Herbert Thirkell White

Sir Herbert Thirkell White (1855–1931) was the Lieutenant-Governor of the British Indian province of Burma (1905–1910) and author of works about Burma.

Biography The son of Richard White, he was educated at Dulwich College and Brasenose College, Oxford. White joined I.C.S., served in all lower grades of the public service and was posted as Commissioner, Burma-China Boundary, 1897; appointed Chief Judge of the Chief Court, Burma, 1900; Lieutenant-Governor of Burma, 1905–1910. During his time as Lieutenant Governor, he reduced the amount of the annual tributes from the Shan Chiefs and promoted education among them and carried out certain Railway Extensions in the Shan States. White was the Secretary to Upper Burma from 1886 to 1890, the period that was immediately after the annexation of Upper Burma by the British following the Third Anglo-Burmese War. Other offices he held in Burma included the Chief Secretary of Burma and as a justice on various Burmese courts. White was also a member of the 1897-98 boundary commission between Britain and China.

White was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1892, and promoted to a Knight Commander of the order (KCIE) in the 1903 Durbar Honours.

He married Fannie Sophia Hawes, daughter of Captain William Hawes, Indian Navy in 1877.

Published works A Civil Servant in Burma. London, E. Arnold (1913) Burma. Cambridge, The University Press (1923)