Walter White

Born in Reading, Berkshire, on April 23, 1811, Walter White left school at fourteen and first worked in his father's upholstery and cabinet-making trade. Sources agree that he educated himself through wide reading and the study of languages, and that after a short, unsuccessful attempt to build a life in the United States, he returned to Britain and eventually joined the Royal Society's library staff.

White spent about forty years working with the Royal Society and was later appointed Librarian. Alongside that career, he became known as a miscellaneous writer and especially as a travel author, publishing books drawn from his walking tours and journeys, including A Month in Yorkshire and A July Holiday in Saxony, Bohemia, and Silesia.

His reputation today rests on that mix of self-made learning, curiosity, and close observation. He wrote about places in a way that was practical, lively, and attentive to ordinary people, which gives his travel writing an easy charm even now.