Sir Thomas White, 2nd Baronet

Last updated • 6 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Sir Thomas White, 2nd Baronet, as a young man. Sir TW White 2nd Bt Miniature.jpg
Sir Thomas White, 2nd Baronet, as a young man.

Sir Thomas Woollaston White, 2nd Baronet, of Tuxford and Wallingwells [1] (3 October 1801 – 7 August 1882), was 16 years old when he succeeded his father Sir Thomas White, 1st Baronet, in his titles and estates. Being a minor when he succeeded, he was cared for by two guardians, Sir Frederick Gustavus Fowke, Bt., of Lowesby Hall in the County of Leicestershire, and his cousin Henry Gally Knight of Langold. Gally Knight was a well-known archaeologist and the author of Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy and Normandy, amongst others.

Contents

White attended Rugby School in Warwickshire, before joining the 16th Lancers.

Marriage and family

Georgina, Lady White, was the first wife of Sir Thomas White, Bt. She died at the age of 18 Georgina, Lady White.jpg
Georgina, Lady White, was the first wife of Sir Thomas White, Bt. She died at the age of 18

On 4 March 1824, White married Georgina Ramsay, the youngest daughter of George Ramsay, Esq., of Barnton and Sauchie. She died on 2 December 1825, aged 18, and was buried in the White family vault at the Church of St Nicholas, Tuxford.

White married, secondly, on 21 March 1827, Mary Euphemia Ramsay, daughter of William Ramsay, Esq., of Gogar. Mary was a cousin of Georgina's, their fathers being first cousins, both descending from the 4th Lord Belhaven and Stenton and their mothers being sisters.

Children from White's first marriage

NameBornDied
1.Georgina, married Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable Horace Manners Monckton, son of 5th Viscount Galway)1879
Mary Euphemia, Lady White, was the second wife of Sir Thomas, 2nd Bt., and mother of the 3rd Baronet. Mary Euphemia, Lady White.jpg
Mary Euphemia, Lady White, was the second wife of Sir Thomas, 2nd Bt., and mother of the 3rd Baronet.

Children from White's second marriage

NameBornDied
1.Thomas Woollaston, his heir7 February 182820 May 1907
2.Mary Elizabeth16 July 182915 September 1894
3.Bethia22 November 183031 January 1834
4.Frances (Fanny) Lucy Fowke31 May 183217 March 1896
5.William Knight Hamilton23 January 183411 June 1900

Army career

White's first military commission was as an Ensign in the 3rd (Retford) Regiment, Nottinghamshire Local Militia, commanded by his father. [2] Having served with the 16th Lancers after leaving school, the Regiment was due to depart for India on campaign. However, due to his age, his guardians refused to allow him to go with his regiment and arranged for a transfer to the 3rd Light Dragoons.

When White was in the 3rd Light Dragoons, the Duke of York, who was at that time the Commander-in-Chief, came to inspect the regiment at Brighton, while it was on its Sunday church parade. Instead of, as is usual, walking behind the line of officers and inspecting the men, the Duke walked in front of the officers and stopped when opposite White. "Your name," he said, "is Sir Thomas Woollaston White?" He acknowledged that this was correct. "Your father raised, armed, and clothed a regiment of volunteers at his own expense?" White replied that this was the case and his Royal Highness answered, "A very noble deed, a very noble deed. Attend my levee, Sir."

However, White did not attend the Duke's levee, and some time later his colonel received a letter from Sir Herbert Taylor, the Duke’s military secretary, ordering White's attendance. Upon his arrival, Taylor asked White why he had neglected His Royal Highness’ request, telling him he was wrong. He added, "Do you know that I am authorised by H.R.H. to offer you a lieutenancy without purchase? White thanked him, but declined the offer, as there was no vacancy in his regiment, and he did not wish to leave it. The military secretary then said, "If at any future time I can be of service to you in any way, make your wishes known, and they shall be attended to."

White retired from the 3rd Light Dragoons upon his first marriage, on half-pay.

For many years, White was Lieutenant-Colonel of both the Royal Sherwood Foresters Militia (commissioned 1 June 1833, resigned 1852 [3] [4] ) and also the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry Cavalry, which had originally been raised by his father.

Chartist uprisings

In 1838, after the annual 8 days of permanent drill at Newark, the Sherwood Rangers were ordered to Mansfield in preparation for the expected uprising of the Chartists. The Chartists at Sutton-in-Ashfield were to rise first, followed by other groups across the country. However, the Chartists found that the Yeomanry were far too strong for them and also wanted to annihilate the group; thus the uprisings quickly dissipated. The regiment stayed in Mansfield for 14 days on this occasion.

White sent regular reports, using the information he had gathered about the movements and state of the Chartists, to the Home Secretary, Lord John Russell. A letter of thanks was received back from Lord John, saying the account of the intentions of the Chartists, etc., which White had given him, was the most correct in every particular of any that had been supplied to the Home Office.

