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James White (1812–1884) was a Scottish lawyer, businessman and chemicals manufacturer.
Contents
Early Life
White was born in 1812 at Shawfield House in Rutherglen which at that time was a rural country estate on the banks of the River Clyde. However his father John White, along with his brother (also James) had established a chemicals enterprise (J & J White Chemicals) in the area in 1820, and in the subsequent decades the business expanded to become dominant in the industry with its premises spread over the whole of the Shawfield district.
White was educated at Glasgow Grammar School and Glasgow University and thereafter became a lawyer, becoming a partner in Couper & White solicitors, a position which he held for 17 years.
In 1836 White married Fanny Campbell (sister of Robert Orr Campbell), settling initially at Hayfield House within the Shawfield estate, and they produced seven children, six daughters and one son, John Campbell White.
Chemicals Partner
At the invitation of his father and older brother (also John White, who had joined the business in 1833), James White joined the family firm in 1851 and became the commercial partner whilst his brother and father (who died in 1860) were more concerned with the manufacturing.
Now wealthy from the success of the chemicals business, in 1859 James White purchased land near Dumbarton which was his wife’s hometown and far from the polluted atmosphere of the Shawfield works. Their grand mansion Overtoun House was built in 1862.
He was joined as partner in the business by his son in 1867, and after the death of James’s brother John White in 1881 they were joined by expert chemist William James Chrystal, son of James’s sister Jean. At this time their works employed 500 in Rutherglen and had an output similar to all other such businesses in Britain combined.
Other Interests
Apart from his Shawfield business interests, White was also deputy chairman of the Glasgow and South Western Railway (although the railway lines which served the Shawfield works were operated by the Clydesdale Junction Railway/Caledonian Railway), was a director of the Merchants' House of Glasgow, and at various times was chairman of the Glasgow Royal Exchange, the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and the National Bible Society of Scotland. He was a member of the Free Church of Scotland and a Liberal in politics.
Upon his death in 1884 aged 72 at Overtoun House, the Lord Provost of Glasgow remarked that White was a gentleman who has long occupied a foremost place among the citizens of Glasgow. In 1890 was honoured with a statue in Glasgow’s Cathedral Square (designed by John Mossman, although he died before its completion).