The name of White is of Welsh origin and is believed to have been taken from the ancient word Gwyn or Wynne, meaning "white"

The name of White is of Welsh origin and is believed to have been taken from the ancient word Gwyn or Wynne, meaning "white". It was probably given to its original bearer because of the color of his skin or hair. It is variously found in ancient records in the forms of White, Whyte, Whitt, and Wight. It is said that the White family derives its descent from Roderick the Great, 877 A.D.,

[NOTE: Rodri Mawr (Roderick the Great)-King of All Wales and of the Isle of Man 843-877, slain about 876-7 with his brother Gwriad in battle against the Saxons in Mon, on a Sunday. He married Augharad, heiress of South Wales. She also was descended in direct male line from Rodri Mawr's ancestors Cynedda Wledig and Coel Godebog to Beli Mawr.Roderick was slain in the 89th year of his age, defending his country against the Saxons. He divided his Kingdom into three parts. To his oldest son Anarawd he gave the Kingdom of Gwynedd, or North Wales, to which A's son Edward Voel succeeded, who married the daughter of his Uncle Merfyn.To Cadell, 2nd son, the Principality of South Wales or Ceredigion.To Merfyn, 3rd son, the Principality of Powis. For each of these Kingdoms Rodri built a palace.] **whose descendant, Rhys ap Tudor, King of South Wales, was slain in 1093; and from Otho, who lived in the time of Edward the Confessor, about 1042. Otho was the father of Walter Fitz Otho, who had Gerald Fitz Walter, who married Nesta, daughter of Rhys ap Tudor. Nesta and Gerald Fitz Walter were the parents of Maurice Fitz Gerald, who had Walter White, the first known bearer of this surname. This Walter was knighted by Henry II in 1171. Robert White, of this line, was a Knight of Yorkshire in 1303. In 1394 Johannes White of North Colyngham, Nottinghamshire, is named in the list of the landed gentry of 1428. Robert White, merchant and mayor of the staple of Calais, made his home at various times in the counties of Hampshire, Kent, and Surrey in the middle of the fifteenth century.

Robert, son of Robert White of Calais, had two sons, Thomas and John. Thomas, son of Robert, married Agnes Richards and had four sons, George, John, Richard, and Thomas Jr. He was granted three manors in Somerset in 1556 by the king. John, son of Robert, bought lands in Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, and had a son, Thomas, who married Ann Cecil, eldest sister of William, Lord Burleigh. Two members of the White family removed to Ireland about the year 1171. They were Walter White and his brother William (?). Others of the family later made their homes in England

One of the first of the family of White to emigrate to America was William White who, with his wife Susanna Fuller and his son Resolved, was among the Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower. Peregrine White, son of William, was born on board the Mayflower while the ship was in the port of Plymouth in 1620. Resolved White, son of William, made his home at Scituate in 1638 and had issue by his first wife Judith Vassall and his second wife Abigail Lord of the following children; William, John, Samuel, Resolved, Anna, Elizabeth, Susannah, and Josiah. Peregrine White, son of William, removed to Green Harbor shortly after 1632 and married, about 1647, Sarah Basset. Their children were Daniel, Sarah, Mercy, Jonathan, Peregrine Jr., and Silvanus.

John White, Patriarch of Dorchester, England, was the descendant of an illustrious Hampshire family and was Rector of Dorchester in 1605 and of Lambeth in 1643. He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was highly instrumental in the sending of many of the Pilgrims to Plymouth, furnishing them with money and necessities. He gave the greater part of his life to the welfare of the Colony but did not himself, make any permanent residence there. Another member of the family, Thomas White, came to America sometime before 1630 and settled at Lynn, Mass., where he had John, Joseph, Samuel, Thomas, Hannah, and Ebenezer. The eldest of these children, John , had by his wife Anne seven children, John, James, Richard, Sarah, Hannah, Martha, and Abigail.

Elder John White, one of the first settlers of Cambridge, Mass., and of Hartford, Conn., came from London, England, in the year 1632. He was a prominent public official, first in the town of Boston and then in the two towns mentioned above. His children by his wife Mary were Mary, Nathaniel, John, Daniel, Sarah, and Jacob. Nathaniel, eldest son of the Elder John, married, first, Elizabeth (last name unknown), who was the mother of his children—Nathaniel, Elizabeth, John, Mary, Daniel, Sarah, Jacob, and Joseph—and. Second, Martha Aould, widow of Hugh Mould of New Haven. John, second son of the Elder John, married Sarah Bunce and had issue by her of Sarah and John. Daniel, third son of the Elder John, settled at Hatfield, Mass., about the year 1662. He had issue by his wife Sarah Crow of Sarah, Mary, Daniel, Elizabeth, John, Esther, Hannah, and Mehitable. Jacob, youngest son of the Elder John, married Elizabeth Bunce, sister of his brother’s wife, prior to 1663. There is not record of children by this marriage.

Still another John White made his home at Watertown before 1639, when he is recorded as the owner of a "Homestall and seven acres of land". His wife is believed to have been Frances Scarboro and their children to have been Joseph, Mary, John, and Benjamin. In 1643 one Nicholas White married Susanna Humphrey at Dorchester, Mass. The exact date of his arrival is not known. His children were Elizabeth, Nicholas, John, and Joseph. Of these, Nicholas married Ursula Macomber in 1673 and was the father by her of Nicholas, Matthew, Ephraim, Dorcas, Benjamin, John, and Thomas; John married Hannah Smith in 1679 and had issue by her of John, Hannah, Josiah, and Elizabeth; and Elizabeth; and Joseph had by his wife Mary ten children, Lydia, Joseph, Edward, Mary, Susanna, William, Nathaniel, Ebenezer, Ephraim, and Elizabeth.

Still another branch of the White family to emigrate to America is that which was represented by Thomas White in the year 1670 in Monmouth County, N.J., who came to America from Deal, Kent County, England. He had two sons, Samuel and Peter, and possibly a third named William. Samuel, son of Thomas, had three sons, Thomas, Samuel, and Amos. Peter, son of Thomas, had three sons, Peter, Robert, and Thomas, and seven daughters, two of whom died in infancy. The surviving five daughters were Mary, Ann, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Jane.

The descendants of these various families have since spread to all parts of the United States and have materially aided in the growth of the country which their ancestors helped to found. The Whites were a hardy race—courageous, strong-willed, definite of purpose, and deeply religious.

There were more than sixty officers of the name of White in the War of the Revolution, among which were Anthony Walton White of New Jersey, Brigadier-General; Haffield White of New York, Captain; Henry White of South Carolina, Colonel; Richard White of Virginia, Captain; Thomas White of Pennsylvania, Captain; William White of Virginia, Captain; and Hugh White of Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel.

**White or Vitus of Limerick and Caherblonick? Co. Clare Ireland De Vite or De Wit to England with William the Conqueror, obtained lands in Wiltshire. succeeded by grandson Ethelbert Whyte, became Lord Justice of Wales. his son- Walter? Whyte accompanied Strongbow to Ireland, knighted by HenryII in 1171, appointed 1st Bailiff of Limerick in 1198, married niece of Strongbow. his son- James Whyte married Amicie, daughter of Earl of Leicester. his son- Balthagar whyte commanded a corps under King John 1220. his son- James Whyte Kest? his son- Maurice Whyte his son-Walter Whyte his son- Dominick Whyte Links to Dominick Whyte Sheriff of Limerick 1628,Mayor 1636, married Christina daughter of Lord Castle Connell **