John White (1510 – 12 January 1560) was a Headmaster and Warden of Winchester College during the English Reformation who, remaining staunchly Roman Catholic in duty to his mentor Stephen Gardiner, became Bishop of Lincoln and finally Bishop of Winchester during the reign of Queen Mary I.K. Carleton, 'White, John (1509/10–1560), bishop of Winchester', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP 2004). For several years he led the college successfully through very difficult circumstances. A capable if somewhat scholastic composer of Latin verse, he embraced the rule of Philip and Mary enthusiastically and vigorously opposed the Reformation theology.J.B. Wainewright, John White of Winchester. A Paper read at Ye 274th Meeting of Ye Sette of Odd Volumes, Decr. 1906 (Bedford Press, London 1907), 62pp.
He was active in the Marian persecutions, and (as the Cardinal's commissioner) personally conducted the final public examinations and condemnation of Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer in 1555. Having given himself wholeheartedly in these affairs, he fell sharply out of favour when Mary died and, being unguarded in his opposition to Elizabeth's religious policies, he was soon deprived and imprisoned. His apologists refer to his austerity, his firmness of principle and the power of his teaching: to his opponents he was a cruel and resolute servant of the usurped power of Rome.
Family and education Family background John White was born in Farnham in Surrey, the fifth son of Robert White, a merchant of Farnham, and his wife Katherine (née Wells). He was the elder of two brothers named John, the younger of whom was Sir John White (died 1573), citizen and Grocer, Lord Mayor of London in 1563-64.'Pedigree of Whyte', in W.H. Rylands (ed.), Pedigrees from the Visitation of Hampshire by Thomas Benolt, 1530, and 1575, 1622-34, Harleian Society LXIV (1913), pp. 12-13, and pp. 81-83 (Internet Archive). The identity of John White the bishop as the elder of the two is clear from the 1538 will of the eldest brother Henry White, an academic and cleric.Will of Henry White, Priest (P.C.C. 1538, Dyngeley quire).'Notes to the diary. 1560, p. 224: Funeral of the late bishop of Winchester', in J.G. Nichols (ed.), The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, 1550-1563, Camden Society (London 1848), p. 378 (Internet Archive).
Robert White, the father, died in 1518 requesting to be buried in the church of St Andrew, Farnham. His estates were left in the hands of his executors, for his widow's use while she lived and then to descend through Robert's children and their heirs in six separate parcels. Each of the six elder sons should have one part: any part in default was to revert to the eldest surviving offspring, and so successively through all the eight sons and three daughters and their heirs. Lands and tenements in Aldershot (Hants.) and Camberley (Surrey) went first to Henry; those in Farnham, to Robert; those in Finchampstead (Berks.) and Eversley (Hants.), to Thomas; those in Cove and Winchfield (Hants.), to William; those in Passfield and Kingsley (Hants.), to John the elder, and those in Isington (Hants.) to John the younger.Will of Robert White, Merchant of Farnham, Surrey (P.C.C. 1518, Ayloffe quire).
Robert's executors were his widow Katherine (Wellys) and "Maister Thomas Wellys Doctour", which reveals that Henry and John White received an example for their scholarly and religious careers from their mother's side of the family. "Magister Thomas Wellis doctor theologiae" is named as having witnessed the inspection of St Dunstan's shrine at Canterbury in 1508.'Vita Sancti Dunstani, Chapter XXXVIII: Scrutinium factum circa feretrum beatissimi patris Dunstani (&c.)', in W. Stubbs (ed.), Memorials of Saint Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (Cambridge University Press, 1874), pp. 426-30, at p. 429 and note 3 (Google). There were possibly two men of these names and titles at Canterbury at that time: one was a chaplain to Archbishop Warham, and one the prior of St Gregory's Priory, Canterbury'Houses of Austin canons: The priory of St Gregory, St Canterbury', in W. Page (ed.), A History of the County of Kent, Vol 2 (V.C.H., London 1926), pp. 157-59 (British History Online, accessed 19 February 2023), citing "Warham's Register (Canterbury), fol. 35 b." and suffragan bishop of Sidon c. 1508-1511 (died 1526).B. Willis, An History of the Mitred Parliamentary Abbies, 2 vols (R. Gosling, London 1719), II, p. 97 (Google), citing W. Somner, ed. N. Battely, Cantuaria Sacra: The Antiquities of Canterbury, 2nd edition, 2 vols (R. Knaplock, London 1703), II, Part V, p. 169 (Internet Archive).'Appendix V: Suffragans and Bishops in Partibus', in W. Stubbs, Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum: An Attempt to Exhibit the Course of Episcopal Succession in England (Oxford University Press 1858), pp. 142-49, at p. 146 (Google).'Priors of St Gregory's', in E. Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, second edition, 12 vols (W. Bristow, Canterbury 1797-1801), XII: Canterbury, part 2, pp. 142-43 (HathiTrust). They are differentiated by Henry Wharton,H. Wharton, 'To the Reverend Mr Strype', in J. Strype, Memorials of the most Reverend Father in God, Thomas Cranmer (Richard Chiswell, London 1694), at p. 255 (Umich/eebo). but merged by Anthony à WoodA. à Wood, ed. P. Bliss, Athenae Oxonienses, New edition (F.C. and J. Rivington, London 1815), II, p. 729 (Internet Archive). and Joseph Foster.'Wells, Thomas (Wellis), born at Aylsford, Hants.', in J. Foster (ed.), Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (Oxford 1891), pp. 1577-1600 (British History Online accessed 18 February 2023). Thomas Wellys, D.D., was born at Aylesford, Hampshire (i.e. Alresford), between Farnham and Winchester, and was educated at Wykeham's school, Winchester and at New College, Oxford (admitted 1484), where he took his B.A. and M.A. A different Thomas Wells altogether (died c. 1552), of the Southampton customs house, was cousin to John's sister Agnes White of South Warnborough, and on terms with Dr Steward, Chancellor of Winchester.Will of Thomas Wells the elder of Southampton (P.C.C. 1552/53, Tashe quire), written February 1545/46, proved 1552/53.
