George White (merchant)

George White (1648 – after 1707) was an English merchant and co-founder of the reformed East India Company in 1692. It is believed that White was born in Bristol, England during the English Civil War and was the son of a merchant trader. White gained his Master's Certificate and set sail in 1670 to India. It is said that he used his or his family's ship and took up residence in Fort St George, Madras (now Chennai).

White Traveled to India and Thailand

When White arrived in the far East, he was not employed by the East India Company but worked as a coastal trader supplying and transporting goods from as far as the Persian Gulf. This appears to have been acceptable by the Company, though he was regarded as an "interloper". The laws of the charter given to the Company was that any English ships trading between the East of India and England may be seized and fined a £1000.00. However since White was working on coastal trade he was not subject to the penalty and developed an acceptable working relationship with the Company.

On White's outward journey to the East of India, he employed a Greek man named Constantine Phaulkon, as his assistant. Phaulkon had left his native country at a young age and had worked on several ships of different nationalities. He was a gifted linguist and very bright. White and Phaulkon worked together in Siam, where Phaulkon rose, in time, to be the first Minister to the Court of King Narai, the later King of Siam. White was recommended to the East India Company for his knowledge of the trade in India by Richard Barnaby, the Head of the Company factor (factory) in Madras. The two went on to be good friends and trading partners.

Whilst White was living in Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam,In 1676,^[1] his wife left their mansion in Fort St George and joined him there.

In 1681 the Siamese Court ordered forfeiture of White’s house and factor that he administered for the East India Company. The order was made due to non-payment of rent on his house. White had refused to pay as this was not in the original agreement. Barnaby, being worried for White’s safety sent three armed Englishmen to protect him. This astonished White as he was quite happy and felt that he could handle the situation. The Company paid the debts owed and his stocks were released.

In 1681 the Dutch Merchant Van Vliet accused White of lending Phaulkon a considerable amount of money belonged to the Company. The evidence for this was destroyed in the fire which caused the Factor to burn down. Barnaby, who had been at the factor a few days before the fire had accused a Mr Potts for his negligence, as Potts had tried to implicate White. Both White and Barnaby left Siam in 1681.

White later went into a joint venture with Potts and Barnaby.

It is believed that White had a colored servant who served Mr. Strangh and a Mr. Yale in 1863 on their trip to India. They had been sent from London, with letters of authority, to investigate the Companies affairs in India and had the power to allow it to continue or cease trading.

Upon White’s return from India in 1681 sailing in his own ship the "Phoenix", Thomas Povey sent a letter of introduction to Sir Robert Southwell stating that White had returned from the East as a well-educated man of the world, being truly worthy of his patronage and regret for the losses to White himself and his brother Samuel White, which may be more than £40,000.00.

Samuel (Siamese) White, was George White's younger brother, He was a notorious trader in the Far East, with the recommendation of Constantine Phaulkon, Samuel became the administrator of the port of Mergui, Siam (which is now in Burma). Through Samuel's mishandling and greed, he was responsible in 1687 of the local uprising in Mergui and the subsequent slaughter of 87 Englishmen.

Between 1687 and 1691 while living in London, White vigorously opposed the East India Company (at that time governed by Sir Josiah Child), which had highhanded enforcement of monopoly in the East; White then sent petition to Parliament on behalf of his brother Samuel White and several members of parliament.

Philip J Stern in his book “The Company – State: - Corporate Sovereignty and the Early Modern Foundations of the British Empire in India”, relates Macaulay's observations that Sir Josiah Child, was likened to every villains imaginable - Oliver Cromwell, Louis xiv, Goliath and Satan” who was tared as the “Despot on Leadenhall Street. This shows the depth of feeling against the Company, though the war with Siam does not seem to be the main factor in the charter being withdrawn. This seems to be the Martial Law and capital punishment that was enacted in response to the unrest that had broken out in St Helena.

According to Soren Mentz's book “The English Gentlemen Merchants at work (Madras and the City of London)” George White became a Member of Parliament at this time and this enabled him to lobby fellow M.Ps, in regard to his cause.

In 1694 Parliament passed a law stating that any Englishman so long as he has not been barred by Parliament could trade in India or China. George White took full advantage of this and set sail for the East. However, upon arrival he found that what was law in England was still treason in India, therefore he left his ship and traveled overland to Surat. In Surat, he learnt that his cargo had been sold to the Company by his principals along with his ship. To make matters worse he had to plead that he was a servant of the Company to save himself from prison. Shortly after this he departed from India never to return.

George White and Thomas Povey, who was the brother of Mary Povey the late wife of Samuel White, were appointed Samuel White's attorney and guardian to his two daughters Mary White b.1680 d.1716 " who married John Wittewronge 1673-1722" and Susan White, b.1677 "married John Gumley 1673-1722". Money was sent home and they were to lay out on landed estates on behalf of their wards in case he did not survive or if he did he would live the life of a country gentleman, Samuel White died after returning to England on the 7th January 1689.

George White and Francis Heath were appointed the executors of Samuel White's will.

In 1689 George White pursued the East India Company over the seizure of £40,000.00 of Samuel White’s and the charges brought by a Francis Davenport. Davenport stated that Samuel White had acted illegally and had seized the Company's goods as well as imprisoned their employees. White sent a paper to Parliament answering an earlier paper written by Francis Davenport, this case was settled by the Company out of Court.

George White, London Merchant, also wrote a pamphlet titled "An account of the trade to the East Indies" published in 1691 this was very well received and translated into Dutch and was still being reprinted one hundred years later.

George White was one of the leading forces behind the closure of the old East India Company and the forming of the new Company in 1707. He was part of the Court of Directors, who was responsible in laying down the laws for the new directors. The new Directors had to put up a sum of £2000.00 without interest as well as being approved by the existing directors.

References

• English Intercourse with Siam in the Seventeenth Century, by John Anderson Published in 1890 by, Kegan Paul, Trench Trubner & Co, Ltd.
• Siamese White, by Maurice Collis, Published in 1936 by, Penguin Books.