Gilbert White

Gilbert White FRS (born July 18, 1720 in Selborne , Hampshire , † June 26, 1793 ibid) was an English pastor , naturalist and ornithologist . He remained an unmarried chaplain all his life and is best known for his book The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789). Its official botanical author abbreviation is " G. White ".

He grew up in his grandfather's vicariate in Selborne (6 km south of Alton, Hampshire in the South Downs north of what is now South Downs National Park ), attended Holy Ghost School and received private lessons from a tutor in Basingstoke before joining Oriel College University of Oxford studied. In 1746 he became a deacon and in 1749 he was ordained. He was then pastor ( curate ) in Hampshire and Wiltshire , including four times in Selborne itself and among other things in the neighboring parishes of Newton Valence and Farringdon (Hampshire) . 1752/53 he was Junior Proctor at Oxford and Dean (Dean) of Oriel College. In 1757 he became the permanent curate of Moreton Pinkney in Northamptonshire (without compulsory attendance). After his father's death in 1758, he moved to The Wakes family estate in Selborne, which he inherited in 1763. In 1784 he was the fourth curate in Selborne, which he remained until his death (he could not get the parish for life because it was connected to Magdalen College in Oxford, but he had studied at Oriel).

Front page of the Natural History of Selborne

He kept a scientific diary over 25 years from 1768 to 1793, which formed the basis of his book. His natural history of Selborne is in the form of letters to the zoologist Thomas Pennant and the lawyer and Royal Society member Daines Barrington (some of the letters were not sent, but stylistic devices). The book was and is a bestseller to this day and established its own genre of nature writers.

His sister Anne was married to the meteorologist Thomas Barker (1722-1809). White's records also provide evidence of the impact of the Laki Fissure eruptions on Iceland in 1783/84.

His family home, The Wakes, is now a museum.

Works

The natural history and antiquities of Selborne, in the county of Southampton . London 1813, doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.35522 (with biographical data on pp. Viii – ix), Gutenberg project

The home of Gilbert White The Wakes , now a museum. Photography from the garden side. (2010)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	White, Gilbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English pastor, naturalist and ornithologist
DATE OF BIRTH	July 18, 1720
PLACE OF BIRTH	Selborne
DATE OF DEATH	June 26, 1793
Place of death	Selborne