Dr John White

1759 - 1821


Biography

John White (1759-1821), surgeon, son of Rev. John White (1727-1780) and Barbara nee Freeman (1734-1802). Nephew of the naturalist Rev. Gilbert White of Selborne (1720-1793). His father was chaplain to the Gibraltar garrison; as a result, John lived with his uncle in Selborne for much of his boyhood.

In his will, proved in 1821, he stated: '...I hereby give devise & bequeath all//that my sixth part in a certain plantation Messuages Lands Tenements & Hereditaments in the Island of Monsuratt in the West Indies called Galways Plantation ...with the appurtenances thereto belonging & my sixth part of the Negroes & Stock thereon belonging to my very dear Wife Elizabeth White for her life & for her future disposal...'

He also left £20 to Mr and Mrs Digweed of Chawton, friends and neighbours of Jane Austen. White was consulted on Austen's health during the summer of 1815; Austen refers to the visit in one of her letters: 'I am nursing myself up now into as beautiful a state as I can, because I hear that Dr. White means to call on me before he leaves the country.'

It's not clear how he came by a part share in Galways.


Sources

Deirdre Le Faye, Jane Austen's Letters (Oxford, 2011) pp. 207, 335, 584.

Richard Mabey, Gilbert White: A Biography of the Author of The Natural History of Selborne (Charlottesville, Virginia, 2007) pp. 70, 131-132, 134-135, 189, 204, 217.

PROB 11/1646/108 Will of Doctor John White, Doctor of Medicine of Bath, Somerset.


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Elizabeth White
Children
d.s.p.
Occupation
Physician

Associated Estates (1)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
- 1821 [LA] → Joint owner

According to his will (proved 1821), John White owned a sixth share in Galways, which he left to his wife Elizabeth nee White. See entry for John White for more details.


Relationships (1)

Husband → Wife

Addresses (3)

Bath, Somerset, South-west England, England
Holybourne, Alton, Hampshire, South-east England, England
Salisbury, Wiltshire, South-west England, England