3. Rivalry and Family Feud

 

By the mid-1800s, directory publishing was seen as a lucrative source of income and employment. Consequently, William did not have the playing field to himself. As a result, and as early as July 1844[1], William was tendering his thanks for the liberal patronage he had already received in advance of the second edition of his Nottinghamshire directory but felt it his duly to caution the public against the tricks and falsehoods of two discarded servants, who style themselves, "Francis White and Co.," and are now piratically collecting orders for the above work, with the intention of robbing W. W. of his former labours in this county.

Note at foot of Preface to William White´s Leicester 1846

Image courtesy University of Leicester, Special Collections

 

White added a short note at the end of his Preface to Leicestershire in 1846, A PIRATED EDITION of Wm White´s Nottinghamshire Work was published by unprincipled and illiterate men, in a very blundering manner. This, and the two discarded servants, almost certainly refers to the authors of History, Directory and Gazetteer of the County, and of the Town of Nottingham, published by Francis White and John White in 1844. But others had also produced directories for that county in 1844. Both Stephen Glover had printed and published his History and Directory of the Town and County of Nottingham and William Dearden had printed and published his revised History, Topography and Directory of the Town of Nottingham and the Adjacent Villages (originally 1834) complete with map of the city. Both were local publishers but Glover had previously compiled a History of Derbyshire in 4 volumes and a Directory of Derbyshire.

 

Nottinghamshire (for 1844) is the first of several directories published by Francis White: with Newcastle upon Tyne appearing in 1847. The irony is that Francis was, in fact, William´s brother, and he attempted to exploit the popularity and reputation of the White name, built up by William. In 1847 he set up in business on his own account, under the style and firm of Francis White and Co., and published directories on a similar plan to those of his brother. The next of these were published in 1849 and 1850, and related to Birmingham and Warwick respectively[2]. Francis White would prove to be a formidable rival in the following years.

Although, it is not clear what caused the initial rift between the two brothers, we do know it stretched back at least to the early 1840s. Francis was employed by his brother for four years as a canvassing agent, but was discharged in 1848. Considering the fact that Francis had already published a directory for Newcastle (not known to have been covered by William as an individual directory) and was planning more directories of Birmingham and Warwick, William may have found Francis canvassing on his own behalf. The row would continue for almost a quarter of a century.

William became quite exasperated with his brother´s use of the White name and in May 1853, for example, this advertisement appeared under the heading PUBLIC CAUTION:

WILLIAM WHITE RESPECTFULLY informs the public that he has NO CONNECTION with the men now canvassing for a New Edition of his History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, …. Many of the inhabitants of Lincolnshire and some other counties have lately had spurious and very inaccurate works palmed upon them, under the impression that they were second editions of Mr. Wm White´s former publications. The good citizens of Norwich and Norfolk are then advised to reserve their orders until called upon by Wm. White's Agents. He again stresses W. W. never had any connection with the party calling themselves "White and Co."[3]

This coincided with the publication of a directory of Norfolk (in 1854) by Francis White & Co. William had published his first edition of this county in 1836, and the second edition was already out of date, having been published in 1845. Francis had possibly been planning some sort of rivalry as early as 1841. When John Garrard, of Mansfield, sued Mr. Francis White, in 1851, the court was told that in August, 1841, arrangements were made between the two men for the publication of a directory of Warwickshire and Birmingham.

Two years after the publication of Norfolk, in 1856, the enmity between the two brothers got to such a state that William felt compelled to address the good people of Sheffield directly. Consequently, the following announcement appeared in newspapers.

TO THE PUBLIC. PIRACY and FRAUD ought at all times to be exposed, whether emanating from a relative or a stranger. For some years, I have often had the painful task of cautioning the Inhabitants of other Towns and Counties that I have no connexion with the Men who are now canvassing Sheffield under the name of White and Co. Francis White, the head of this firm, in his reply to my last week's caution, has resorted to his old song of "Only Brother," thinking, in that character, he has a right to pirate with Impunity the Historical and Topographical matter in the Nottinghamshire, Norfolk, and many other County Histories and Directories, published by me during the last thirty years.

After haranguing his brother a little longer, he finishes with a jibe aimed at his brother: “Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise”[4].

Francis was not the only rival, however. In 1862 William took a former employee, Edward Shaw Drake, to Warwick Assizes for publishing a directory of Leicester. Drake had worked for White for several years before he left in December 1860 after a disagreement over wages. E S Drake & Co. had then published a directory of Leicester and Rutland in 1861 (and would publish the Borough of Derby and one of Rotherham in 1862 and Sheffield in 1863). Drake had based much of his directory on White´s directory of 1846, including many inaccuracies. Drake was accused of using subscription forms so designed to cause people to believe they were buying a William White directory. The text heading read: Drake & Co (large writing), formerly of (very small script) and William White´s (same size as Drake).[5] William White junior described to the court how the information was collected and William White described this in his Preface to the directory of that county for 1864. In a separate case before the county court in October 1862 the presiding judge considered the conduct of the plaintiff (Drake) and his men most disgraceful and untradesman like, in making use of [White's] name to obtain orders.[6]

Drake advertisement, Codnor Park and Ironville Telegraph 

- Saturday 28 June 1862 

 

Not everybody thought Drake´s directory to be inadequate, however. A reviewer for the Codnor Park and Ironville Telegraph (Saturday 04 October 1862) was full of praise: it is really pleasant at last to come across [a directory] which deserves a word or two of praise and which may be considered reliable. We glanced into Messrs Drake and Co.’s neat little volume, and referred haphazard, to many of the entries to test its accuracy, and the result has, in every case, been satisfactory. … We cordially recommend this little work.

