Helen Maria (Thompson) Barnaby

This donation came from Helen Maria (Thompson) Barnaby of Saint John, but the artefacts, all from Burma, were said to have been brought back from the East by her son-in-law, Captain White of the Imperial Service. On 23 June 1909, in what was described in the newspaper as “a brilliant wedding” Helen’s eldest daughter, Winifred Chipman Barnaby, married Captain Maurice Forbes White, M.B., of the Indian medical service.

Captain White (born 9 July 1877) was from Craig Tay, Dundee, Scotland, the son of a lawyer (John Forbes White). He received his medical degrees about 1901 and must have joined the Imperial forces about 1904 when he attained the rank of lieutenant. He became Captain in 1907, major in 1915 and lieutenant-colonel in 1923.

According to the wedding notice, the groom had family in England, Scotland, India and Persia, and following their honeymoon, the couple was to take up residence in India. They may have been in Liverpool in 1910 when White received a diploma in tropical medicine. During the First World War, White served in various places. That the donation was “brought back” from the East suggests that the Whites were in Saint John in 1916. White died in Bombay on 4 December 1925. Eleven years later, when Helen Barnaby died in 1936, her daughter Winifred was living with her in London, England.

Was Captain White’s medical service actually in Burma? How long did he live in Asia? Who were his relatives in India and Persia and why were they living in those countries?