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Celebrating Hampshire Historians

White, Leonard Frederick William

30.03.1903 - 09.09.1973

White was a Londoner, with his birth being registered in West Ham. Nothing has been discovered about his early years or details of his higher education. He was, however, well qualified securing a BSc (Econ) degree and a doctorate and was also a ‘barrister-at-law’. According to information on the dust jacket of the second edition of his book on the history of Gosport: ‘He was the youngest chairman of an Education Committee in the country when at the age of 24 he was appointed to that post’ on West Ham County Borough Council. Research by Newham Archives, however, indicates that, although he was on the Education Committee from December 1926, he did not become chairman until December 1929, serving for two years until October 1931. He was still a West Ham councillor in 1934. It is clear from this that during his early life he was active in local politics and had a particular interest in education. In 1929 he married Dorothy Agnes Horne, a school mistress, at Plaistow Congregational Church. At the time Leonard was employed as a ‘school master’. In 1939 the couple were living in Heston and Isleworth. His occupation was now described  as ‘Dept. Sec for Education, Heston and Isleworth BC’ and Dorothy ‘unpaid domestic duties’. Thus, Leonard had moved from teaching to educational administration, and subsequently served ‘on several important bodies including the Advisory Council for Education and the Montessori Institute’.  

In 1941 the couple moved to Gosport on Leonard’s appointment as Borough Education Officer, a post he held until his retirement in 1970. In this role he had many opportunities to study, share and explain the story of Gosport. In addition, he played a leading role in the establishment of the Gosport Historical Records and Museum Society (later the Gosport Society) by organising its inaugral meeting held at the Thorngate Hall on 29 September 1970. Unsurprisingly, he was dubbed one of the ‘founding fathers’ of the Society.

As indicated, for much of his career he was actively involved in educational administration and this extended to being Secretary of the National Association for Divisional Executives for Education. His service in this sphere was recognised with the award of an MBE and later an OBE in 1973, shortly before his death. The latter was registered in Gosport.

Sources

  • H. Trevor Rogers, ‘An appreciation of Dr L.F.W. White OBE, BSc (Econ), Barrister at Law,’ Gosport Records No 8, May 1974, p.3.

  • L. Murray The Gosport Society - 1970-2020 - The First Fifty Years (Gosport Society in Association with LDJ Educational, 2020), ch 2.

Portrait

Cover - The Story of Gosport

Contribution to county’s history

Prior to Leonard undertaking the task, it would seem that there had never been any attempt to produce an extensive civic history of Gosport. The value of his magnum opus is reflected in the fact that it was revised and updated by later scholars. For example, a 1989 edition edited by Lesley Burton and Brian Musselwhite, included ‘a completely new geological survey contributed by G.R.J. Browning of Portsmouth Polytechnic.’ Taken together, these have provided later historians of Gosport with solid foundations on which to build. Moreover, perhaps reflecting his earlier involvement in local government and politics, he gives more attention to these subjects than has traditionally been the norm in local histories. A natural successor to Leonard’s work is a recent publication edited by Louis Murray and entitled Gosport : Conservation and Heritage (The History Press/Gosport Society, 2023), which consists of (a) a collection of 12 thematic chapters by experts under a Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) designation by Historic England; and (b) the most comprehensive bibliography of works on the history and development of Gosport yet produced.

Relevant published works

  • The Story of Gosport (Barrell, 1964)

Critical Comments

Unfortunately neither the original edition of The Story of Gosport nor that of 1989 has referencing or an index. However, there is in the Hampshire Record Office a ‘stand alone’ index for the 1989 edition. In addition, Dr White did not provide a preface setting out what motivated him to research Gosport’s history or his methodology.

Other Comments

The following is an extract from an article on the Gosport History Club website:

‘In 1887 the story of the Charter of Liberty was published in a book about our local history. More recently in the 1960’s Dr Leonard White quoted the text of Andrew’s Charter in Chapter 1 of his book “The Story of Gosport”. This book caused much excitement and enthusiasm for exploring local history.’

In a tribute to him at the time of his death, H. Trevor Rogers (see above) mentioned that: ‘He had that rare quality of inspiring enthusiasm in others. He was not a native of Gosport but came to know more of our history that those of us who were born here. His knowledge, advice and literary ability were always at the command of this magazine (i.e. Gosport Records), and his book ‘The Story of Gosport’ ... was the first to be written about our local history for many years.’

Contributor

Roger Ottewill; Richard Cook and Louis Murray of the Gosport Society; and Newham Archives (24 June 2024)

Key Words

Gosport, local history

If you are able to add anything to this entry, please send your ideas to celebrating@hantsfieldclub.org.uk.

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