4. Francis White
William White senior´s brother, Francis,
must have been several years younger: Francis´ death is recorded in January
1875 when he died in his 64th year, hence he was about 13 years
younger than William (b. 1799). From newspaper records we have evidence that
Francis had at least three children.
The various court cases between Francis
White & Co. and William White and subsequently with the executors of the
White estate after 1870, reveal that Francis was working for his brother from
about 1844 until 1848. However, he was already publishing directories, and
having quarrels with his brother, long before this. Evidence of friction is
plain in the Hull Packet of Friday 30 January 1846. Announcing
the publication of a directory for Hull, the advert states that: in
reference to a malicious Advertisement which appeared in the York and Hull
Papers, Mr. Fras. White never represented his Directory as the Compilation of
his brother, Mr. Wm White; he claimed it had been compiled by himself and
partners at considerable expense, and was a great improvement upon Mr. Wm.
White’s very useful Publications. Francis explained that his company (F.
W. and Co.) had collected nearly all the information for William’s Yorkshire (presumably
the 1840 reissue) and other works over the previous decade. He ends rather
intriguingly: Mr. Francis White has had to encounter similar opposition in
Nottinghamshire, from this affectionate brother, in 1844, when he disseminated
the vilest calumnies for the purpose of injuring (but without success) the
character of his aged Father and only brother.
The first directory published by
Francis was the History, Directory and Gazetteer of the County, and of the
Town of Nottingham with a variety of commercial and statistical information to
which is added, the History and Directory of the Port of Gainsborough. This
was co-published with John White and printed for the authors by John Blurton
and sold by F. White, Sheffield, 1844. This is the only mention of John.
Mr. John White, of Regent Street, died aged 77
in March 1849. Apparently, he was well known and much respected in the
northern and eastern parts of England, where, for many years, he was employed
in collecting information for the County Histories and Directories published by
his son, Mr. Wm. White.[i] In
William White´s directory listing for 1833, while there is no entry for Francis
White, White John, is listed as traveller, at 11 Cheney row. In
Rodger´s Directory of Sheffield of 1841[ii],
John is listed as traveller at 21 New Church st, Francis appears as directory
agent and William is publisher of county and local directorys at 210
Brook view in Brook lane. Four years later (William White 1845), there is no
entry for John, but now White Francis, traveller, 54 Hermitage street is
listed.
Thus, by the mid-1840s, it is clear that William
was not only at odds with his brother, but also with his father. One further directory was published
before 1850, that of Newcastle in 1847 published by Francis alone, the year
before he was dismissed from William White´s.
Jane Norton gives some ideas of the work of
these travellers who went from door to door selling items, or in the case of
directories, checking addresses and acquiring orders. In 1830 a traveller for A
& C Black, selling copies of the Seventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica covered some 1400 miles using various modes of transport
including on foot, in under three months. One of William White´s travellers
carried an 1857 directory of Leeds in which he used to mark the interest of
prospective customers with a 3 number code[iii].
It is almost certain that both Francis and John would have been travellers such
as these, who visited every house, to verify names and addresses for the
directories as well as carrying subscription forms for taking orders.
Although Francis was dismissed circa
1848, he is known to have begun compiling information even earlier. In the
court case held in February 1851, Mr
John Garrard, of Mansfield, Notts, described himself as commission agent and
directory compiler, and claimed back payments from Francis White for work done.
