Captain Samuel Albert White (20 December 1870 – 19 January 1954) was a wealthy Australian racehorse owner, soldier, explorer, conservationist and amateur ornithologist. He was born in

Fulham, South Australia Fulham is a western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of West Torrens. History The area incorporating the current suburb of Fulham was purchased c. 1836 by John White (? –30 December 1860), who named it ''Fulham ...

and eventually died there. He fought in the South African War 1900–1903, reaching the rank of captain, which title he continued to use throughout his life. He made several private ornithological collecting expeditions across remote areas of Australia, to Alice Springs (1913), Musgrave and

Everard Ranges The Everard Ranges, officially known as The Everard Ranges, is a range of low rounded granite hills located in the Australian state of South Australia in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands about west of Mintabie. It is of Pa ...

(1914),

Cooper Creek The Cooper Creek (formerly Cooper's Creek) is a river in the Australian states of Queensland and South Australia. It was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its t ...

(1916),

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...

(1917-1918), Finke River (1921), and Adelaide to Darwin and return (1922), on behalf of

Gregory Mathews Gregory Macalister Mathews CBE FRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was an Australian-born amateur ornithologist who spent most of his later life in England. Life He was born in Biamble in New South Wales the son of Robert H. M ...

. White was a foundation member of the

South Australian Ornithological Association The South Australian Ornithological Association (SAOA), also known as Birds SA, is an Australian birding organisation based in Adelaide, South Australia. The SAOA publishes a journal, the ''South Australian Ornithologist'' as well as the ''Birds ...

(SAOA) in 1899, and served as its president for several periods between 1904 and 1944. He was also a foundation member of the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

(RAOU) in 1901, and served as its president 1914–1916.

Family

The White family were among the earliest settlers in South Australia. John White (died 30 December 1860) arrived in November 1836 aboard the ''Tam O'Shanter''. Within months of arrival he purchased land which now lies in the suburb of Fulham,Linn, Rob. (1989): ''Nature's Pilgrim. The life and journeys of Captain S.A.White, naturalist, author and conservationist''. SA Government Printer: Adelaide. naming it ''Fulham Farm'' after the suburb of Fulham in his native

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The White family home, ''Weetunga'', built by his son, Samuel White (15 June 1835 – 16 November 1880), father of Samuel Albert White, remained with the family until being placed on the market in 2014.Iconic Fulham mansion 'Weetunga' placed on the market for the first time in its 135-year history
''The Advertiser'', 2 April 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014. White's father, Samuel White, was also an enthusiastic ornithologist, venturing on three ambitious and disastrous expeditions. He kept extensive diaries, but except for some notes his research was largely unpublished. The collections he made were mostly lost en route. He died shortly after returning to Sydney to replace a crew that had mutinied on his third expedition.

Works

As well as numerous papers in ornithological journals, works he authored include: * White, Samuel Albert. (191?). ''Ornithologists at Warunda Creek. Record of the A.O.U.'s expedition to Eyre Peninsula, October 1909, with notes on ornithology, botany and entomology''. W.K. Thomas & Co.: Adelaide. * White, Samuel Albert. (191?). ''The Gawler Ranges. An Ornithological Expedition''. W.K. Thomas & Co.: Adelaide. * White, Samuel Albert. (191?). ''In the Far North-West. An expedition to the Musgrave and Everard Ranges''. W.K. Thomas & Co.: Adelaide. * White, Samuel Albert. (191?). ''In the Far North-East. A scientific expedition''. W.K. Thomas & Co.: Adelaide. * White, Samuel Albert. (191?). ''The Cruise of the `Avocet' in Search of Skuas and Other Things''. W.K. Thomas & Co.: Adelaide. * White, Samuel Albert. (191?). ''Ooldea, on the East-West Railway. On the Flooded Murray River, and other sketches''. W.K. Thomas & Co.: Adelaide. * White, Samuel Albert. (1914). ''Into the Dead Heart. An ornithological trip through central Australia''. W.K. Thomas: Adelaide. * White, Samuel Albert. (1919). ''Bunya, or Mystery Mountains. To Robe via the Coorong. A Camp Out in New South Wales. Ornithologists in the West''. W.K. Thomas: Adelaide. * White, Samuel Albert. (1919). Birds recorded from the early days up to the present time for the Reed Beds District. ''South Australian Ornithologist'', 4 (4), 1919. * White, Samuel Albert. (1920). ''The Life of Samuel White, Soldier, Naturalist, Sailor''. W.K. Thomas & Co.: Adelaide.

General references

* Collier, Roger; Hatch, John; Matheson, Bill; & Russell, Tony. (Eds). (2000). ''Birds, Birders and Birdwatching, 1899-1999. Celebrating one hundred years of the South Australian Ornithological Association''. SAOA: Adelaide. * Linn, Rob. (1989). ''Nature's Pilgrim. The life and journeys of Captain S.A.White, naturalist, author and conservationist''. SA Government Printer: Adelaide. * Robin, Libby. (2001). ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001''. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Samuel Albert Australian ornithologists Australian Army soldiers 1870 births 1954 deaths Australian military personnel of the Second Boer War