Fonds consists of documents relating to the professional life of William White including records of his service as ship’s steward’s boy starting in 1854 aboard HMS Lyra serving in East Africa and records of his service on HMS Scout from 1870 to 1875 while stationed in Esquimalt.

Also includes records pf his service on HMS Cumberland, Medusa, Agincourt, Revenge, Wizard, and Hibernia including letters of recommendations from captains, a shipping list from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1872, a British Columbia license to sell and retail trader, a personal letter from a captain to White’s mother, and two certificates of De Lessepps’ Panama Canal dating to 1893.

Also includes several photographs of White, including one with his wife and 10 children in 1902.