of the Caledonians of Tacitus, he wrote his "Genuine History of the Britons'1 (1772), maintaining that they represent a subsequent Irish colonization. In 1773 he was made morning preacher at Berkeley chapel, London, but in two months was removed. In 1778 he became rector of RuanLanghorne. His works include " Sermons upon Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell" (8vo, 1783); "Mary, Queen of Scots, vindicated" (3 vols. 8vo, 1787; enlarged ed., 2 vols. 8vo, 1790); " The Origin of Arianism disclosed" (8vo, 1791); "The Course of Hannibal over the Alps ascertained" (2 vols. 8vo, 1794); "The Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall historically surveyed " (2 vols. 4to, 1804); and "The Life of St. Neot" (1809).