Francis White

Francis was born in 1892 at Hadfield to Dr. William White. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Retford and joined the University in 1909. During his three year law course he won many prizes and scholarships including two Daunts Legal Scholarships and a Special Graduate Scholarship in Law. After gaining his Bachelor of Law (L.L.B.) in 1912 he turned to studying medicine and was awarded the Daunts Medical Scholarship in 1913 and the Tom Jones Anatomy Prize in 1914. He was a gymnast of much repute and a member of the University eight.

In November 1912 Francis was gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the territorials and when war broke out he was mobilised. By November 1915 he had risen to the rank of captain and placed in command of “A” Company 1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment. He was killed in action leading an attack at Guillemont Farm on the Somme in the early hours of 4th September 1916. The University magazine noted: “It is in the death of such a man as Captain White that we realise the cost which we are paying for victory, for in him we lost a scholar to whom years could only have brought fame and renown, a brain which would have enriched our store of knowledge, and given out to mankind the benefit of that which was already garnered.”