Timothy Whites

The older generation will remember Timothy White’s shops as a mainstay of over 622 high streets through Britain. Timothy White opened his first shop selling household essentials in Portsea in 1848. Over the next decades he expanded to the Isle of Wight, Chichester and Petersfield. He was also involved in the wider life of the Town, being a supporter of the local Ragged School, a trustee of St John Portsea and a founder of the Portsmouth military volunteer movement. After Timothy’s death in 1908, the business was expanded throughout the country by his son and descendants. The chain was eventually sold to Boots in 1968.