William White, 1825-1900

Sketches of St John's Cathedral, Newfoundland, from 1846, appear in Scott’s own hand, which he would then hand over to his assistants for development. One of these was William White, the son of the curate of Blakesley, near Wappenham, whose father was a friend of Scott's father, and where Scott had built the parsonage in 1839. He entered Scott's office as an assistant in 1845 but only stayed two years. He met Street there, and the two men became firm friends, with White following the same architectural ideas that Street and Bodley were also developing at the ‘Spring Gardens Academy’. White left Scott in 1847, Street in 1849, and Bodley in 1850; so perhaps it is not unexpected that without these strong-minded proponents of the muscular style to both help him in his works and to influence his thinking, Scott should revert to his earlier picturesque style.