Born at Cove, Suffolk in December 1689, was the son of Richard Webster (d. 1722), by his wife Jane, daughter of Anthony Sparrow; his father was a nonjuring clergyman, who later submitted and became vicar of Poslingford.
In 1723 he edited The Life of General Monk (London), from the manuscript of Thomas Skinner, contributing a preface in vindication of George Monck's character.
[1] On 16 December 1732, under the pseudonym of ‘Richard Hooker of the Inner Temple,’ he began to edit a periodical entitled The Weekly Miscellany; not very successful, it was discontinued on 27 June 1741.
From the number of religious essays it contained it became known as ‘Old Mother Hooker's Journal.’ It is known for the attacks made in its columns on William Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses.
[1] In 1740, from materials furnished by a merchant, Webster published a pamphlet on the wool industry called Consequences of Trade to the Wealth and Strength of any Nation, by a Draper of London.