WHITE, Andrew (1792-1856), of Frederick Lodge and Tunstall Lodge, Durham, co. Durham

‘Honest’ Andrew White was born into a prominent Sunderland business family with extensive interests in shipping, banking, and the coal, timber and iron trades. He took over the family business, with his younger brother Richard, in 1833, following the death of his father, John, who had established the family’s wealth and become one of Sunderland’s most eminent merchants and shipowners. Renowned for his philanthropy, White, who in 1836 broke away from the official Methodists to join the Wesleyan Methodist Association, was a champion of religious nonconformity and defended interdenominationalism in a short tract titled Recommending Christian Charity and mutual forbearing amongst various religious denominations.1S. Ville, ‘White family (per. 1795-1846)’, Oxf. DNB., www.oxforddnb.com; The diary of John Young, Sunderland chemist and Methodist lay preacher, 1841-1843, ed. G.E. Milburn (1983), xiv. Active in local politics, he was elected Sunderland’s first mayor in December 1835.2White’s original election as mayor was the subject of a legal challenge by local Conservatives. In Sunderland, the new municipal elections were meant to have been taken before the presiding officer of the old corporation, but as no such person existed when White was elected, a writ was issued calling for him to show upon what authority he acted as mayor. The doubt surrounding his position was finally resolved by an amendment to the Municipal Corporations Act, 17 July 1837, which validated all municipal elections since 25 December 1835. The Times, 28 Jan. 1836; W. Brockie, Sunderland notables: natives, residents and visitors (1894), 155.

White came forward as a Liberal for his native town at the 1837 general election, declaring that ‘if I am not the friend of the people of Sunderland, I do not know who is’. A ‘thorough-going’ reformer, he was returned in second place after a fractious campaign.3Newcastle Courant, 28 July 1837. A ‘remarkably punctual’ attender in the division lobby, he consistently supported Melbourne’s ministry on most major issues, whilst his votes for the ballot, 15 Feb. 1838, the reconsideration of the corn laws, 15 Mar. 1838, and the abolition of capital punishment, 5 Mar. 1840, confirmed his advanced principles, and those for Irish church appropriation, 15 May 1838, and the Maynooth grant, 23 June 1840, demonstrated his ‘enlightened’ views on civil and religious liberty.4Brockie, Sunderland notables, 154.

In the Commons, White largely confined himself to succinct speeches on shipping issues and ‘although not adorned with rhetorical flourishes’ his contributions provided ‘solid and important information’.5Ibid., 158. Despite being an advocate of free trade, he was consistent in his support for the protection of British shipping and urged the government not to further relax the navigation laws, 6 July 1840. Although White was personally criticised in the House for this apparent contradiction,6Hansard, 6 July 1840, vol. 55, c. 486. his position was entirely consistent with other shipowner MPs, who, out of self-interest, were protectionist, but disliked limitations on their freedom of operation.7S. Palmer, Politics, Shipping and the Repeal of the Navigation Laws (1990), 76-7. White’s comments during a debate on colonial duties captured this position. He stated that the ‘British could not, owing to timber duties, build their ships so cheaply, nor with [the] present corn-laws, could they victual so cheaply as the foreigners’ but that any further erosion of the navigation laws, such as the Reciprocity Acts which removed discriminatory duties on goods imported in foreign ships, would be ‘injurious’ to the British shipping interest.8Hansard, 12 Mar. 1841, vol. 57, c. 167.

White declined to defend his seat at the 1841 general election, and retired in order to focus on his business interests, which had recently been failing. In common with his fellow shipowners, he sustained heavy losses in the early 1840s due to sinkings and competition from the transport of coal by rail, and in 1846 the family firm collapsed and he was declared bankrupt. White and his brother had also been actively involved in company promotion during the joint stock boom of the 1830s and the collapse of the Sunderland Joint Stock Bank in 1851 led to allegations that he and his brother had used the bank’s funds for personal loans.9Ville, ‘White family’. This shabby end to his career undermined his reputation as ‘Honest’ Andrew White, and despite his official appointment as secretary of the Wear and Durham district coal committee, his fortunes never recovered. He died at home at Frederick Lodge, Bishopwearmouth, in October 1856, and his effects were valued only at £800.10Ibid. He was succeeded by his only daughter. His notebook and diaries are located at the Tyne and Wear Archives Service, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.11TWAS, Andrew White, notebooks and diaries, 1813-1850, ref. 730.