Abraham White Esq MD (1781 - 1818)

Born 13 May 1781 in St Mary's Parish, Lambeth, London, England

Husband of Theodora Elizabeth Rudolphina (Von Driberg) White — married 30 Dec 1807 in Colombo, Ceylon, India

Descendants

Died 19 Jan 1818 at age 36 in Colombo, Ceylon, India

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Biography

Military Surgeon, of HM 1st Ceylon Regiment, appointed to the charge of Jaffna; Medical Storekeeper, Trincomalee; formerly Assistant Surgeon to the 66th Regiment in India.

Epitaph

"The untimely fate of this valuable member of Society, always forward in the performance of acts of humanity, will long be regretted by his Friends and the Poor of this place, to whose summons he always attended, and whose distresses he readily relieved. What then must be the poignant feeling of his afflicted Widow, left in distressed circumstances with seven children, still too young to know or appreciate the extent of their loss, or the cause of their surviving parent's sufferings." (Gazette, 24 Jan 1818).[1]

Background

He was the son of Elizabeth and William White, of St Mary's Parish, Lambeth, London. He was baptised on 13 May 1781 at the Church of St Mary, Lambeth.[2]

Military career

• 8 Sep 1803, Surgeon's Mate on the Hospital Staff, not attached to a Regiment.^[1]
• 25 Oct 1803, 66th Regiment of Foot “Berkshire”.^[1]
• 10 Nov 1814, Surgeon 1st Ceylon Regiment. Promoted to Surgeon, vice Marshall (The London Gazette, Part 2).^[1]
• 22 May 1817, Half pay (Medical staff were placed on Half Pay when there was peace).^[1]

Marriage and family

On 30 December 1807 at Jaffna, Ceylon, he married Theodora Elizabeth Rudolphina von Driberg, the daughter of Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg, Commandant of Mullaitivu, Captain of the Ceylon Rifles and of the Mercenary Military for the Dutch East India Company in Ceylon; with issue eight children.

Death and burial

He died at 10pm on 19 January 1818 in Colombo, Ceylon, India, aged 36. He was buried in Pettah Burial Ground, Colombo.

Obituary

Pettah Burial Ground, 19 Jan 1818:

"Sacred to the Memory of Abraham White, Esq, Late Surgeon of His Majesty's 1st Ceylon Regiment, Aged 36 Years.

"The sickness which led to his death was occasioned by being exposed during the greater part of the day in going to a ship in sight of this Fort, where Medical aid was required, and returning thence in very severe weather on the night of the 9th instant. The untimely fate of this valuable member of Society, always forward in the performance of acts of humanity, will long be regretted by his Friends and the Poor of this place, to whose summons he always attended, and whose distresses he readily relieved. What then must be the poignant feeling of his afflicted Widow, left in distressed circumstances with seven children, still too young to know or appreciate the extent of their loss, or the cause of their surviving parent's sufferings." (Gazette, 24 Jan 1818).

"He came out to Ceylon as Assistant Surgeon in the 66th Regiment, and was appointed Medical Storekeeper, Trincomalee, December 30, 1807, and to the charge of Jaffna, April 1, 1811. He married at Jaffna, June 13, 1807, Theodora Elizabeth, daughter of Captain F W von Drieberg.

"A son of his, J C White, was one of the earliest planters in Ceylon, and had charge of the first coffee estate, Sinhepitiya, Gampola. He was living at Auckland, New Zealand, in 1899. He was born at Jaffna, and was taken to England, along with an elder brother, by his father in 1815, at the age of six. He attributes the death of his father to 'yellow fever caught in attending upon a vessel which put into Colombo for medical advice,' but he is evidently incorrect as to the cause of death, as yellow fever is not known in Ceylon. C E Layard, CCS, who 'lived at Bagatelle, a little beyond the Cinnamon Garden,' and had 'a fine country residence at Caltura,' was his guardian. He and his brother had been promised commissions by the Duke of York for his father's services. The elder brother received a commission in the 38th Regiment, was transferred to the 44th, and was Adjutant of the regiment when it was stationed at Cabul, and fell in the Khyber Pass during the fatal retreat of the British in 1841-2, when only one man saved his life, Dr Bryden. J C White returned to Ceylon in 1825, and was at Hambantota next year staying with his uncle Captain C Drieberg, when this officer and his wife both died of fever the same day, October 8, 1826.

"He gave up his planting appointment in 1839 and went to Australia, entered the service of the Australian Agricultural Company, and in 1899 had been resident in Australia for sixty years. A younger brother, George, was born at Jaffna, August 30, 1812, but what became of him I do not know.

"Mr J C White says: 'Sir Edward Barnes and Lady Barnes took an interest in my sisters, who were often invited to the country residence at Mount Lavinia.' (Ceylon Literary Register, Vol V, p 194—6).

"The youngest sister, Susan, married Edward Maltby, August 18, 1834. He was Sub-Collector of Customs, Mannar, 1843-4, and had his quarters in the Mannar Fort, and included in them the building now known as Christ Church, which is described, in the Colombo Observer of 1844, as 'a consecrated building since the time of the Dutch.' Complaint is made by a correspondent that 'the pulpit is now used in securing provisions, and the permanent communion table is now used as a place for keeping sundries belonging to the family.' (Colombo Observer, April 11, 1844). Sir William Twynam recollects this state of affairs with regard to the church. E Maltby was afterwards in the Telegraph Department."[3]

Contemporaries

The Hagger Family (1986) incorrectly states he was the Abraham White born on 16 April 1792 in Sandbelt, England.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Roll of commisssioned officers in the Medical service of the British army, who served on full pay within the period between the accession of George II and the formation of the Royal army medical corps, 20 June 1727 to 23 June 1898, with an introduction showing the historical evolution of the corps by Johnston, William, 1843-1914; Howell, Harry Arthur Leonard (1867).

List of Inscriptions on Tombstones and Monuments in Ceylon, of Historical or Local Interest, with an Obituary of Persons Uncommemorated, by John Penry Lewis (1854-1923).[4]

The Hagger Family, by Margaret Allen (1986).

13 May 1781 Baptism, Church of St Mary, Lambeth, London; Family Search.[5]

Profile edited by Mark Gibbons through the import of Gibbons _ Anderson Direct Ancestors.ged on 21 Mar 2019.