[8] Margherita was born in Putney in 1872,[9] a daughter of an Italian, Giulio (Julian) Marchetti, who had served as an officer under Garibaldi before settling in England to marry Anne Crossley in Halifax in 1871[10] and take his place in the carpet manufacturing business.

They had two daughters and two sons: Margaret Phyllis b.1895;[11] Percival Nathan b.1893;[12] Monica Virginia b.1903;[13] and Oliver John b.1912.

During World War I, in 1917, Whitley was appointed to chair a committee to report on 'the Relations of Employers and Employees' in the wake of the establishment of the Shop Stewards Movement and the widespread protest action against dilution.

[18] He proposed a system of regular formal consultative meetings between workers and employers, known to this day as "Whitley Councils".

Whitley was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons in 1921, a post he held until 1928, when he resigned[19] on grounds of ill health.

[7] Some notable portraits of Whitley were commissioned during this period, with paintings by both William Rothenstein[20] and Glyn Warren Philpot.

The report surprised many by concurring with the criticisms of Mahatma Gandhi and others that poverty was the cause of India's social and industrial problems.