Buck Whaley

Thomas Whaley (15 December 1766 – 2 November 1800), commonly known as Buck Whaley or Jerusalem Whaley, was an Irish gambler and member of the Irish House of Commons.

Whaley was born in Dublin in December 1766, the eldest surviving son of the landowner, magistrate and former Member of Parliament Richard Chapell Whaley, referred to as Burn-Chapel Whaley due to his strong anti-Catholic sentiments and actions. Richard Whaley died in 1769, leaving an estate that included a town-house on St Stephen's Green, land in County Wicklow and £60,000. The estate generated an income of £7,000 per annum which became available to the young Whaley when he reached the age of eighteen.

At the age of sixteen, Whaley was sent to Europe on the Grand tour, accompanied by a tutor and with an allowance of £900, a sum that proved to be inadequate. He settled in Paris for some time, maintaining both a country residence and town house, but was forced to leave Paris when his cheque for the amount of £14,000, to settle gambling debts accrued in one night of gambling, was refused by his bankers, the La Touche bank.

Following his return to Dublin, Whaley, at the age of eighteen, was elected to the Irish House of Commons in 1785 representing the constituency of Newcastle in County Dublin.

While dining with William FitzGerald, the Duke of Leinster at Leinster House, in response to a question regarding his future travel plans, Whaley flippantly mentioned Jerusalem. This reply led to wagers totalling £15,000 (i.e. about £1.8 million in 2001) being offered that Whaley could not travel to Jerusalem and back within two years and provide proof of his success. The reasoning of those offering the bets was based on the belief that, as the region was part of the Ottoman Empire and had a reputation for widespread banditry, it would be too dangerous for travellers and it would be unlikely that Whaley could complete the journey.

Whaley embarked from Dublin on 8 October 1788, with a retinue of servants and a "large stock of Madeira wine" to cheers from the large crowd assembled at the Dublin quays. Whaley sailed first to Deal, where he was joined by a companion, a Captain Wilson, for the journey, and then on to Gibraltar where a ball was held for his arrival. In Gibraltar, his party was joined by another military officer, Captain Hugh Moore. The party set sail for the port of Smyrna, although Wilson was prevented from travelling any further by rheumatic fever. The remaining pair made an overland journey from there to Constantinople, arriving in December.

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