Winteringham Local History and Genealogy at winteringham.info

Right Henry Kirke White from the book ”History of Winterton and the Surrounding Villages”

Below right, an engraving of Henry Kirke White from the book “Remains of Henry Kirke White” (1816)

Henry Kirke White was born to John and Polly White in 1785, in Nottingham.

He attended schools there until he was 13 years old, and then in 1798 became apprenticed to a hosier - one of the crafts for which Nottingham was famed at the time.  By this time he had already begun to write poetry and read widely in the classics and modern literature.

Henry had decided though that hosiery was not for him, and so he persuaded his parents to apprentice him to Coldham and Enfield, a legal firm on Middle Pavement Nottingham.

Whilst still only 15, his poems were being published in the 'Monthly Mirror' and the 'Monthly Preceptor', and in 1803 he published a volume of poetry called 'Clifton Grove.'

Unfortunately, by this time, his hearing was beginning to diminish, which would preclude him from becoming a successful lawyer, and he also suffered from tuberculosis for the first time.

It was shortly after this that his ambition to enter an academic life brought him to Winteringham. Lorenzo Grainger was the Curate at All Saints Church, living in the 'Tudor Rectory' (pictured left, in the mid-sixties). Reverend Grainger was a learned man and ran a small 'school' for young gentlemen in the 'Parsonage-house'. This was limited to six boarders 'each accommodated with a separate bed.'

It is generally agreed that these were the happiest days of Henry's short life, and he wrote glowingly of the family with which he stayed, and of the village and its surrounding countryside. In a letter he wrote:

"Winteringham is indeed now a beautiful place: the trees are in full verdure, the crops are browning the fields, and my former walks are become dry underfoot, which I have never known them before. The opening vista, from the churchyard, over the Humber, to the hills and receding vales of Yorkshire assumes a thousand new aspects.  I watch it every evening when the sun is just gilding the summits of the hills, and the lowlands are beginning to take a browner hue. The showers falling in the distance, while all is serene above me, the swelling sail rapidly falling down the river; and not least of all, the villages, woods and villas on the opposite bank, sometimes render this scene quite enchanting to me."

The detail (right) from an early-nineteenth century print shows the Rectory as Henry would have known it, in all its resplendent glory.

The black and white picture taken in August 1965 from the top of the Church Tower looking north-east, shows a view little changed from that in Henry's day - though the telegraph poles, and the bed of the old railway track are definitely not early 19th century!

It is understood that it was at about this time Henry wrote that best-loved hymn "Oft in danger, oft in woe," but his original words were a little different from those that are used today.

He wrote:

Much in sorrow, oft in woe,
Onward Christians, onward go;
Fight the fight, and worn with strife,
Steep with tears the Bread of Life.

After being tutored by Lorenzo Grainger, Henry Kirke White went to St John's College in Cambridge, and distinguished himself with his zest for learning as well as his natural ability, winning, in 1806, the University prize in classical composition. His illness was quickly catching up with him, and his intense efforts at Cambridge were having a toll on his health.  His biographer, Southey, said, 'the seeds of death were in him. He died in his rooms there on 19th October 1806, aged just 21.

Byron lamented the loss of White with these lines:

Unhappy White, while life was in its spring,
And thy young muse just waved her joyous wing,
The spoiler swept that soaring lyre away
Which else had sounded an immortal lay.

A window in the Church celebrates White's short life, and his happy days in Winteringham ... see below.

Henry Kirke White loved walking the area, and he quite literally ‘made his mark’ on this tree between Winteringham and Whitton - carving his initials onto the trunk. This engraving was up for sale in Spring 2005 for £20 from KBooks, who kindly supplied the scan. On the reverse of the engraving is the following:

“Henry Kirke White’s Tree

Years have now passed away since Henry Kirke White cut the initials of his name into the tree represented in the Engraving; near its root he loved frequently to contemplate, during the short interval of repose he enjoyed from severe study, in the year 1805.

The tree so favoured by the young poet, grows on a dark, shelving bank, a stone’s throw from Whitton, a village near Winteringham, where White sojourned for some time. It was a twisting root, on which he used to rest himself.

Like the tree of Pope, in Berkshire, numerous vistors have cut their names surrounding that of White’s; and this probably, or the too frequent dashing of the briny sea upon its base, has withered its upper branches”

     In the book “A history of Winterton and the Surrounding Villages, W Andrew says of Kirke White and his tree:

During the few hours that Kirke White allowed himself for relaxation, one of his favourite pursuits was to stray along the banks of the Humber, and there contemplate the beauties of nature, of which he way so ardent an admirer.   He frequently directed his footsteps to the village of Whitton, distant from Winteringham about two miles. This place seems to have been generally resorted to by him; and on the sands there, until very lately, stood his favourite tree, whereon be
had cut “H. K. W., 1805." An engraving of this tree was given in "The Mirror" for the month of March, 1836; and since that publication, the tree, which might have withstood a little longer the storms of the elements, has been cut down by the woodman's axe. But in veneration for the respected memory of our Nottinghamshire poet, the initials have been carefully taken from the tree, and are now placed as a curiosity in an elegant gilt frame !*

* Near the tree just alluded to, was another which grew higher up the bank, on which White engraved the following words-
"Don't you see the silvery wave;-
Don't you hear the voice of God!"

Further research:
The 'must read' 'ebook': "The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White" at http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04/8pwhw10.txt

There are several other points of contact, including:
University of Nottingham Library Services (manuscripts) - see on-line at: http://mss.library.nottingham.ac.uk/isad/kw.html

Nottinghamshire History and Archaeology website, section on Allen's Guide to Nottingham by J Potter Briscoe (1888 ) at http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/allen1888/guidep2.htm

You might also like to read:

Arthur Mee’s Lincolnshire , by Arthur Mee, Published by Hodderr & Stoughton
Winteringham 1761-1871, by the Winteringham WEA Group, 1999, ISBN: 0951680927
The Poetical and Prose Works of Henry Kirke White , from Bardon Enterprises, www.bardon-enterprises.co .uk/books, ISBN 1-902222-08-3