He was son of Peter White (died 19 December 1615), vicar of
Eaton Socon,
Bedfordshire, was born at Eaton Socon about 1564 (parish register begins in 1566). His father had five sons, all clergymen, among them
John White (1570?–1615),
chaplain to
James I. Francis, after passing through the grammar school at
St Neots,
Huntingdonshire, was admitted pensioner at
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, on 20 March 1579, aged 15. He graduated
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1583,
Cambridge Master of Arts (MA Cantab) in 1586, and was ordained priest by
John Aylmer,
Bishop of London, on 17 May 1588. His early preferments were the rectory of
Broughton Astley,
Leicestershire, a lectureship at
St. Paul's Cathedral, London, and the rectory of
St. Peter's, Cornhill, London. In controversy against Catholicism he took a prominent part, and it produced his first publication. He graduated
Doctor of Divinity (DD) in 1618. Early in 1622 he was employed by James I as a disputant against
John Percy alias Fisher (1569–1641), to stay the Roman Catholic tendencies of
Mary, Countess of Buckingham. He held two conferences; the third (24 May 1622) was entrusted to
William Laud. White's
Replie to Fisher (1624) was dedicated to James I. On 14 September 1622 White was presented to the deanery of Carlisle (installed 15 October). He took part, in conjunction with
Daniel Featley, in another discussion with Fisher, opened on 27 June 1623, at the house of
Humphrey Lynde, in Sheer Lane, London. In 1625 White became senior dean of
Sion College, London, which existed then only on paper. He was consecrated
Bishop of Carlisle on 3 December 1626 at
Durham House, London, by
Richard Neile,
Bishop of Durham;
John Buckeridge,
Bishop of Rochester; and three other prelates,
John Cosin preaching the consecration sermon. His elevation was much canvassed. It was said that he had 'sold his orthodoxe bookes and bought Jesuits'.' Sir Walter Earle referred to the matter in parliament (11 February 1628), quoting the line 'Qui color albus erat, nunc est contrarius albo'. He was made
Lord Almoner the same year. On 22 January 1629 he was elected
Bishop of Norwich; and he was elected
Bishop of Ely on 15 November 1631. Shortly afterwards he held a conference at
Ely House,
Holborn, with
Theophilus Brabourne on the Sabbath question, and had much to do with Brabourne's subsequent prosecution. His
Treatise of the Sabbath-Day (1635; 3rd ed. 1636) was dedicated to Laud and written at the command of Charles I. White treated the question doctrinally; its historical aspect was assigned to
Peter Heylyn. He visited Cambridge in 1632, to consecrate the chapel of
Peterhouse. His last publication was
An Examination and Confutation of . . . A Briefe Answer to a late Treatise of the Sabbath-Day, 1637; this
Briefe Answer was a dialogue by
Richard Byfield, with title ''The Lord's Day is the Sabbath Day'' (1636). He died at Ely House, Holborn, in February 1638, and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. His will, dated 4 March 1637, proved 27 February 1638 by his widow Joane White, shows that he survived a son, and left married daughters and several grandchildren; the bulk of his property went to his grandson Francis White. Among many, White ordained
Ralph Wheelock,
Clare College graduate, and first schoolmaster of America's first free school in
Dedham, Massachusetts, on 6 May 1630. == Theology ==