Robert Henry White
Robert Henry White (1858-1907)
1907 Obituary [1]
ROBERT HENRY WHITE, Chief Engineer to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company, died on the 28th May, 1907, at the comparatively early age of 49.
Born on the 28th April, 1858, he served an apprenticeship from 1874 to 1876 to Mr. W. H. Clemmey, then Borough Surveyor of Bootle, and on its completion entered the service of the Canal Company as assistant to his father, the late Mr. Charles White, who was Engineer and Estate Manager to the Company from 1869 to 1898. Subsequently he became Deputy Engineer, and on the retirement of his father in 1898 he succeeded to the appointment of Engineer to the Company, and occupied that position with conspicuous ability to the day of his death.
During the period that he was in the service of the Company, the Lancashire end of the canal was practically reconstructed, two large reservoirs were made and the whole of the Company’s wharves and warehouses at Liverpool and other places were rebuilt and improved.
To Mr. White, as well as to his father, the credit is due for the introduction and subsequent development of steam-haulage upon the canal, and for the many improvements which from time to time have been carried out. His genial disposition endeared him to all with whom he came in contact, whilst his sterling honesty and integrity of character earned for him their respect and esteem.
Mr. White was elected an Associate Member of The Institution on the 5th December, 1893.