Mr RHD White JP
MR. R. H. D. White is a native of the colony, having been born at Port Stephens. He is a son of Mr. J. C. White, who was for many years assistant manager of the A. A. Company, and a grandson of Mr. Robert Hoddle, a gentleman who is one of our best-known Victorians. Mr. Hoddle was an officer in the Royal Engineers, and after being engaged in surveys at the Cape of Good Hope, came out to New South Wales, where he was Deputy Surveyor-General under Sir Thomas Mitchell. Afterwards he became Surveyor-General of Victoria, and in that capacity laid out the township of Melbourne, where he has resided ever since, and has been in enjoyment of a pension of £1000 a year ever since 1852. Mr. R. H. D. White has been a resident of the Mudgee district for more than twelve years past, and has been in the service of the Bank of New South Wales for nearly a quarter of a century, during which time he has managed two or three of their most important branches. At Rockhampton he was distinguished by the active share which he took in promoting the interests of that town. He held several honorary positions in Queensland, among others being captain of the Rockhampton Volunteers for five years, and Guardian of Minors for the Rockhampton and Toowoomba districts. He has also been a magistrate of the territory for twenty-one years, having been appointed in Queensland just after the separation, and having officiated in the colonies for the period stated. In such capacity he has been painstaking, conscientious, and fearless, and ever evinced a desire to mete out justice with impartiality. On several occasions his personal courage has been tested, and not found wanting.
When the Gulgong goldfields broke out he was in the habit of escorting large sums of money for the Bank, and often went alone with it. In April, 1868, he had an encounter with five bushrangers, on which
occasion the bravery he showed was acknowledged by testimonials from the Government, the Bank, and the townspeople of Rockhampton. He was at the Deniliquin Bank in 1859, when it was stuck up by four armed men. He and the manager were tied up by the ruffians, who decamped with gold and notes amounting to £7850. Afterwards Mr. White, with the aid of a black boy, tracked the robbers, and recovered most of the gold. The men were convicted and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, and one of them, William Lee, is still in gaol, having been concerned in the attempted escape at Bargo Brush, which has led to his serving one continuous term of twenty-two years' imprisonment, with faint hopes of release at all.
Mr. White was lately engaged in a heavy lawsuit against his grandfather's young wife, for the recovery of property in Elizabeth-street, Melbourne, of the value of a quarter of a million pounds. Proceedings were commenced before a Court of Equity, but on the 7th August last an amicable arrangement was made, by which Mr. White received half the property and half the back rents. As showing his determination to make an active contention for his rights, he mortgaged all his land, his life insurance, &c., to carry on the law-suit, which, had it terminated adversely, would have left him penniless. As it is, it raises him to the enjoyment of very great wealth, which has enabled him to practically exemplify the liberality and charity which were ever a part of his creed. With a view to a proper enjoyment of his riches, Mr. White determined on taking a tour to Europe, in company with his wife (a daughter of Dean Cowper, of Sydney), leaving their children under the care of his sister-in-law at Mudgee.
Mr. and Mrs. White left by the Peshawur this week, but prior to leaving Mudgee they received many tokens of the esteem in which they were held by the inhabitants of that district. Mr. White was invited to a private dinner at the Royal Hotel by a few of his particular friends, and was afterwards honoured with a public banquet, presided over by the Mayor of Mudgee, and attended by sixty citizens, representing the various interests in the community. The working men also recognised his bonhommie and social worth by arranging a demonstration in his behalf, which took place at Mudgee on Friday last. Over one thousand persons attended, principally from the working classes, many of them carrying banners and flags bearing appropriate devices. The members of the Volunteer Fire Brigade also attended in full uniform, and bearing torchlights. The procession paraded the principal streets of Mudgee, and at the head of it walked Mr. White, escorted by the mayor of Mudgee (Mr. F. R. Tindall), and the police magistrate (Mr. W. D. Meares.) An address was read on behalf of the working classes by Mr. D. Cassin, and another was read on behalf of seven hundred school children, who also sang a few valedictory verses.
Mr. White made suitable replies to each, and in the case of the children he treated them to a picnic, at a cost of £150, shortly after gaining his law-suit. By these practical demonstrations of goodwill did the people of Mudgee testify their appreciation of the worth of one of our most popular native-born Australians.
