Andrew White
Andrew White, born in London in 1579 to Catholic parents, was a significant figure in early American history, particularly known for his role in the establishment of the Maryland colony. Educated in institutions for outlawed English Catholics, he became a Jesuit priest and engaged in secret missions to England during a time of intense Protestant-Catholic tensions. After serving as a theology teacher in continental Europe, White embarked on a missionary journey to the New World at age fifty, influenced by his acquaintance with George Calvert, the first Lord of Baltimore.
In 1633, White wrote a pamphlet to promote the Maryland colony and later chronicled its early settlement in his work, "A Relation of the Successful Beginnings of the Lord Baltimore's Plantation in Maryland." His writings are recognized as vital historical accounts of the colony's formation. White's dedication to the Piscataway Indians led him to learn their language and create linguistic resources, reflecting his commitment to cultural engagement. However, his alignment with the indigenous community caused friction with colonial authorities. During the English Civil War, he was captured and ultimately exiled back to England, where he spent his later years as a private chaplain. White's life illustrates the complexities of religious and cultural interactions in early colonial America.
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Andrew White
Missionary
- Born: 1579
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: December 27, 1656
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Andrew White was born in London to Catholic parents in 1579. He was educated in a variety of colleges dedicated to outlawed English Catholics, including St. Alban’s College in Valladolid, Spain, and Douai College in Nord, France, where he would eventually be ordained as a priest. He served on secret Catholic missions to England, where he was caught and exiled; the early 1600’s in England were a time of much Protestant- Catholic friction, due in part to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
In 1607, White joined the Jesuits, taking his vows by 1609. He spent much of the next decade teaching theology at the universities of Louvain and Liège. He returned to England in 1619 for three years. When he subsequently returned to Liège, he was appointed prefect of studies. When the conservative views espoused by White, a follower of St. Thomas Aquinas, fell into disfavor in 1629, he decided to become a missionary to the New World at the age of fifty.
White had met George Calvert, the first Lord of Baltimore, during his trips to England during the 1620’s; like White, Calvert was Catholic, and the two were interested in founding a colony for English Catholics. When the charter for Maryland was granted to the second Lord Baltimore, White was asked to be one of the heads of the settlement mission. In order to attract support for the colony, White wrote English and Latin versions of a pamphlet titled A Declaration of Lord Baltemore’s Plantation in Mary-Land in 1633.
White sailed with the passengers and crew of the ships Ark and Dove in November of that year, and later wrote a history of the voyage and settlement in Maryland in 1634 titled A Relation of the Successful Beginnings of the Lord Baltimore’s Plantation in Maryland. White’s texts are considered to be the most historically important narratives of the settlement of Maryland. The next year, Lord Baltimore released A Relation of Maryland, a recruiting book for the colony that reprinted much of the work completed by White in his initial version.
As his writings indicate, White felt himself to be on a holy mission; for the eleven years after his landing in 1634, he visited many Indian tribes and colonists. He learned the language and dialects of the Piscataway Indians, eventually composing a dictionary, a grammar, and a catechism in their language. (Only the catechism is still extant.) Indeed, White became so interested in the Piscataway that he lived with them almost exclusively for six years and earned Lord Baltimore’s ire for siding with them in a dispute.
In 1644, during the English Civil War, White and another Jesuit were taken prisoner by Puritans in Virginia and shipped back to England, where he was initially imprisoned and then exiled. He asked that he be allowed to return to Maryland, but his request was denied. He eventually returned to England under an assumed name and worked as a private chaplain to a wealthy family of English nobility in Hampshire.