Newark election riots

During the 1840 election in Newark, the Sherwood Rangers were again called out, with White at their head, having been asked for his advice as what to do by the magistrates of the town. He suggested sending for the troops, who were posted a short way from the borough. However, nobody could be found to pass the news to the troops, as they were all frightened of the rioters. White decided to volunteer himself and set-off on his mission. When he reached the bridge over the River Trent, he found a dozen or so rioters guarding it. They threatened to throw him over the parapet into the water, if he dared step onto the bridge. White was a powerful man of six feet in height. He looked round him, and called out in a loud voice, "I have no doubt you can throw me over, but I shall take care that at least one man goes over with me." The rioters were not expecting such a response and consequently were afraid to touch him; meaning he could cross the bridge and achieve his mission of calling out the troops.

Military career

DateRegimentEntry
9 March 18133rd or Retford Regiment of Nottinghamshire Local MilitiaThomas Woollaston White, Gent. to be Ensign [2]
30 June 18133rd or Retford Regiment of Nottinghamshire Local MilitiaEnsign Thomas Woollaston White to be Lieutenant, vice Sherratt, deceased [5]
19 October 182016th Regiment of Light DragoonsSir Thomas Woollaston White, Bart. to be Cornet, by purchase, vice Tuite [6]
9 May 18223rd Regiment of Light DragoonsCornet Sir Thomas Woollaston White from the 16th Light Dragoons, to be Cornet, vice Moore, who exchanges [7]
12 November 1824Worksop Troop of Nottinghamshire Yeomanry CavalrySir Thomas Woollaston White, Bart., to be Lieutenant [8]
1 June 1833Royal Sherwood Foresters or Nottinghamshire Regiment of MilitiaSir Thomas Woollaston White, Bart., to be Lieutenant-Colonel, vice Roger Pocklington, retired [4]
26 February 1836Sherwood RangersSir Thomas Woollaston White, Bart., to be Major-Commandant [9]
29 April 1840Sherwood RangersSir Thomas Woollaston White, Bart., to be Lieutenant-Colonel [10]

High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire

Sir Thomas White, 2nd Baronet, in his old age. Sir T.W. White 2nd Baronet of Tuxford and Wallingwells.jpg
Sir Thomas White, 2nd Baronet, in his old age.

In 1833 White was chosen to be the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire. In 1833, the full pomp and ceremony of the meeting of the assize judges was still enacted and he rode out with his javelin men, who were all his own people. They were dressed in the green and silver livery of his seat, Wallingwells, and the trumpeters had silk banners showing his achievement-of-arms of 28 quarterings. White rode a skewbold horse, which was caparisoned in the crimson velvet and gold trappings of the 1st Duke of Marlborough (the trappings came into the White family via his paternal grandmother, who was the daughter of the Duke's right-hand man, Major-General John Armstrong). Behind the javelin men and White came the judges in White's coach and four.

It is said that on one occasion when White was waiting for a judge in his coach, two old farmers came up to it, peered in through the window and eventually uttered, "Nay, he is not half so good-looking as his father were when he was Sheriff!"

Wallingwells, Nottinghamshire Wallingwells Hall geograph.org.uk 3026378.jpg
Wallingwells, Nottinghamshire

Letwell Church

In 1867, Letwell Church, which stood on White's Wallingwells Estate, burnt down. He rebuilt the church at his own cost, and it reopened on 12 August 1869. The west window was dedicated to his third cousin, former guardian, and neighbour at Langold, Henry Gally Knight. Gally Knight had left his Langold estate (3,209 acres) to White, upon his death in 1846.

The three lights of the east window are memorials to White and his two wives. The font was carved by his youngest daughter, Lady Maitland, whilst the pulpit and reading desk of oak with cedar let in, were carved by another daughter, Mary.

Carriage accident and death

In June 1870, when he was 68 years old, White was driving through Worksop when his horses took fright and the carriage collided with another. He was thrown out of the carriage and sustained injuries so severe that he was not expected to live. His right leg was amputated above the knee as a result of the accident. Incredibly, largely due to his constitution and calmness of mind, he recovered and survived for another 12 years.

White died on 7 August 1882 and was buried in the vault of the White chapel in the Church of St Nicholas, Tuxford.

Succession to the baronetcy

White was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son of the second marriage. He was also named Thomas Woollaston and was formally known as Sir Thomas Woollaston White, 3rd Baronet of Tuxford and Wallingwells.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham</span> British soldier and politician

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham was a British soldier and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer under William III during the Williamite War in Ireland and during the Nine Years' War, he fought under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, during the War of the Spanish Succession. During the War of the Quadruple Alliance Temple led a force of 4,000 troops on a raid on the Spanish coastline which captured Vigo and occupied it for ten days before withdrawing. In Parliament he generally supported the Whigs but fell out with Sir Robert Walpole in 1733. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe and for serving as a political mentor to the young William Pitt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banastre Tarleton</span> British general (1754–1833)

Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolutionary War. He later served in Portugal and held commands in Ireland and England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Gally Knight</span> British politician, traveller and writer (1786–1846)

