Marsh Gibbon - Henry White

Henry White (1842 – 1911)

Henry is the 2nd of three brothers who were born in Marsh Gibbon, Buckinghamshire, England. He was listed in the 1851 census with his two brothers and his father Thomas. His mother Mary Whale had passed away in 1846. The 18 year old was listed in the 1861 census as living in the parish of Ambrosden in Oxfordshire, England and worked as a servant and baker to Rowland and Mary Hening. It appears that Henry’s father Thomas, his second wife Fanny (nee Coles) and his young brother Amos aged 16, sailed to Australia on the “Utopia” in 1861.

The evidence on the shipping records suggests that Thomas went back to Buckinghamshire to collect Henry and bring him back to Australia on the “Suffolk” in 1869 as the shipping records indicate.

Henry married Annie Louise Letts in Dunolly, Victoria , Australia on 7th November 1870. Henry was listed as a miner at this stage. It seems that the brothers and father Thomas followed the gold because Dunolly was a very important gold area. It is assumed that they were successful in some small way that set them up for their future because they were all successful men.

Annie and Henry had twelve children of which only five survived. The times were very hard, and they did not have the facilities we take for granted today. Annie had three children in January 1880, twins Nellie and John who lived one day. Another child Mary born in December lived only one day. How very sad for Annie and Henry. Henry and Annie eventually moved to Nicholson Park area near Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia where Henry’s brother Amos was living. Two of Henry and Annie’s surviving sons Charles and George went to live in New Zealand. His other son Ernest started out in the Nicholson Park area and his two sisters also lived in Victoria.