THOMAS WHITE 19 



studies in natural history ; that, at the risk of some 

 repetition, it will be well to give here a brief account 

 of them. 



His eldest brother Thomas, born at Compton, in 

 Surrey, on October 13th, 1724, was educated at 

 Bishop's Waltham, Hants, by Mr. Hampton (father 

 of the translator of '"Polybius"), and he is described 

 , by his nephew, John White,"* as *' an elegant classic." 

 He went into a wholesale merchant's business in 

 ! Thames Street, London, as a young man, becoming 

 a partner of Mr. William Yalden, a brother of the 

 Rev. Richard Yalden of Newton Valence, the ad- 

 i joining parish to Selborne, who was long the neigh- 

 ibour and friend of Gilbert White. In 1758 he 

 married Mr. W. Yalden's childless widow. In 1759 

 a daughter, Mary, was born, and in 1763 his wife 

 'died, shortly after giving birth to twin sons. In 

 '1776 he came into full possession of considerable 

 I estates in Essex through the bequest of Mr. Thomas 

 Holt, a half-brother of the Rev. Mr. Thomas Holt, 

 of Streatham, and therefore his maternal great-uncle 

 in the half-blood, whose name of Holt he then pre- 

 fixed to his own surname, and, retiring from business 

 soon afterwards, settled at South Lambeth, where he 

 lived until his death. In January, 1777, he was 

 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was 

 also a " citizen and apothecary." During the latter 



• In a pedigree of the family compiled by him in 1826, now in the 

 "author's possession. 



