Memoranda from John H. White, Emigration Offices, Laceby 1881; of local history and international history interest.

An original flyer dated September 30th 1881. In 1881, John Hobson White (1843-1920s, born Ludborough) was living with his family in Laceby. He was a grocer and draper (master) and ardent Methodist. In the 1870s, John Hobson White opened Emigration Offices in Laceby. He was responsible for the emigration of thousands of English farm workers to New Zealand and Queensland, Australia. [Ref: Arnold, Rollo Davis. The farthest promised land: English villagers, New Zealand immigrants of the 1870s. (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1981)]. He was very unpopular with Lincolnshire farmers for encouraging so many workers to emigrate and better themselves, which many did. John Hobson White emigrated to New Zealand in 1893 where he became a Home Missionary with the NZ Methodist Church. He lived to be at least 80 years old. White family history: In 1891, the White family was living at 3 Old Market Place Grimsby. John Hobson White was a fish merchant’s clerk and shipping agent and ardent Methodist. He was married to Emma Jane White (née Wales) (1840-1912, born Leeds). Their sons, George Herbert White and Sydney Wales White, ran a photographic studio, under the name of ‘White Bros.’ at 3 Old Market Place. (Over a long period of time, a number of other Grimsby photographers operated from 3 Old Market Place i.e. Frederick Edwin Friston, Harry Jancowski, Walter Major Marsden and William Edward Sherlock.) George Herbert White (1867-1957, born Laceby) was a photographer and gilder and music teacher and W. local preacher, aged 23. Sydney Wales White (1870-1945, born Laceby) was a landscape and portrait painter, aged 20. Mary Lizzie White was a photographer’s assistant, aged 16. Harold Temple White was at school, aged 9. George Herbert White married Sarah Jane Russell at South Parade Wesleyan Church, Grimsby in the June Quarter of 1893. They also emigrated to New Zealand in 1893. George took over an established photographic studio in New Plymouth. Some of his work can be found online. Sydney Wales White (born 25th June 1870) did not emigrate. He moved to London and became a fine portrait painter. He has 12 paintings in the National Collection. He painted the portraits of a number of prominent figures including Lady Randolph Churchill. He lived at 32 Great Ormond Street, London in 1901. Sydney Wales White married Alice Mary Tarttelin in Fulletby, Lincolnshire in 1906. In 1911, the couple lived at 22 Yeomans Row, London. They had a son, Charles Reginald White (1909-1987). In 1921, the couple lived at 5 Logan place, London i.e. adjacent to where Freddie Mercury lived many years later. They had a daughter, Beatrice M. White, born 2nd January 1914. Beatrice became an animal painter. (Alice) Mary White (née Tarttelin) died before 1921. Sydney Wales White died in Tadworth, Surrey in 1945. Charles Reginald White died in Boston, Lincolnshire in 1987. Beatrice died in New Zealand in about 2011. Harold Temple White emigrated to New Zealand in 1893. Temple White soon became a central figure in Wellington’s musical life. He was awarded the O.B.E. in 1954. He died in Wellington, New Zealand in 1972. Mary Lizzie White also emigrated to New Zealand. She married there and spent the rest of her life there. Note: Another son to John and Emma, James Edgar White, was born in the Caistor area 1878 and died there in 1880. Note: John Hobson White was the son of George Patchett White, grocer, and Eliza of Ludborough. Note: Joseph Temple White (1851-1918) was a brother of John Hobson White. He became a grocer and draper joint master in Laceby. Like brother John, Joseph also arranged passages to New Zealand from their office at 31 Osborne Street, Grimsby. Joseph died in Auckland, New Zealand.