Henry Kirke White was a Nottingham poet who drew inspiration for much of his poetry from Wilford and Clifton.  He was born in 1785 in Nottingham where the Exchange Walk Arcade now stands on Cheapside. A small slate plaque just inside the entrance to the Arcade marks the location.  He was the son of a butcher who became a lawyers Clerk in Bridlesmiths Gate when 14 years old. 
 

An Exhausting Pace 

He put all his energy into his work and his studies before taking his first steps into poetry.  In a letter to a friend he wrote:- 
'I have been for the last three months busily engaged in preparing a volume of poems for the press. To this undertaking every moment which I could snatch from business and sleep has been devoted ... perhaps you will deem me presumptuous that I venture to appear before the public at so early an age but I have been encouraged by ... men of eminence in the literary world ... I have not the capacity to pursue my studies as I would wish from a narrowness of income, this book if successful will be a material health to me.'   In fact he was expending so much energy in work, studies and poetry that he was becoming ill.   He became so fragile he believed he was about to die and made it known he wanted to be buried in one of his favorite locations, Wilford. 

By 1804 after he had published his volume of poems entitled 'Clifton Grove, A Sketch In Verse With Other Poems' he made the decision to turn his back on a promising career in law and to attend a university.  He may have come to this decision based on the criticism his book received.  The Monthly review in 1804 commented 'If Mr. White should be instructed ... he will doubtless, produce better sense and better rhymes.'   The journal did go on to praise Whites first youthful endeavors and to complement him on his hard work and zeal.  White was still very hurt and probably decided to go to Cambridge University to seek the instruction the journal suggested.  He was also by now considering a future in the Church. 

In preparation for University in 1804, Henry Kirke White was advised to spend a month on the coast to gather his strength. He instead chose his favorite Nottingham location of Wilford.  He would spend time in the church yard under his favorite tree or in a small wood hut on an islet in the Trent facing Clifton Grove.  The exact location of his residence in Wilford has been mis-represented over the years as the Manor House near Wilford Church. 

After his stay at Wilford, Kirke White left for Cambridge to begin his studies.  By 1806 his health had failed him and to such an extent that 'his mind was worn out, and it was the opinion of his medical attendants, that if he recovered, his intellect would have been affected.'  White did not recover and was buried at the All Saints Church in Cambridge at the age of 21.  His early death sparked a tide of sympathy for such a hard working youngster who had shown himself to be full of potential.  It is for these qualities he is really best remembered.  His poems were reappraised and looked on more charitably and he became a poet of mild note for his time. 

St. Wilfrids, the Wilford church has two memorials to Henry Kirke White. The first is a bright stained glass window showing the 'Offerings of the Magi' with 'In Memoriam H.K.W.' along the bottom. The second is a circular marble plate with a profile likeness of Kike White.  There is a Kirkewhite Walk along the boarder of the Meadows area of Nottingham ( once part of Wilford ) which adjoins Kirkwhite Court in the east with Kirkwhite Street in the west.  An avenue in Long Eaton next to Brooklands Junior School is also named 'Kirkwhite'.