He claimed that in August, 1841, arrangements were entered into between Francis
and himself for the publication of a directory of Warwickshire and Birmingham
(pub. 1850). The agreement being that Garrard was to write the historical and
statistical matter for the work, canvass for orders, and obtain the names for
the work, and be paid by a commission on each copy sold. Garrard did not
explain he had copied most of the preliminary general history from Bagshaw´s
directory of Kent.[iv]
In order to produce his own
directories, and to avoid outright claims of plagiarism, Francis also had to
rely on door-to-door surveys and duly advertised for “One or Two steady,
active, intelligent YOUNG MEN to CANVASS for a new County Directory. Good
Penmen and Reference as to character required”, in the Sheffield Daily
Telegraph of Monday 09 March 1863. It was not the directory as
such which was copied, even though this would appear to be the easier section
to transcribe. Actual transcribing of lists of names from one directory to
another seems to have been rare. However, the historical content was
often pirated: F & J White, later Francis White & Co. both imitated
and directly copied from William White in all their directories. Copying
did not stop there. F & J White´s own directory of 1861 was itself pirated by
E S Drake, all of whose directories seem to have been piracies.[v]
When William Thwaites took Francis
White to court for unpaid expenses in 1866, more details outlining the payment
of potential canvassers was revealed. Thwaites stated that he had been engaged
by Mr White, publisher and publican, of the Cambridge Hotel, Cambridge street,
to compile the historical matter for directories of various counties published
by the defendant, and in getting orders and delivering the books.
A sum of £1. 2s. ½ d. was claimed, partly
a partnership transaction, and £8. 10s. 4d. for services rendered and expenses.
Thwaites alleged full commission of 1s. 6d. per directory was promised and the
maps were sold by agreement at a commission of 6s. 3d. At this hearing Mr Drake
(who himself had been sued by William White in 1862 for plagiarism) in support
of Thwaites´ claims, recounted that he had also been employed by Francis and had
been paid 2s. commission on a 17s. 6d. volume.[vi]
Like his brother, Francis saw that
map sales were an important extra income and advertised his NEW CIRCULAR MAP, compromising
an area of twenty miles round the Borough of Sheffield, carefully laid down on
a scale of two miles to an inch, from the Ordnance Survey, with the lines of
Railroads, Canals, and other improvements, in 1849.[vii]
Another venture at this time,
mentioned in the above court case, is Francis White´s hotel. In March 1865
Francis was announcing that he had just taken over the Cambridge Hotel, at No.
1, Cambridge Street, and begging his numerous Friends and the Public of
Sheffield and its vicinity, that he had thoroughly renovated, cleansed, and
re-furnished it.[viii]
However, this was short-lived. Only two years later James Taylor and Co. were
instructed by Mr. Francis White, to Sell by Auction, on the Premises the whole
of the fixtures, household furniture, stock and effects, of the Hotel. According
to the announcement, Francis White was retiring on account of ill health.[ix]
During this period, we note that
Francis may have been strapped for cash. In August 1865 there was an auction at
his hotel. On Thursday, 17th August, James Taylor held an auction, in the rooms
of the hotel, to sell off the whole of their STOCK, consisting of MAPS of
different Counties, new Map of Sheffield, Map of Twenty Miles Round
Sheffield, also, the Plates of the above
on Copper and Steel, the work of the first Map Engraver in England ; several
County Histories and Directories, including "Hunter's Hallamshire." Also
for sale were a few lots of household furniture, sets of drawers, a bookcase,
and other items.
Throughout the time Francis White
& Co. were publishing their directories, they were repeatedly going to
court to retrieve unpaid subscriptions for individual volumes. One such action
to recover the value of Gazetteer and Directory in 1860 reveals the
extent of the problem, and also that perhaps sometimes Francis was hard done by.
At the Birkenhead county court, Francis White and Co., of Sheffield, summoned
no fewer than 54 persons for a guinea each, being the price of the gazetteer
and directory of the county of Chester, published that year. Twelve of the
cases were defended on the grounds that the directory was inferior in quality
and full of gross inaccuracies. Besides some errors which could be put down to
printing or binding errors, a major objection was that the map which was given
with the work was quite inferior to that promised in the Prospectus. A verdict
was then given in favour of the defendants, with costs as the plaintiff had
contracted to furnish a map taken from the ordnance survey; but instead of
doing that he had furnished a loose map, which certainly was not equal to the
ordnance map, which was seen by the court as a breach of contract.
