[RIGHT]  A coloured picture postcard produced by William Wareham of the Ornamental Water, situated near the seafront at Littlehampton (c1915)

It appears that John White was a picture frame maker when he arrived in Littlehampton. In 1874, John White established a photographic studio at 11 River Road, Littlehampton. According to H. J. F. Thompson, the author of The  Picturemakers, John White was able to finance his photography business from the proceeds of "a monetary award that was made to him for his part in providing information which led to the apprehension of a smuggler". In June 1876, after a couple of years at the River Road studio, White moved to 32 High Street, Littlehampton, where he was to remain for more than twenty years.

John White was Littlehampton's leading photographer throughout the 1880s and 1890s. At the time of the 1881 census, John White was living at his High Street premises with his London-born, 25 year old wife Alice (born c1856, Shepherds Bush), and two young children - Arthur Harold White, aged 4, (birth registered in the East Preston District during the June Quarter of 1877) and Lillie Alice White aged 2, (birth registered in the East Preston District during the September Quarter of 1878). The White family's live-in servant, 16 year old Emma Arnott from London, worked as John White's assistant in his photography business. Sadly, Emma Arnott was to die young three years later, when she was only nineteen years of age.

[ABOVE] John White's studio at No 32 can be seen at the centre of this photograph of Littlehampton's High Street.(c1890). The last three letters of the word "PHOTOGRAPHER" can be seen on the side of the building.

John White & Son

By 1903, John White had taken his son, Arthur Harold White (born 1877,Littlehampton) into the business to form the firm of John White & Son. A group photograph (see right) suggests John White and his son was employing nearly a dozen workers in 1904. In addition to the firm's photography business, John White & Son also operated as a "Fine Art Dealer" in Littlehampton.

[ABOVE] A picture postcard of Littlehampton's seafront produced by J. White & Son around 1910

The photography business of J. White & Son continued well into the twentieth century, eventually closing down in 1968.

[ABOVE] John White with his staff in 1904. The photographer Frank Spry was working for White in 1904, just before he left to establish his own photography business in Littlehampton. One of the younger lads in this group photograph could be Alfred (Alexander) MacDonald, who was killed in action on 24th January 1917, at the age of twenty-six, during the First World War.

Acknowledgements & Sources

Thanks to Peter Merett  for providing additional information.