Henry Fancourt White

Henry Fancourt White, (1811 Yorkshire - 6 October 1866 George), was a Colonial Assistant Surveyor from Port Macquarie, Australia who came to South Africa and played a part in construction of the Montagu Pass between George and Oudtshoorn, over the Outeniqua Mountains.

He was born in Yorkshire in 1811 and emigrated to the Cape with his parents as British 1820 Settlers. They were allocated land at Riviersonderend near the mission station of Genadendal, but resettled at Assegaaibosch in the Langkloof. He left South Africa for Australia in order to acquire road-building experience.

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 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.

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

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