Between 1860 and 1864 two directories were updated and second editions of both Essex (1863) and Norfolk (1864) appeared. Some of the advertising began to note that William was an Associate of the British Archaeological Institute. William White junior took over the management from 1864, but between 1864 and 1870 only a second edition of Leicester was published (1868). The emphasis seems to have been on city directories during this period and updated issues of the Bradford, Leeds and Sheffield directories appeared as well as new editions covering Grimsby (1866) and the first Birmingham directory. It is also around this time that the form of the directory took a distinctive change. The original series had been somewhat uniform in style: calf covers with stamped decoration on front and back, approx. 19 x 12 cm. By 1872 the directory was familiar in dark green pebbled cloth with gilt titles to spine, and gilt emblem to front in octavo format, now 25 x 18.5 cm appeared.

In September 1868, the Sheffield Independent reported the sudden death of Mr. Wiliam White. - We feel great regret in recording the death of Mr. William White, of Collegiate crescent, the well-known publisher of directories, which took place at his residence, early on Thursday morning. Mr. White returned only a few days ago from Blackpool, and up to Wednesday evening appeared to be in his usual health. Early on Thursday morning he was seized with apoplexy, and died almost immediately[7]. He was 70 years old.

William White junior as recorded in his father´s obituary, had ‘very ably and successfully carried on [the] business on his own account.’ He maintained the ‘high’ reputation of the directories in Yorkshire and adjoining counties. While having ‘the benefit of a careful training under his father’ he added his ‘great natural ability, untiring assiduity, and a very sound judgment ... [and] greatly improved the style of the directories’.[8]

There were two new directories after William senior´s death, a directory for Grimsby area and one for Birmingham and the Hardware District (1869). Birmingham had been covered in the directory of Staffordshire, but the second (and final) White edition of that county had been published in 1851 and was sorely out of date. This was another town where Francis White had been active; he had produced volumes on the city in 1849[9] and 1855 but his third edition was not published until 1875. William junior continued to run the company after his father´s death, however, after a short illness, William White died aged just 37, only two years later.[10]

Immediately there were attempts by Francis White to acquire the readership (and orders) from William´s subscribers. Francis does not seem to have been as successful as his brother and the newspapers of the time are full of court cases where he is attempting to receive paltry sums from subscribers who had not paid up. Many of these claimed that they had, in fact, believed themselves to be ordering the directory from William[11]. As soon as William junior died Francis was inserting advertisements into newspapers implying that he had taken over White´s directory business. The Public are requested to observe the Address - FRANCIS WHITE and CO., BROOMHALL-TERRACE, ECCLESALL ROAD. F. W. and Co. beg to inform their numerous Subscribers and the Public in general that they have no connection with any other Directory Publisher in Sheffield. Francis White, Brother to the late William White, of Collegiate Crescent and Uncle to the late William White. jun., of Fulwood Parsonage, is the only survivor of the White´s, the noted Directory Publishers, and that he has upwards of 35 years’ experience in Directory Business. FRANCIS WHITE and CO., Broomhall-terrace, Ecclesall-road, Sheffield.[12]

Only a few days later, the Sheffield Daily Telegraph[13] included an announcement for WHITE'S DIRECTORIES. The WIDOW and sole Executrix of the late W. WHITE, Directory Publisher, begs to give Public Notice that the Business will be carried on as usual at the Office, 10, BANK-STREET, the name of W. WHITE, for the benefit of herself and Children. The advertisement went on to give a clue as to the new owners. A New Edition of W. WHITE'S SHEFFIELD DIRECTORY had been prepared by her late husband previous to his illness, and in accordance with his arrangements will be immediately Published, under the Editorship of his elder Brother, Master of Arts, and high Wrangler of Cambridge, who has had considerable experience in the Directory Publications of his late Father and Brother. This “high Wrangler[14]” was her brother-in-law Thomas, William´s older brother.

We know that William White Snr had two sons, Thomas was older than William Jun. by four years and studied at St Johns College, Cambridge and was awarded his M.A. in 1855[15]. Thomas had been a senior master in Loughborough and in 1858 the Rev. Thomas White, M.A. (son of Mr. W. White, publisher of directories), was appointed head master of King´s Lynn School, Norfolk.[16] He was awarded his doctorate from the same college in 1871[17], and in 1874 the Rev. Thomas White, LL.D., would be presented to the Vicarage of Hambledon, Hampshire[18], by the Right Hon. the Lord Chancellor, upon the recommendation of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. He had met the Prince six years earlier, in 1868 when His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales awarded the annual gold medal to Mr. William Hoff, the best pupil at the school, accompanied by the Rev. Thomas White, M.A., head master and W. Movie, Esq., Mayor of Lynn.