Henry Gally Knight, F.R.S. was a British politician, traveller and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch</span> 18th/19th-century Scottish noble

Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and 5th Duke of Queensberry KG FRSE was a Scottish nobleman and long-time friend of Sir Walter Scott. He is the paternal 3rd great-grandfather of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and the maternal 4th great-grandfather of Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Colonel Sir Charles Seely, 1st Baronet KGStJ, DL was a British industrialist and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland</span> British landowner and politician

William Henry Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland, KG, styled Viscount Barnard until 1792 and known as The Earl of Darlington between 1792 and 1827 and as The Marquess of Cleveland between 1827 and 1833, was a British landowner, slave holder and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallingwells</span> Hamlet and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England

Wallingwells is a small civil parish and hamlet in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population at the 2001 census of 22. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 census, details were included in the civil parish of Carlton in Lindrick. The population was recorded as 27 at the 2021 census. It lies about five miles north of Worksop.

Sir Archibald Woollaston White, 4th Baronet, MFH, was the son of William Knight Hamilton White, the second son of Sir Thomas White, 2nd Baronet. He was born at Tickhill in Yorkshire, where he lived throughout his childhood. He succeeded to the baronetcy upon the death of his uncle, Sir Thomas White, 3rd Baronet, in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langold</span> Human settlement in England

Langold is a village in the civil parish of Hodsock, in the Bassetlaw district, north Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2011 census it was defined as a ward of Bassetlaw Council with a population of 2,472. It was built to provide housing for the miners of Firbeck Colliery between 1923 and 1927. Langold Lakes Country Park is situated on the south-western edge of the village.

Thomas White of Wallingwells, Nottinghamshire, was an English landowner and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1701 and 1732.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John White (1699–1769)</span>

John White, of Wallingwells, Nottinghamshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1733 to 1768..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Thomas White, 1st Baronet</span>

Sir Thomas Woollaston White, 1st Baronet, of Tuxford and Wallingwells, was the eldest son and heir of Taylor and Sarah White. His grandfather, also named Taylor White, was the founding Treasurer of The Foundling Hospital, a judge, Fellow of The Royal Society, and Patron of the Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Knight</span>

Sir Ralph Knight was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. He served in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War. He sold 'the Barrels' Manor House in Ullenhal Worcestershire to his cousin to join Cromwell. The Manor had been in the family since the early 1500s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Taylor (died 1699)</span>

Richard Taylor was an English Member of Parliament. He was the only son of Major Samuel Taylor of Wallingwells Priory, Nottinghamshire. He succeeded his father in 1679.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Warburton</span> British Army officer

General Hugh Warburton was an officer of the British Army and fought in the French and Indian War with the 45th Regiment of Foot. He later commanded the 27th Regiment of Foot during the Seven Years' War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylor White</span>

Taylor White was a British jurist, naturalist, and art collector. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was the patron of several prominent wildlife and botanical artists including Peter Paillou, George Edwards, Benjamin Wilkes, and Georg Dionysius Ehret. He was also a founding governor of the Foundling Hospital in London and served as its treasurer for many years.

George Augustus Henry Anne Parkyns, 2nd Baron Rancliffe of Bunny Hall was an English landowner and politician from Nottinghamshire. A baron in the peerage of Ireland, he sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for thirteen of the years between 1806 and 1830.

Sir Thomas Astley Woollaston White, 5th Baronet, of Tuxford and Wallingwells, was the son of Sir Archibald White, 4th Baronet.

Sir James Ramsay-Gibson-Maitland, 4th Baronet was a Scottish aquaculturist who dedicated his life to experimenting on the practices of husbandry in fish. He gained recognition for his work by being awarded several diplomas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White baronets of Tuxford and Wallingwells (1802)</span>

The White baronetcy, of Tuxford and Wallingwells in the County of Nottingham, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 20 December 1802 for Thomas Woollaston White, with remainder to the heirs male of his father.

References

  1. White, Mary H. Towry (1886). The Memoirs of the House of White of Wallingwells and of Its Collatoral Branches.
  2. 1 2 "No. 16718". The London Gazette . 6 April 1813. p. 700.
  3. Capt A.E. Lawson Lowe, Historical Record of the Royal Sherwood Foresters; or Nottinghamshire Regiment of Militia, London: Mitchell, 1872, pp. 50–2.
  4. 1 2 "No. 19064". The London Gazette . 5 July 1833. p. 1298.
  5. "No. 16760". The London Gazette . 3 August 1813. p. 1535.
  6. "No. 17646". The London Gazette . 28 October 1820. p. 2015.
  7. "No. 17818". The London Gazette . 18 May 1822. p. 826.
  8. "No. 18143". The London Gazette . 4 June 1825. p. 978.
  9. "No. 19367". The London Gazette . 22 March 1836. p. 540.
  10. "No. 19854". The London Gazette . 8 May 1840. p. 1152.
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Tuxford and Wallingwells)
1817–1882
Succeeded by
Thomas White