James White was an English advertising agent, author and lifelong friend of

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his ''Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–18 ...

Personal life

He was the son of Samuel and Mary White and was baptised at the Church of St. John in Bedwardine,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, on 17 April 1775. At the age of 8, he was admitted to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

on the Presentation of Thomas Coventry on 19 September 1783. He left the school on 30 April 1790 in order to become a clerk in the treasurer's office at the school. While at the school, White formed a close and long-lasting friendship with Charles Lamb, who was the same age as he. Charles Lamb refers to James White in many of his

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

and the

Essays of Elia ''Essays of Elia'' is a collection of essays written by Charles Lamb; it was first published in book form in 1823, with a second volume, ''Last Essays of Elia'', issued in 1833 by the publisher Edward Moxon. The essays in the collection first be ...

(in particular the essay entitled ''The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers''). White developed a fascination with the character of

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

and was even known to dress up and go about "in character". This led to him writing and publishing in 1796 his only known book: ''Original Letters, etc, of Sir John Falstaff and his friends'', a collection of letters supposed to have been written by Falstaff and his friends, found in an archive kept by

Mistress Quickly Mistress Nell Quickly is a fictional character who appears in several plays by William Shakespeare. She is an inn-keeper, who runs the Boar's Head Tavern, at which Sir John Falstaff and his disreputable cronies congregate. The character appea ...

's heirs. White died at his house in Burton Crescent (since renamed

Cartwright Gardens Cartwright Gardens is a crescent shaped park and street located in Bloomsbury, London. The gardens were originally built between 1809 and 1811 as part of the Skinners' Company Estate and were known as Burton Crescent after the developer James Bu ...

in London on 13 March 1820. He was survived by his wife Margaret (daughter of Robert Faulder the bookseller) and three children. After his death, his business seems to have been initially managed by his wife, and was later taken over by his son Robert Faulder White. James White is a great-great-grandfather of the author

T. H. White Terence Hanbury "Tim" White (29 May 1906 – 17 January 1964) was an English writer best known for his Arthurian novels, published together in 1958 as ''The Once and Future King''. One of his most memorable is the first of the series, '' The Sw ...

(1906–1964) and

Roger Bushell Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell (30 August 1910 – 29 March 1944) was a South African-born British military aviator. He masterminded the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III in 1944, but was one of the 50 escapees to be recaptured and sub ...

Publishing

In 1800 he founded an advertising company in Warwick Square, which subsequently moved in 1808 to 33

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and became R. F. White & Son Ltd. This is considered to be the UK's first advertising agency and the advent of

copywriting Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

Notes

Citations

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20090315011049/http://www.hatads.org.uk/hat/newsitem.php?A=138&C=22 The History of Advertising Trust *http://www.angelfire.com/nv/mf/elia1/chimney.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:White, James 1775 births 1820 deaths People educated at Christ's Hospital Writers from Worcester, England English male writers Advertising agencies of the United Kingdom

Personal life

Publishing

Notes

Citations

Further reading

External links