Patrick White

Patrick White is a historical fiction and fiction author that is regarded as one of the major novelists of the past century. The author was born in London in 1912 as the eldest child of the grazier Martindale White an Australian from New South Wales and his English-born wife Ruth Withycombe who also had roots in New South Wales. His paternal grandfather was property owner Francis White who had several properties in Edinglassie, Belltrees, and Martindale in New South Wales. In 1916, his father bought a large house in Elizabeth Sydney that he named Lulworth. White was soon afflicted with asthma and he never got back his health until his death. In 1920, Patrick got into Cranbrook School in Sydney but two years later, he transferred to the Tudor House boarding school where the climate was supposedly better for his asthma. From a very young age, his mother who had encouraged his artistic proclivities took him with her to the theatre which is something that she had always loved. Very enthusiastic about the theatre, Patrick wrote “Love Awakening,” his first play and then published a poem in the school magazine in 1924.