Colin White

Colin Saunders White (1951-2008), was director of the Royal Naval Museum, and was one of Britain's leading experts on Admiral Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar.

He was born in Bromley, Kent, and moved with his family to Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, at a young age. Educated at Culford School, Bury St. Edmunds, he attended Southampton University where he took his bachelor's degree in history in 1974, and Kings College, London, where he took an M.A. in War Studies in 1975.

Colin White first became a staff member of the Royal Naval Museum in September 1975 as a research assistant, rising to become Chief Curator in 1982, then Deputy Director and Head of Museum Services in 1996, with special responsibility for the Museum's ambitious Development Plan. In 2000, he was appointed Chairman of the Official Nelson Celebrations Committee, with responsibility for co-ordinating The Trafalgar 200 Festival, a national and international series of events to mark the bicentenary of Trafalgar in 2005. He was Chairman, Official Nelson Commemorations Committee, 2001-2006. In 2006 he was appointed Director of the Royal Naval Museum and was holding that position at the time of his death from cancer.

A well-known figure on the lecture circuit, he lectured on cruise ships, in the USA, and in the UK. He regularly appeared in the British radio, TV and print media, especially during the bicentenary, when he presented his own Radio 4 series: "Nelson: the latest." He was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and a Vice President of the Navy Records Society and of The 1805 Club.