Education: Winchester College, and New College, Oxford John White (the elder) entered Winchester College at the age of 11, in 1521, where he studied under the headmastership of Thomas Erlisman until 1525.L.W. Barnard, 'John White as Headmaster and Warden of Winchester College', 3 Parts, The Wykehamist, Part 1: No. 1195 (10 February 1971), pp. 556-58; Part 2: No. 1196 (3 March 1971), pp. 572-74; Part 3: No. 1197 (24 March 1971), pp. 584-87. Part 1, at p. 556. He went on to New College, Oxford in that year as a Fellow, gaining full admission in 1527 after two years' probation. He studied philosophy and theology in the Arts, graduating B.A. in 1529 and proceeding to his M.A. in 1534.'White, John', in J. Foster (ed.), Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (Oxford 1891), pp. 1600-1626 (British History Online accessed 27 January 2023). Winchester College was the sister foundation of New College.
The Warden of New College at that time, Dr John London (1526-1542), adhered strongly to traditional Roman Catholic observance, though by law obliged to accept the King as Supreme Head of the English Church and forbidden to make appeals to Rome. Gilbert Burnet described White as a morose, sullen man much given to scholastical divinity, "which inclined men to be cynical, to overvalue themselves, and despise others."G. Burnet, ed. E. Nares, The History of the Reformation of the Church of England, Revised edition, 4 vols (D. Appleton and Company, New York 1843), II, p. 613 (Google). White's personality no doubt evolved at Oxford partly by association with his eldest brother, Henry, who preceded him at New College, became Vice-Chancellor of the University for 1531, and was principal of the school of Canon Law.'White, Henry, fellow, New College 1515-1527', in J. Foster (ed.), Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (Oxford 1891), pp. 1600-1626 (British History Online, accessed 29 January 2023).
Winchester College: Headmaster (1535-1542) Having obtained his M.A., and being "of good parts and great hopes", he was taken into the household of Stephen GardinerJ. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials, relating chiefly to Religion and the Reformation of it, 3 volumes in 6 (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1822), Vol. 5: III Part 1, Chapter XXXV, at p. 466 (HathiTrust). and resigned his Fellowship. Dr London wrote highly of him to John Gostwick, seeking ways to improve his income, since the Statute in Restraint of Appeals to Rome (1533) had deprived White of a lectureship.'1184. Dr John London to Gostwick', in J. Gairdner (ed.), Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, Vol. XI: July–December 1536 (HMSO 1888), p. 480 (British History Online). Around 20 April 1535, aged 24 or 25, he was appointed Headmaster of Winchester College (Collegium Beate Marie juxta Winton). Under its Warden Edward More with ten Fellows, the college was subject to a Visitation for the Valor Ecclesiasticus in that year, the record showing White as Pedagogus (receiving £11.18s.5d from the rents), Richard Sedgrave under-master, and Richard Phillippes, cantarista.J. Caley (ed), Valor Ecclesiasticus temp. Henr. VIII: Auctoritate Regia Institutus, 6 vols (Commissioners, 1810-34), II (1814), pp. 4-5 (Google).A.F. Leach, A History of Winchester College (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1899), p. 238-39 (HathiTrust). He taught there in that capacity for seven years, until appointed Warden in February 1541/42.T.F. Kirby, Winchester Scholars. A List of the Wardens, Fellows, and Scholars of Saint Mary College of Winchester, near Winchester, commonly called Winchester College (H. Frowde, London 1888), p. 1, and see p. 120 (HathiTrust).
The office of Headmaster (called "Informator", or supreme moderator) of the school, was, as John Pitts explained, reserved only for the most well-read persons, to ensure the exact correctness of the instruction of the pupils: the office of Warden denoted the College's Custos, as it were the Dean of College.'De Ioanne Vito', in Ioannis Pitsei Angli, Relationum Historicarum de Rebus Anglicis Tom. I (Apud Rolinum Thierry et Sebastianum Cramoisy, Paris 1619), pp. 763-64 (Google). During White's term as headmaster, the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1540) brought the threat of imminent closure onto the college itself, a threat which did not recede until 1547/48.Leach, A History of Winchester College, p. 246 (HathiTrust). In his own words, about 1554, White wrote:
Family affairs John's elder brother Robert, a clothier, died at the end of 1533, and the Farnham estates went to his son Francis. John and his brothers Henry and Thomas, as executors, were to hold lands for Robert's children and for his widow Elizabeth (Morys).Will of Robert Whitte or White, Clothier of Farnham, Surrey (P.C.C. 1534, Hogen quire). Elizabeth was daughter of John Morys of Syon Abbey (died 1540), for whom see History of Parliament Online.