William Duckett White

The Hon William White JP, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Member of the Queensland Legislative Council
In office 26 April 1861 – 5 August 1880
Personal details
Born	William Duckett White (1807-10-05)5 October 1807 Moate, County Westmeath, Ireland
Died	Manly, Queensland, Australia
Resting place	Tingalpa Cemetery
Nationality	Irish Australian
Spouse(s)	Jane Simpson (m.1834 d.1887)
Occupation	Grazier
Religion	Church of England, Quaker

William Duckett White (1807–1893) was a squatter and politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council.

Early life

William Duckett White was born on 5 October 1807 in Moate, County Westmeath, Ireland, the son of William White and his wife Sarah . He was educated at the Quaker school in Mountmellick in County Laois.

Pastoral career

William and Jane White and their two children emigrated from Ireland to Sydney as assisted immigrants in 1840, and bought farm land on the Richmond River. Flood losses forced the family out of the Richmond and through 1842-43 White taught school in the Mangrove area north of Sydney until accepting an offer in 1844 to manage Beau Desert run in the Moreton Bay District for his cousin Joseph Phelps Robinson. Robinson died in 1848, following which his brother George and WD White raised the capital to purchase Beau Desert, one of the largest runs on the Logan. About 1857, WD White left Beau Desert under the management of his son, Albert William Duckett White, and William, Jane and their daughter Helena moved to Eagle Farm near Brisbane.

File:StateLibQld 1 121328 Homestead on Beaudesert Station, Brisbane, ca. 1871.jpg

Homestead on Beaudesert Station, circa 1871

WD White (later WD White & Son, then WD White & Sons) acquired considerable Queensland property. In addition to the Beau Desert holding, White took up three runs in the Gold Coast hinterland in the early 1850s: Tubber in 1852 and Murry Jerry and Dungogie runs acquired from AW Compigne in 1853. In 1867 he took up the lease of Pimpama and Cumboomba (or Coombabah) runs in the Beenleigh area but these were thrown open for selection in 1869, the lease lapsed, and in 1871 White acquired from Robert Towns the consolidated runs of Kerry, Sarabah, and Nindooinbah adjacent to Beau Desert. Much of Beau Desert was cut up for closer settlement in the 1860s and early 1870s, following which WD White & Son acquired the Bluff Downs holdings in the Kennedy District 1872-76. From 1882 the Whites were in partnership with the Collins family of Mundoolun on the Logan as White Collins & Co., and in the 1880s and 1890s this partnership, which survived for about a century, acquired several stations in northwest Queensland. Besides this pastoral empire, the Whites also held Beenleigh and Southport town properties and the Lota estate near Brisbane.

Lota House

Main article: Lota House

Between 1860 and 1863 WD White acquired adjoining lands overlooking Waterloo Bay near Brisbane, to create a bayside property of about 350 acres. Approximately 200 acres (portions 79, 79A and 145, parish of Tingalpa) bounded by what is now Gannon Avenue to the north, Whites Road to the west, Hides and Orallo Streets to the south, and Waterloo Bay to the east, were acquired in WD White's name. Portion 90, the land lying to the south between Hides and Orallo Streets and Lota Creek, was acquired in the names of WD White, Robert Herbert (first Premier of Queensland) and John Bramston, but appears to have been worked as part of White's Lota estate from an early period.

File:Lota House now known as Edwin Marsden Tooth Memorial Home Lota.jpg

Lota House

Lota House was erected on portion 79, comprising 153 acres purchased by White in November 1860 and transferred to him in January 1861. The earliest section of Lota House, a substantial two-storeyed rendered brick residence, was constructed in 1865-1866. Brisbane architect Thomas Taylor called tenders for a villa residence at Lota in November 1865, the proprietor to provide the stone, brick, lime and timber. By June 1866 the architect Taylor (Brisbane Courier 16 June 1866 p1 c3) was in debt and White called the tenders for the plumbing and plastering work. The Whites are believed to have resided at Wyvernleigh (erected early 1860s, now demolished) on the adjacent Manly estate while Lota House was built, enabling WD White's close supervision of the construction. Lota House was completed by January 1867, when it was described by the White's son-in-law, Graham Mylne, as a grand, comfortable new house with large rooms, fresh breezes, and views over Moreton Bay.

The Whites developed their property as a country estate in the tradition of British landed gentry, and by the 1880s it was well established. Like most of the farmers in the district, White probably grew sugar cane on the property. The estate ran down to the bay, where by the 1910s there was a boat-shed and jetty.

The Whites often entertained at Lota House, and Queensland Governor George Bowen and Queensland Premier Robert Herbert were frequent visitors.

File:Gravestone for William Duckett White, Tingalpa cemetery, 2005.JPG

Gravestone for William Duckett White, Tingalpa cemetery, 2005

Politics

White was appointed to the Queensland Legislative Council on 26 April 1861. Although a lifetime appointment, he resigned from the Council on 5 August 1880.

Later life

WD White was active in the local community, being one of the first members of the Bulimba Divisional Board established in 1879-80, a warden of the Tingalpa Anglican Church (now Christ Church, Tingalpa), and a Justice of the Peace. His wife Jane died in 1887.

White died on Friday 11 August 1893 at Lota House. He was buried in Tingalpa Cemetery (Christ Church, Tingalpa) on Saturday 12 August 1893.

See also

• Members of the Queensland Legislative Council, 1860–1869; 1870-1879; 1880-1889

References

Attribution

This Wikipedia article contains text from The Queensland Heritage Register published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 7 July 2014, archived on 8 October 2014).