Francis John White (21 April 1830 – 4 May 1875) was a pastoralist and politician in New South Wales, Australia.

Early life

White was born at

Ravensworth Ravensworth is a village and civil parish in the Holmedale valley, within the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-west of Richmond and from Darlington. The parish has a population of 255, accordin ...

to overseer James White and Sarah Crossman, the 3rd of 10 children, Jane,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, George, Sarah, William Edward, Frederick Robert, Edward, Henry Charles, and Jane. He was educated by the Reverend John Gregor at

West Maitland Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England ...

and then Dr Aitken. His father died in 1842 when he was aged 11.

Land ownership and squatting

He qualified as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

however he returned to work on the family

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

Edinglassie The Dunecht Estate is one of the largest private estates in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at . It is owned by The Hon Charles Anthony Pearson, the younger son of the 3rd Viscount Cowdray. Dunecht’s business interests include farming (in hand and let ...

, near

Muswellbrook Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney basin, bordering the New Englan ...

, which he operated in partnership with his brothers James and George. On 6 July 1853 he married Mary Hannah Cobb. In 1848 the brothers leased Belltrees near

Scone A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component of th ...

from

William Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (August 179020 March 1872) was an Australian pastoralist, explorer, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and author, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures of early colonial New South Wales. Throug ...

buying the property in 1853. He later bought further land in the

Liverpool Plains The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia. These plains are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the s ...

and

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, including Saumarez, in partnership with his brothers, making them some of the leading

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

s in the colony.

Public office

White was appointed a magistrate in 1855, later becoming chairman of the bench of magistrates. His brother William was the minister at the Episcopal Church in Muswellbrook and the church was built chiefly by donations from the White family. He was president of the local Agricultural Society, and took an active part in the management of the Muswellbrook Hospital and the Benevolent Society of Muswellbrook.

Politics

In 1874 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for

Upper Hunter The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shir ...

, but he died the following year. His brother, James, had represented the Upper Hunter from 1864 until 1868 and had been appointed to the Legislative Council in 1874.

Death

White died at Edinglassie on , survived by Mary and 7 of their children. His obituary published by the ''

Maitland Mercury The ''Maitland Mercury'' is Australia's third oldest regional newspaper, preceded only by the ''Geelong Advertiser'' (estab. 1840) and the ''Launceston Examiner'' (estab. 1842). The ''Maitland Mercury'' was established in 1843 when it was called ...

'' gave his cause of death as

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

, however it subsequently published a denial which stated he had been suffering from a

remittent fever Remittent fever is a type or pattern of fever in which temperature does not touch the baseline and remains above normal throughout the day. Daily variation in temperature is more than 1°C in 24 hours, which is also the main difference as compared ...

for six weeks, with no sign of typhoid.

Family

White had 10 children with Mary, the eldest also named Francis John,

, Walter,

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, Mary, William, Arthur, Victor, Adelaide and John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Francis 1830 births 1875 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians