Online Encyclopedia

SIR THOMAS WHITE (1492-1567)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 601 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:
SIR THOMAS WHITE (1492-1567)  , founder of St John's College, Oxford, was a son of William White, a
See also:
clothier, and was born at
See also:
Reading . At an early age he became a merchant in
See also:
London and was soon a member, and then master of the Merchant Taylors
See also:
Company; growing wealthier he became an alderman and
See also:
sheriff of the city of London . One of the promoters of the Muscovy Company, he was knighted in 1553, and in
See also:
October of the same
See also:
year he was chosen lord mayor . His
See also:
term of office fell in a strenuous time . He had to defend the city against
See also:
Sir Thomas Wyat and his followers, and he took
See also:
part in the trial of the rebels, as just previously he had done in the case of Lady Jane Grey . In 1555 White received a licence to found a college at Oxford, which he endowed with lands in the neighbourhood of the city and which, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St John Baptist, was opened in 156o . Soon after this event Sir Thomas began to lose
See also:
money, and he was comparatively poor when he died at Oxford on the lath of
See also:
February 1567 . His later years were mainly spent in Oxford, and he was buried in the
See also:
chapel of St John's College . White had some share in founding the Merchant Taylors' School in London . He was twice married, but
See also:
left no children . A portrait of him hangs in the hall of St John's College and one on glass, painted in the 16th century, is in the old library . Several early lives of him are among the college
See also:
manuscripts .

Sir Thomas must be distinguished from another Sir Thomas White of

South Warnborough, Hampshire, some of whose
See also:
property, by a curious coincidence, passed also into the possession of St John's College .

End of Article: SIR THOMAS WHITE (1492-1567)
[back]
SIR GEORGE STUART WHITE (1835– )
[next]
SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR WHITE (1824--1891)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.