Sir Luke White was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

  Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician.

Early life

White was born at Deighton

Deighton

People named Deighton* Jeremy Deighton, American soccer player* John Deighton * Len Deighton * Michelle Deighton * Ernest Deighton Places named Deighton*Deighton, Hambleton, North Yorkshire...

, Yorkshire. He was a solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

 by profession, served as Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 and was from 1897 Coroner

Coroner

A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

 for the East Riding of Yorkshire

East Riding of Yorkshire

The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

.

Liberal agent

In the 1886 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1886

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

 he was agent to the Liberal candidate for the Buckrose constituency

Buckrose (UK Parliament constituency)

Buckrose was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a county constituency comprising the northern part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, represented by one Member of Parliament, and was created for the 1885 general election.It was redefined in...

 in the east of Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, William Alexander McArthur

William Alexander McArthur

William Alexander McArthur , was a British Liberal politician.McArthur was born in Australia, the son of Alexander McArthur and his wife Maria Boden. His father was a businessman and politician in Australia and England, becoming MP for Leicester...

. At that election, McArthur was declared the victor over his Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 opponent Christopher Sykes

Christopher Sykes (MP)

Sir Christopher Sykes was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1892. He was a friend of Edward VII as Prince of Wales....

 by a single vote, 3,742 to 3,741. McArthur and took his seat, but "on scrutiny" the seat was eventually awarded to Sykes.

Liberal MP

In 1899, the sitting Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Buckrose Sir Angus Holden

Angus Holden, 1st Baron Holden

Angus Holden, 1st Baron Holden was an English Liberal Party politician who was active in local government and sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1885 and 1900...

 announced he was standing down from politics at the next election and White was adopted by the Buckrose Liberal Council to succeed him. At the time of his adoption White was Chairman of Driffield Urban Council and had previously been an Alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 of the East Riding County Council

East Riding of Yorkshire

The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

. He was elected as MP for Buckrose at the General Election of 1900

United Kingdom general election, 1900

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

, albeit by the modest margin of 90 votes. At the 1906 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1906

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

 he increased his majority to 1,602 votes. Political times had become tougher by 1910 however and at the January 1910 general election White's majority dropped to 218. He held on in December 1910 too. During 1918 White's health began to worsen and as a result in July of that year he announced he would not be seeking re-election at the 1918

United Kingdom general election, 1918

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

. White was knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

ed for political and public service in the King's Birthday Honours List in November 1908.

Bankruptcy

White's standing down because of ill-health may however have been a touch diplomatic for after the general election it emerged that White was in serious financial difficulty with debts of more than £21,000 much of which had apparently been run up in election expenses. White was called to appear before the Scarborough Bankruptcy Court but failed to attend citing his poor health. A warrant for his arrest on fraud charges, jointly with a local solicitor, Harold Brown described in the press as White's clerk, was later issued but the court was told that White's physical and mental health would not allow him to be moved and the warrant was suspended. After a six-day hearing Brown was acquitted of the charges in June 1919. White died in 1920.

External links