XIV 
VBEFAGE, 
strongly attaclied to the charms of rural scenery, he early 
fixed his residence in his native village, where he spent the 
greater part of his life in literary occupations, and especially 
in the study of nature. This he followed with patient 
assiduity, and a mind ever open to the lessons of piety and 
benevolence which such a study is so well calculated to- 
afford. Though several occasions offered of settling upon 
a college livings he could never persuade himself to quit 
the beloved spot, which was, indeed, a peculiarly happy 
situation for an observer. He was much esteemed by a 
select society of intelligent and worthy friends, to whom he 
paid occasional visits. Thus his days passed, tranquil and 
serene, with scarcely any other vicissitudes than those of 
the seasons, till they closed at a mature age on Juno 26, 
1793.^^ 
Gilbert White lived and died a bachelor, and it is to be 
regretted that no portrait remains to preserve a record of 
his personal appearance. 
His brother John, to whom frequent reference is made in 
the succeeding pages, was at one time Yicar of Blackburn, 
in Lancashire. He afterwards became resident at Gibraltar, 
where he made large collections for a ISTatural History of the 
place, from the unpublished manuscript of which an extract 
is given at page 282. He is honourably mentioned by 
Pennant in his " Literary Life,^^ as having rendered him 
material assistance in connection with the birds and fishes 
of Gibraltar. 
Another brother, Thomas (to whose observations, made at 
his house at South Lambeth, our author occasionally refers) ,. 
was a wholesale ironmonger in London; but quitting busi- 
ness with an ample fortune ; devoted much of his time to 
literary pursuits, especially on subjects connected with me- 
teorology and natural history. He was a Fellow of the 
Royal Society, and author of numerous essays which ap- 
peared in the Gentleman^s Magazine between the years 
1780 and 1790, under the signature of T. H. W. Among- 
these a series of articles on the trees of Great Britain are- 
particularly deserving of notice, for the extensive informa- 
tion, good taste, and variety of reading which they display. 
