Author: White, Robert
Biography:
WHITE, Robert (1802-74: ODNB)
Although the censuses of 1841-71 report his year of birth variously as 1803, 1804, or 1806, he was in fact born on 17 Sept. 1802 and baptised on 24 Oct. at Yetholm, Roxburghshire, Scotland, to Mary (Laidlaw) and James White. And although the censuses of 1851 and 1861 suggest that he was married (without including a wife in the survey), 1871 correctly indicates that he was not. His father, a Borders farmer, moved from Scotland to Otterburn, Redesdale, Northumberland, where Robert grew up herding cattle and acquiring a basic education. He developed an enthusiasm for the literature and legends of the area, encouraged in his literary pursuits by their landlord, James Ellis (q.v.) of Otterburn Hall. He began contributing to local papers and dedicated his first volume of verse, The Tynemouth Nun, to Mrs. Ellis in 1829. In 1825 he secured a position in a counting-house in Newcastle, where he lived for the rest of his life, retiring from his employment in 1865; there he amassed a significant fortune (under £35,000 at probate), including a valuable collection of books that is now housed at the Newcastle University library. With a boyhood friend, James Telfer (q.v.), he enjoyed rural excursions gathering historical information and oral lore. Later travels took him to the Continent. He became a member of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries in 1852. Notable publications are his History of the Battle of Otterburn (1857), his edition of the poems of John Leyden (q.v.) with a memoir, Poems, including Tales, Ballads, and Songs (1867), and a History of the Battle of Bannockburn (1871). He died at his home, 11 Claremont Place, Newcastle, on 20 Feb. 1874 after a sudden onset of illness. (ODNB 22 May 2024; ancestry.com 22 May 2024; findmypast.com 22 May 2024; Teviotdale Record and Jedburgh Advertiser 28 Feb. 1874) HJ