Henry Fancourt White, was a Colonial Assistant Surveyor from Port Macquarie, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 who came to South Africa and built the Montagu Pass between George

George, Western Cape

George is a city with 203,253 inhabitants in South Africa's Western Cape province. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre and the administrative and commercial hub of the Garden Route.- Location :...

 and Oudtshoorn, over the Outeniqua Mountains.

1820 Settlers

He was born in Yorkshire in 1811 and emigrated to the Cape

Cape

Cape can be used to describe any sleeveless outer garment, such as a poncho, but usually it is a long garment that covers only the back half of the wearer, fastening around the neck. They were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon, and have had periodic...

 with his parents as British 1820 Settlers

1820 Settlers

The 1820 Settlers were several groups or parties of white British colonists settled by the British government and the Cape authorities in the South African Eastern Cape in 1820....

. They were allocated land at Riviersonderend near the mission station of Genadendal

Genadendal

Genadendal is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, built on the site of the oldest mission station in the country.-Location:Genadendal is approximately 90 minutes drive east of Cape Town in the Riviersonderend Mountains....

, but resettled at Assegaaibosch in the Langkloof

Langkloof

Langkloof is a 160 km long valley in South Africa, lying between Herold, a small village north of George, and Humansdorp. The kloof was given its name by Isaq Schrijver in 1689, and more thoroughly explored by a later expedition under ensign August Frederik Beutler in 1752.The valley has been...

. He left South Africa for Australia in order to acquire road-building experience.

Australia 1836-1843

White was appointed Assistant Surveyor by the colonial government in New South Wales. He surveyed land at Emu Plains for a town after the convict farm closed in 1832. White arrived in Port Macquarie in August 1836 and is believed to have established the first vineyard in the Hastings River

Hastings River

The Hastings River is a large river on the Mid North Coast of the Australian state of New South Wales that empties into the Tasman Sea, a branch of the South Pacific Ocean, at Port Macquarie....

 region of Australia in 1837. It was known as “Clifton”, a name which has been retained for the area to this day, and was located on land purchased near Settlement Farm, a stone's throw from the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

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As a surveyor, White was responsible for the siting of a new road from Port Macquarie westwards to the New England

New England (Australia)

New England or New England North West is the name given to a generally undefined region about 60 kilometres inland, that includes the Northern Tablelands and the North West Slopes regions in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia.-History:The region has been occupied by Indigenous...

 district, but in 1837 became involved in a dispute with the Stipendiary Magistrate, William Nairn Gray. White accused Gray of altering the line of a road that White had marked out, so as not to cross land owned by Major Innes, a wealthy landowner. Gray in turn accused White of using Government men and animals on his land at "Clifton". The Acting Governor, Colonel Snodgrass, dismissed the charges against Grey as frivolous. An enquiry held in Port Macquarie in 1839 resulted in White's dismissal from Government service. His efforts at rescinding this judgement were unsuccessful, despite an 1842 petition supporting him, being submitted by a large number of settlers. White sold his vineyard and some of the land to William Stokes in 1839.

South Africa 1843-1866

In 1836 Charles Collier Michell

Charles Collier Michell

Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Collier Michell, , later known as Charles Cornwallis Michell, was a British soldier, first surveyor-general in the Cape, road engineer, architect, artist and naturalist.-Early life:...

, Surveyor-General of the Cape Colony

Cape Colony

The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...

, had reconnoitred Cradock Pass and had been horrified by its steep gradients and poor condition. In 1843 he proposed that convict labour be used to build a road along an entirely new route over the Outeniqua Mountains. In due course this was approved by the colonial secretary, John Montagu

John Montagu (colonial secretary)

John Montagu was colonial secretary of Van Diemen's Land 1834–1842 and later of Cape Colony.-Early life:...

, and work was started in 1844 with H.O. Farrel as superintendent of the project. The work turned out to be beyond him, and in his place Montagu appointed Henry Fancourt White, a qualified surveyor, who had recently become Road Inspector. Some 250 convicts were used to carry out the demanding work of constructing the new road. The project was eventually completed after 4 years' work at a cost of ₤35,799 and opened to traffic in December 1847, with the ceremonial opening taking place on 19 January 1848 and the Hon. John Montagu personally attending. Montagu Pass served as the main road over the Outeniquas for more than 100 years and it was only with the completion of the Outeniqua Pass in
1951 that this old pass became no more than a scenic route.

Montagu suggested that the tiny roadcamp and village that grew at the foot of the mountain be named "White's Village" in honour of Henry Fancourt White, but this was subsequently changed to "Blanco". "Blanco House", White's residence, was started in 1859 in the style of a Cotswold

Cotswold

The Cotswolds are a range of hills in central England that give their name to:*Cotswold *Cotswold *Cotswold Chase, a horse race*Cotswold Games, annual games in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire...

 Mansion, but White suffered major financial setbacks in 1860, dying in 1866 and was buried in the grounds of St. Mark's Cathedral in George. His wife died shortly after and her grave is next to his. His son, Ernest Montagu White, bought back the property in 1903 and re-named the house "Fancourt" in memory of his father, and his grandmother's maiden name. He commissioned skilled craftsmen to refurbish the manor house, using yellowwood, stinkwood and blackwood to restore its former grace. Ernest, a philanthropist and successful businessman in his own right, funded the building of a road from George to Wilderness

Wilderness

Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...

 and stained glass windows in St Mark's Cathedral. He was to die tragically on 10 April 1916, together with his sister, after a meal of poisonous mushrooms. Today Fancourt is a National Monument and operates as a hotel and golfing estate.

White also engineered the road from George to Great Brak River, the mountain pass from Port Elizabeth over the Zuurberg Mountains 33°17′12"S 25°42′34"E and Howieson’s Poort pass just west of Grahamstown

Grahamstown

Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...

. A difference of opinion with fellow engineer Woodford Pilkington, son of the Colonial Engineer, led to his leaving the Roads Board in 1853 and entering politics. He briefly served as the member for Algoa Bay

Algoa Bay

Algoa Bay is a wide inlet along the South African east coast, some 425 miles east of the Cape of Good Hope. It is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to 436 m deep...

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