William A. White

William Andrew White, II (June 16, 1874 – September 9, 1936) was a Nova Scotian who became the first black officer in the British army. He served in World War I as a chaplain, the only black chaplain in the entire British Army during the war. He was the father of singer Portia White and politicians Bill White and Jack White. In 1936, White was awarded an honorary doctorate from Acadia University, the first Black Canadian to be given an honorary doctorate.

He was born to former slaves in King and Queen County, Virginia. He came to Nova Scotia in 1900 after a Canadian school teacher in Baltimore, Maryland impressed him with descriptions of the province. He pictured this land as his key to freedom. He became the second black man accepted by Acadia University and the first to be later honoured with a Doctorate of Divinity. White graduated from Acadia in 1903 with an arts degree in theology, was ordained a minister, and spent the next two years as a travelling missionary for the African Baptist churches of Nova Scotia.

In 1916, White enlisted in the No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all black segregated unit serving in World War I. He was the only black chaplain in the entire British Army and was a commissioned officer serving with the rank of Captain. A documentary film entitled, Honour Before Glory, was produced based on the diary of William White while he served in France. The film was produced by his great-nephew, actor and filmmaker, Anthony Sherwood.

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