Luke White | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1740 or 1750 |
Died | 25 February 1824 |
Occupation | Politician |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth de la Mazière, Arabella Fortescue |
Children | 8, including Samuel, Luke Jr. and Henry |
Position held | member of the 6th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1818–1820), member of the 7th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1820–1824) |
Luke White (circa 1740 or 1750 – 25 February 1824)[1][2] was an Irish bookseller, operator of a lottery and Whig politician.
He started as an impecunious book dealer,[3] first in the streets of Belfast, then from 1778 at an auction house in Dublin buying and reselling around the country.[4] By 1798, during the Irish Rebellion, he helped the Irish government with a loan of 1 million pounds (at £65 per £100 share at 5%).[5]
He then purchased Luttrellstown Castle from Henry Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton in 1800, and changed its name to Woodlands to eradicate the memory of its previous owner.[6] White was High Sheriff of County Dublin for 1804 and High Sheriff of Longford for 1806.[2] He entered the British House of Commons for Leitrim in 1818 and sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for it until his death in 1824.[1]
On 7 February 1781, he married Elizabeth de la Mazière, by whom he had four sons and three daughters.[2][7] He later married secondly, in 1800, Arabella Fortescue, daughter of William Fortescue,[2] and had by her one son.[7] White died in Park Street, Mayfair.[4] He left properties worth £175,000 per annum which eventually devolved to his fourth son Henry,[5] who was elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Annaly.[8] His second son Samuel represented the same constituency as his father and his third son, Luke White Jr., was MP for Longford.[1]