The new owners were George Walter Knox, John Daniell Leader and Robert Eadon Leader, but they must have had the support of Georgiana and Thomas White. The matter of ownership became public as a result of a court case and the public announcements of Francis White. The Sheffield Daily Telegraph of Saturday 24 June 1871, for example, ran a long story concerning a case heard at a special sitting of the Chapel-en-le-Frith Petty Sessions where Francis White was accused of attempted fraud. During the hearing, which was rejected on a technicality, it was stated that in May 1870, the complainants, i.e. Knox and the Leader brothers, had purchased the business of compiling and publishing directories, including the copyright, the goodwill, and the right to use the name of Wm White and Co. from the executrix of Mr Wm White.

In 1872, a case of copyright infringement concerning the company name was heard before the Vice-Chancellor's Court. A motion on the part of John Daniell Leader and Robert Eadon Leader, newspaper proprietors, and George Walter Knox, accountant, all of Sheffield; and Mrs. Georgiana White, of Chester, sought an order to restrain Mr. Francis White.[19] Once again, the brothers claimed they had acquired the right from Mr. William White, Senior, and Mr. William White, Junior, to publish directories which were known as "Whites Directories" the name of "White" simply appearing on the back of the book. A gentleman´s agreement was reached between all parties, but Francis did not give in. He ran special announcements in newspapers: CAUTION. … That Francis White is the only Person of the Name of WHITE who is now connected with the Publication of “White´s” Directories. That Francis WHITE is the only Surviving Brother … the real proprietors and publishers of the Work being George Walter Knox, John Daniel Leader, and Robert Eadon Leader, signed Sheffield, 1st Dec., 1871.[20]

In 1873 Francis was again back in court. He was suing prospective subscribers who refused to pay for his directories, claiming they were under the impression that Francis was representing William´s widow and it was a W White directory they requested[21].

John Daniell and Robert Eadon Leader were the sons of Alderman Robert Leader, proprietor of the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent from 1842. A newspaper which Robert´s father had taken on as early as 1830. It was their father who had worked closely together with William White since the early 1830s. In 1860, Robert and his older brother, John Daniel Leader, were admitted into partnership. Four years later, the father retired in favour of his two sons, though Robert Leader continued to take an active part in the editorial work until 1875. Although the name Leader (as printer) disappeared from the title page of the directories from about 1866, the company (Leader & Sons) continued to be the printers for White. Robert Eadon became editor and John became commercial manager, an arrangement that lasted until 1892, when Robert became a Liberal Parliamentary candidate[22]. He wrote extensively about Sheffield and its history and those works are highly appreciated to this day. The Leader family sold the paper a few years later and it was about this time the White directories began to be printed by Spottiswoode and Co.

 

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William White and his Directory Maps:

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 & Co.
5. The County Maps of William White
6. William White Co. - Later Years

Appendix 1 - The County Directories of Edward Baines
1.1. Yorkshire
1.2. Lancashire
Appendix 2 - The County Directories of William White
2.1. Durham and Northumberland
2.2 - Cumberland & Westmorland
2.3 - Nottinghamshire
2.4 - Staffordshire
2.5 - Norfolk
2.6 - Yorkshire (later edition)
2.7 - Lincoln
2.8 - Suffolk
2.9 - Leicestershire with Rutland
2.10 - Essex
2.11 - Devonshire
2.12 - Hampshire with Isle of Wight

 

NOTES:

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[1] Nottingham Review - Friday 26 July 1844.
[2] Reported in the trial proceedings of 1872: Sheffield Independent - Friday 19 January 1872.
[3]  Lynn Advertiser - Saturday 28 May 1853. 
[4] Sheffield Independent - Saturday 29 November 1856.
[5] Sheffield Independent - Friday 15 August 1862.
[6] Leicester Journal - Friday 24 October 1862.
[7] Sheffield Independent - Saturday 05 September 1868.
[8] Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, 4 September 1868, p.3. and 24 January, 1870, p.3.
[9] This was a section of his forthcoming directory for Warwickshire, which was published the following year.
[10] Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Monday 24 January 1870.
[11] See, for example, the Leeds Times - Saturday 09 May 1857.
[12] Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Saturday 29 January 1870.
[13] Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Tuesday 15 February 1870.
[14] Winner of a prestigious prize in mathematics.
[15] Awarded June 30^th, 1855, and announced in the Cambridge Independent Press - Saturday 07 July 1855.
[16] Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Saturday 02 October 1858.
[17] Bell's Weekly Messenger - Saturday 18 February 1871.
[18] The benefice being valued at £750 per annum, with a residence, and the population of the parish at 2,000. Essex Standard - Friday 10 July 1874.
[19] Reported in the Bolton Evening News - Friday 19 January 1872.
[20] Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Tuesday 30 January 1872.
[21] Sheffield Independent - Friday 07 February 1873.
[22] See, for example, David Poole´s articles (2020) at https://sheffielder.net