- Colin White (historian)
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Colin Saunders White (born in Bromley, Kent on 28 August 1951- died in Portsmouth on 25 December 2008), was director of the Royal Naval Museum, and was one of Britain's leading experts on Admiral Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar.
Contents
Early life and education
The eldest of two boys born to a chartered electrical engineer and a former Wren, he moved with his family from South London to Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, at a young age. Educated at Culford School, Bury St. Edmunds, he attended Southampton University where he took his bachelor's degree in history in 1974, and Kings College, London, where he took an M.A. in War Studies in 1975.
Museum career
Colin White first became a staff member of the Royal Naval Museum in September 1975 as a research assistant, rising to become Chief Curator in 1982, then Deputy Director and Head of Museum Services in 1996, with special responsibility for the Museum's ambitious Development Plan. In 2000, he was appointed Chairman of the Official Nelson Celebrations Committee, with responsibility for co-ordinating The Trafalgar 200 Festival, a national and international aeries of events to mark the bicentenary of Trafalgar in 2005. He was Chairman, Official Nelson Commemorations Committee, 2001-2006. In 2006 he was appointed Director of the Royal Naval Museum and was holding that position at the time of his death from cancer.[1]
A well-known figure on the lecture circuit, he lectured on cruise ships, in the US, and in the UK. He regularly appeared in the British radio, TV and print media, especially during the bicentenary, when he presented his own Radio 4 series: "Nelson: the latest."
Colin White was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and a Vice President of the Navy Records Society and of The 1805 Club.
He was a long standing member of the Southsea Shakespeare Actors, a server at Portsmouth Cathedral, and a keen theatre and cinema goer.
Awards and honours
- Honorary D.Litt. degree, University of Portsmouth, 2004.
- Desmond Wettern Media Award, “For being the most visible spokesman of Britain’s maritime interests in 2005”.
- Distinguished book Prize, Society for Military History, 2006.
- Longmans-History Today Trustees Award, 2006.
- Distinguished Book Prize, Society for Military History, 2006.
- Honorary Captain, Royal Naval Reserve, 2006.
Published works
- Victoria's navy: the end of the sailing navy. Havant, 1981.
- The Royal Navy in peace and war. Pitkin Pictorials, 1989.
- Victoria's navy: the heyday of steam. Emsworth, 1983.
- HMS Victory. Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1994.
- Nelson's last walk. Nelson Society, 1996.
- The Nelson companion. Stroud: Sutton, 1995; Stroud: Royal Naval Museum Publications [in association with] Sutton, 2005.
- The battle of Cape St Vincent, 14 February 1797. Shelton: The 1805 Club, 1997.
- 1797: Nelson's year of destiny: Cape St. Vincent and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Stroud: Sutton, 1998; Paperback edition, Stroud: Sutton Pub., 2006.
- The Nelson encyclopaedia. London: Chatham in association with the Royal Naval Museum, 2002.
- Nelson. Pitkin Biographical Guide. Hampshire: Jarrold Publishing, 2003.
- Nelson, the new letters. Woodbridge: Boydell Press in association with the National Maritime Museum, 2005.
- Nelson: the Admiral. Stroud: Sutton, 2005.
- The Trafalgar captains: their lives and memorials. Colin White and the 1805 Club. London: Chatham, 2005.
Notes
External links
Categories:- 1951 births
- 2008 deaths
- English naval historians
- Old Culfordians
- Horatio Nelson
- Fellows of the Royal Historical Society
- Alumni of the University of Southampton
- Alumni of King's College London
- People associated with the University of Portsmouth
- Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
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