Introduction
Donald Frederick White spent a brief period at Hardington, where he worked as a farm bailiff during his teenage years. He later joined the RAF, became a civil servant, and ran a confectionery and tobacco business in Suffolk before retiring with his wife to Portugal.
Early years
Donald was born on 14 May 1902 at Portslade near Brighton, as the eldest of three sons of George Frederick White and his wife, Florence Gabrielle (née McConnachie).[1] His brothers were Geoffrey McConnachie and Harold Frank.
George had moved to Portslade as a young man to work as a draper’s assistant, after a career in the Royal Navy was cut short by illness.[2] He boarded with Caroline McConnachie, a schoolteacher’s widow, and her two daughters, Florence and Edith. In August 1901, he married Florence, who was a music teacher.[3]
The couple lived at Portslade for several years before moving to Ropley in Hampshire, where Harold was born in September 1906. Two years later, Florence died at the age of thirty-one.
The family subsequently moved to Halstead in Essex, where George worked briefly as a traveller before returning to his role of draper’s assistant. In June 1910, he married Ethel Elizabeth Baker at Wield.[4] Ethel was the daughter of a farm labourer, and had worked for a time in domestic service. By April 1911, the family lived at 44 Pretoria Road, Halstead.
Somerset
By 1921, the family had moved to Yeovil. The 1921 census recorded George, Ethel and Harold living at Hazelden, Preston Grove. George was then working as a draper in a market, while Geoffrey was away from home as a merchant seaman.
Donald was working as a farm bailiff at nearby Hardington Mandeville for Frederick George Symes Goldring, a farmer, who had moved to the village at least thirteen years earlier. When the 1921 census was taken, both Goldring and Donald were boarding at Hardington Marsh in the household of Sidney George Pike, a railway platelayer. Goldring had purchased property at the estate sale of October 1920, so his presence as a boarder may indicate that his permanent accommodation was not yet ready. Although described as a farm bailiff, Donald was only nineteen and given that Goldring’s holding was relatively small, the position was probably less substantial than the title suggests.
RAF
Donald did not stay in farming for long. On 18 February 1924, he enlisted in the RAF, and by the early 1930s, he was employed as a civil servant.[5]
Marriage
On 31 July 1933, he married Kathleen Rosa Hendy at St Stephen’s Church, Norbury. They both recorded their address as 36 Kilmartin Avenue. Originally from Reading, Kathleen was the only daughter of a railway clerk who died when she was nine years old.[6] The 1921 census recorded her as a shorthand typist working for an engineering firm.
Suffolk
By 1939, Donald, Kathleen and her mother had moved to 8 Fleetwood Avenue, Felixstowe. At that time, Donald was a retail confectionery and tobacco dealer. He appears to have remained in the trade, as a tobacconist and confectioner of the same name was recorded in 1960 at The Thoroughfare, Ipswich.[7]
Retirement years in Portugal
Donald and Kathleen eventually retired to Portugal, where they spent the remainder of their lives. By 1985, they lived at Apartment 21, Rua Samora Barros, Albufeira. Donald died on 26 August 1985 at the age of eighty-three, leaving an estate valued at £23,342.[8] After his death, Kathleen continued living in the same apartment. She died on 5 January 1986 at the age of eighty-two, leaving an estate valued at £149,648.[9]
Conclusion
Donald lived in various parts of the country and held several occupations before settling into the retail trade. His brief experience as a nineteen-year-old farm bailiff was his only known connection to Hardington, and within three years he had left farming for the RAF. After later establishing himself as a shopkeeper in Suffolk, he spent his retirement in Portugal.
[1] Civil registration birth index; 1939 Register; family reconstitution.
[2] ADM 188: Registers of Services 1853-1924
[3] Marriage register of St Nicholas, Portslade.
[4] Marriage register of St James, Wield.
[5] Royal Air Force Airmen Records, 1918-1940; marriage register of St Stephen’s Church, Norbury
[6] Reading Observer, 9 November 1912; p.8; National probate calendar.
[7] Suffolk Chronicle, 23 December 1960, p.4.
[8] National probate calendar.
[9] National probate calendar.
