Ernest White (psychiatrist)

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Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest William White CBE (22 January 1851 – 28 November 1935) was a British psychiatrist.[1][2]

White was the second son of Richard White of Heathfield House, Norwich, and was educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds.[1] He won three scholarships and was a gold medallist in anatomy at King's College Hospital Medical School, from which he graduated with a first-class Bachelor of Medicine (MB) degree with honours in four subjects on 21 November 1883.[1][3] He also trained at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.[1] He was admitted Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) on 12 November 1872.[4]

From 1878 to 1887, he was senior assistant medical officer at the Kent Mental Hospital at Chartham, and from 1887 to 1905 he was resident physician-superintendent of the City of London Mental Hospital near Dartford.[1] From 1890 to 1910, he was also professor of psychological medicine at King's College, being granted the title of emeritus professor on his retirement.[1] From 1906 until his death he was chairman of the private mental hospitals at Bailbrook House in Bath, Somerset, and Fenstanton in Tulse Hill, London.[1][2] He was also president of the Royal Medico-Psychological Association.[1]

On 21 December 1887, he was appointed acting surgeon of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment),[5] but resigned on 28 November 1891.[6] In World War I he served as consultant in mental diseases to Western Command from 1916 to 1921 and to the War Office from 1919 to 1921.[1][2] He was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps on 5 January 1917 as a temporary honorary major[7] and promoted lieutenant-colonel on 12 October 1917.[8] The honorary status of his commission was removed on 1 July 1918.[9] He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1919 Birthday Honours[10] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 1 January 1920.[11] He resigned his commission on 24 February 1921, but was allowed to retain his rank.[12]

White retired to Betley House in the village of Bayston Hill, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.[2] There he acquired an interest in farming and was chairman of the Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture in 1922 and 1923.[1] An enthusiastic cricketer and cyclist in his younger days, he continued to engage in shooting and fly fishing.[1] He was a member of the Constitutional Club.[2]

He died on 28 November 1935 at the age of 84, leaving an estate worth £34,310. He left £500 to King's College Hospital Medical School to establish an annual prize for the most successful student in psychological medicine.[13]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Obituary, The Times, 29 November 1935, p. 16
  2. ^ a b c d e Biography, Who Was Who
  3. ^ "University Intelligence", The Times, 22 November 1883, p. 6
  4. ^ "Royal College of Surgeons", The Times, 14 November 1872, p. 9
  5. ^ "No. 25768". The London Gazette. 20 December 1887. p. 7068.
  6. ^ "No. 26227". The London Gazette. 27 November 1891. p. 6477.
  7. ^ "No. 29891". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 January 1917. p. 264.
  8. ^ "No. 30330". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 October 1917. p. 10478.
  9. ^ "No. 30840". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 August 1918. p. 9450.
  10. ^ "No. 31377". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1919. p. 6995.
  11. ^ "No. 31975". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 July 1920. p. 7427.
  12. ^ "No. 32278". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 April 1921. p. 2634.
  13. ^ "Wills and Bequests", The Times, 28 January 1936, p. 13