The family of John Bazley White
The family who established J B White's - Britain's biggest 19th century cement company - is described at great length in A J Francis' book. This page only gives basic data on the main members involved in Portland cement.
Charles Francis (b 11/1777, Lambeth, Surrey: d 10/7/1863, Lambeth, Surrey) was a builders' merchant with a depot at Phoenix Wharf, Nine Elms Lane, Battersea, 300 m upstream from Vauxhall Bridge (first built 1809). In 1808, he proposed to start making Parker's Roman cement and took into partnership merchant John Bazley White I (b 7/10/1784, Stepney, Middlesex: d 22/10/1867, Kidbooke, Kent). White's grandfather was an East End Dutch immigrant - De Witt. The Nine Elms plant commenced on 21/6/1810. The Roman cement business was successful, doing a steadily increasing trade, particularly for masonry construction. It received valuable testimonials from Marc Isambard Brunel, whose Thames Tunnel was being built during 1825-1842.
In 1833, they bought James Frost's plant at Swanscombe. Frost was one of the original Roman cement manufacturers, making it at Harwich and - from 1825 - Swanscombe. Because Swanscombe had chalk, he could also develop his "artificial cement" by wet processing chalk and clay, intended to be a cheap substitute for the increasingly hard-to-get septaria used to make Roman cement. He emigrated to the USA in 1832. Francis & White continued manufacturing both types of cement at Swanscombe.
Francis and White dissolved their partnership in 1836: Francis kept the Nine Elms plant and White kept Swanscombe. On 1/1/1837 J B White I entered into partnership with his eldest son John Bazley White II (b 23/4/1814, Battersea, Surrey: d 9/3/1893, Newton Abbot, Devon) to form the firm John Bazley White & Son. The firm expanded production, and added gypsum cements such as Keene's cement to their list of products. In 1839, his second son, George Frederick White (b 24/12/1816, Battersea, Surrey: d 11/8/1898, Wimborne, Dorset) was also taken into the partnership. G F White had trained as an architect, and now rapidly became the driving force in the company.
In 1841, William Aspdin arrived on the Thames and put Portland cement on the market. Although the local manufacturers all tried to play down the importance of this event, the effect was clearly sensational, and White's immediately began attempting to emulate it, and finally succeeded in producing something roughly comparable in October 1845. There followed a long period in which attempts were made to promote the product, with small success in Britain. G F White set about promoting the product in France and Germany, and in 1847 succeeded in getting the French government works department (Administration des Ponts & Chaussées) to specify it for use in concrete - an application for which Roman cement was unsuitable. The first major project was for the harbour at Cherbourg, and many similar projects followed. This allowed production to increase much faster than that of other producers. A similar project began in Britain at Dover in 1851.
In 1852, John Bazley White I retired, G F White became managing partner, and the firm was re-named John Bazley White and Brothers.
In the 1860s, with the business now growing rapidly, the grandchildren became partners. In 1861, Leedham White (b 8/7/1838, Westminster, Middlesex: d 26/1/1905, Kensington, Middlesex), eldest son of John Bazley White II, became a partner, followed in 1865 by Frederick Anthony White I (b 18/2/1842, Westminster, Middlesex: d 23/11/1933, Kensington, Middlesex), eldest son of G F White. In 1871, John Bazley White III (b 18/4/1848, Clapham, Surrey: d 9/2/1927, Hove, East Sussex), second son of J B White II became a partner, followed in 1872 by his third son Tyndale White (b 1849, Newington, Surrey: d 27/11/1927, Ongar, Essex).
In 1882, George Frederick White retired, and Leedham took his place as chairman. In 1883, the company went public. J B White III was put in charge of R&D, Tyndale in charge of production, and Frederick in charge of sales. Frederick's son, Frederick Anthony White II (aka Tony, b 4/10/1868, Westminster, Middlesex: d 17/12/1942, Wolverstone, E Suffolk), joined the firm in 1889. This remained the arrangement until the end of the century. J B White III was Tory MP for Gravesend 1885-1892, in 1885 defeating the Liberal candidate Thomas Bevan.
In 1898, a team consisting of Leedham White, Tony White, Charles Percival Elliott Cheffins - the Swanscombe plant engineer - and Robert Curling Styles - the Swanscombe chemist - went to the USA to view rotary kilns, and in July 1899 placed an order for an initial sixteen with Feldner & Ziegler to the design of Hurry & Seaman, as advised by Bertram Blount.
JBW became convinced that consolidation of the industry was necessary, and during the 1890s they concentrated on acquiring local competitors when the opportunity arose. They acquired Gillingham, Quarry and Greenhithe in 1893, Globe in 1895 and Bridge in 1897. In late 1899, J B White III and the company solicitor H S Leonard were given a 6-month sabbatical to work on unification of the cement industry. They were put in touch with Henry Osborne O'Hagan, who set in motion the establishment of the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers.
In the new company, the Whites were strongly represented. F E White senior, previously sales manager, now emerged as the leading figure, becoming company chairman. He was a patron of the arts, and of architect Norman Shaw, who built his house in Queen's Gate, Kensington (1888-90), and commissioned him to design the new company's head office - Portland House (1907-8) at 72, Fenchurch Street. The latter was one of the first reinforced-concrete-framed buildings in Britain. As part of the financial deal on the formation of BPCM, the chairmanship went in 1912 to J W Philipps, and F A White became co-vice-chairman. In 1914, Philipps resigned, and F A White once again became chairman. He finally resigned as a result of the company rationalisation in July 1919, F G Stanley taking the Chairmanship.
The oldest of the brothers, Leedham, became an ordinary director, but retired in 1903, and Tyndale was already retired. J B White III became a managing director and remained until the 1919 purge. The chairman's son, Tony, 31 years old in 1900, was a managing director and after 1919 was the only White remaining on the board. He finally resigned, aged 54, in the 1924 coup d'etat.