A public reply was immediately
forthcoming. After apologising for the printer and binding mistakes, Francis
White explained that the map was certainly up to date and that it was the best
map of the county extant. The map was executed by the well-known firm of
Francis Becker of London. Francis White showed a copy of a telegram from the
map-maker but this was rejected by the court. In the telegram Francis had
directly asked Mr. Becker, “Was the map engraved from the ordnance survey?” He
received the reply: “The map of Cheshire I engraved and drew for your directory
was drawn under superintendence from the ordnance survey (the latest), and the
same could he produced. Many additions from your directory and alterations of
spelling were introduced, every possible improvement was made. I could
substantiate its copywright and new features from any other maps on oath, and
could, if necessary, attend any court to prove such.”[x]
Even if the directory had been found
to include a number of errors, the court´s decision was based on the quality of
the map. Francis Paul Becker was engraver and copperplate printer of London. He
had patented the Omnigraph process of letter punching and was active in
the 1850s[xi]. He
produced a large range of maps for works such as directories and guides in the
1860s and a number of guide book maps printed at his premises included maps of
Devon found in Henry Besley´s Route Book of Devon and The West of
England and Trewman´s Pocket Journal (between 1854 and 1882).[xii]
The auction advert of 1865 above noted that not only maps, but also the plates
to these were up for auction. This suggests strongly that Francis White &
Co., had commissioned their own maps. Francis White published a total of five
county directories Notts (1844, 1853[xiii] and 1864),
Derbyshire (1857 which included Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire and
Sheffield, Yorkshire), Cheshire (1860), Warwickshire (1850[xiv]
and a Third Edition 1874[xv]),
Norfolk (1854) and a number of city directories (e.g. Birmingham 1849[xvi]
and 1855, Sheffield 1862, Hull etc 1851, and Newcastle on Tyne etc 1847).
Unfortunately, Francis White directories with maps are almost harder to find
than those of Edward Baines and William White[xvii].
Throughout the first two years of the
1870s, Francis was in and out of court. He was either taking reluctant
subscribers to court for non-payment, or he was being taken to court by the new
proprietors of his brother´s business. The last recorded court case was in
1872. Three years later, however, on May 4th 1875, aged 63, Francis White passed away[xviii].
Map of Warwick from Francis White & Co., Directory of Warwickshire 1850.
Image courtesy of Veronica Allsop at Duncan M & V Allsop antiquarian and modern books.
William White´s Directories:
Click the entry below to access relevant page.
1. Early Years - William White and Edward Baines
2. William White & Co.
3. Rivalry and Family Feud
4. Francis White
5. Maps
6. William White Co. - Later Years
Appendix I. Description of the maps in the Directory of Yorkshire (Baines)
Appendix II. Description of the maps in the Directory of Lancashire (Baines)
Appendix III. Description of the maps in the Directory of Durham and Northumberland (White & Parson, White 1)
Appendix IV. Lists of White directories - locations, date of issue, reference to maps.
White 2 - Cumberland & Westmorland
White 3 - Nottinghamshire
White 4 - Staffordshire
White 5 - Norfolk
White 6 - Yorkshire (later edition)
White 7 - Lincoln
White 8 - Suffolk
White 9 - Leicestershire with Rutland
White 10 - Essex
White 11 - Devonshire
White 12 - Hampshire with Isle of Wight
White´s city directories.
[iv] Norton, Jane E; 1984 (p.182).
[v] Norton, Jane E; 1984 (p.23).
[vi] Sheffield Independent - Thursday 08 February 1866.
[vii] Derbyshire Courier - Saturday 22 September 1849.
[viii] Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Friday 24 March 1865.
[xi] Worms and Baynton-Williams; 2011; p.62.
[xii] See Batten & Bennett; 2000; The Victorian Maps of Devon; Devon Books. The Second Edition is online. Entries 121, 122 and 128.
[xiii] On the title page of this directory F White states: author of similar works for Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland. He may have assisted in the second and third, but he was certainly not the “author”.
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