{{Short description|Pastoralist and ornitholgist in New South Wales, Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} thumb|H L White of Belltrees Station '''Henry Luke White''' (9 May 1860 – 30 June 1927)<ref name=roll/> was a wealthy grazier, and a keen philatelist, book collector, amateur ornithologist and oölogist of Scone, New South Wales, Australia.
== Personal life == Born 9 May 1860 at Anambah third son of pastoralist Francis White and his wife Mary Hannah nee Cobb.<ref name="ADB"/> He first went to Calder House in Redfern in 1875 he attended the Goulburn School at Garroorigang.<ref name="ADB" /> In 1884 he became a qualified surveyor and in 1885 became the manager of Belltrees near Scone which he owned with his younger brothers William,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125351091 |title=Death of Mr W E White |newspaper=The Sydney Stock and Station Journal |date=13 January 1914 |access-date=17 August 2021 |page=4 |via=Trove}} </ref> Arthur,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161562261 |title=The late Mr Arthur G White |newspaper=The Scone Advocate |date=30 January 1948 |access-date=17 August 2021 |page=2 |via=Trove}}</ref> and Victor.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17436662 |title=Obituary V M White |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2 December 1937 |access-date=17 August 2021 |page=7 |via=Trove}}</ref><ref name="ADB" /> His older brother James was also a pastoralist and would later serve on the New South Wales Legislative Council.<ref name="ADB" /> James had married Emiline Eliza Ebsworth in 1882 and in a dynastic union, Henry married a Emiline's sister, Louisa Maude, on 14 April 1887. His brother Arthur married a third sister, Millicent, in 1893.<ref name="ADB" />
Belltrees had 96,000 merino sheep and 10,000 cross bred sheep that would take five months each year to shear. In 1902 they began using Wolseley sheep shearing machines.<ref name="ADB"/> The estate was also famous for its Durham shorthorn and Angus cattle.<ref name=Jervis>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117410266 |first=James |last=Jervis |title=How Whites started their cattle studs on the Hunter: instalment 2 |newspaper=The Farmer and Settler |date=15 April 1955 |access-date=21 August 2021 |page=17 |via=Trove}}</ref> In 1906 he was appointed a temporarily councilor for the Woolooma Shire, (renamed Upper Hunter in 1917), serving as Shire President until 1927,<ref name="ADB" /> and missing only 2 council meetings in those 20 years.<ref name=Jervis/> The brothers inherited some of the famous stud mares from their uncle James White, winning the 1896 AJC Derby with Charge and the 1900 Doncaster with Parapet.<ref name=Jervis/>
==Philately== White was a noted philatelist, purchasing a Queensland collection of stamps from Edward van Weenen in 1897.<ref name=Jervis/> In 1917 he presented his collection of stamps from New South Wales, then valued at £15,000, to the Mitchell Library.<ref name=Jervis/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15845620 |title=Stamp values: H. L. White collection |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=30 October 1919 |access-date=24 August 2021 |page=7 |via=Trove}}</ref> He subsequently donated his collection of stamps from Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110332777 |title=Contents list of the H.L. White Postage-Stamp Collection |publisher=State Library of NSW |access-date=24 August 2021}}</ref> He was appointed to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1922.<ref name=roll>{{cite web |url=http://www.abps.org.uk/Awards/Roll_of_Distinguished_Philatelists/RDP_Background_20111231_LR.pdf |title=Background notes on The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists |date=September 2011 |website=Roll of Distinguished Philatelists Trust, London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819000841/http://www.abps.org.uk/Awards/Roll_of_Distinguished_Philatelists/RDP_Background_20111231_LR.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Book collecting== He was also an avid collector of Australian books and owned more than 2,000 rare items. His collection included works on philately, ornithology, and cricket. In building this collection, he benefited from the guidance of noted Australian bookseller, Albert Henry Spencer.<ref name="ADB" />
== Ornithology == H. L. White wrote short articles published in ''Emu'', and corresponded with the American Ornithologists' Union. He was a member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) to which he was a generous benefactor. His collections of 8,500 bird skins and over 4,200 egg clutches were donated to the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne where they are known as the H. L. White Collection. He is also commemorated in the BirdLife Australia's (previously RAOU) large ornithological book and serial collection: the H. L. White Library.<ref name="ADB" />
== Family == H. L. White was the father of Alfred Henry Ebsworth White, who was honoured in the name of the grey honeyeater, ''Conopophila whitei'' by the ornithologist Alfred John North.<ref name="Lindsey" /> He was also the uncle of the writer Patrick White, who described him as the only paternal uncle he favoured.<ref name="ADB" />
==References and sources== ;References <references>
<ref name="ADB">{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last1=Gray |first1=Nancy |title=White, Henry Luke (1860–1927) |id2=white-henry-luke-1435 |year=1990 |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref> <ref name="Lindsey">{{cite book |last1=Cayley |first1=Neville W. |editor1-last=Lindsey |editor1-first=Terence R. |title=What bird is that?: a completely revised and updated edition of the classic Australian ornithological work |date=2011 |publisher=Australia's Heritage Publishing |location=Walsh Bay, N.S.W. |isbn=978-0-9870701-0-4 |page=284 |edition=Signature}}</ref>
</references> ;Sources *{{cite book |last=Robin |first=Libby |year=2001 |title=The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001 |location=Carlton, Vic |publisher=Melbourne University Press |isbn=0-522-84987-3}} *{{cite book |last=White |first=Judy |year=1981 |title=The White Family of Belltrees. 150 years in the Hunter Valley |publisher=Seven Press |location=Sydney |isbn=9780959396607}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Henry Luke}} White, Henry Luke Category:1860 births Category:1927 deaths Category:Egg collectors Category:Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists Category:Australian philatelists Category:Australian book and manuscript collectors