Ben attended school at Bishop's Waltham and he went to London to join the publishing business.
John was chaplain to the garrison in Gibraltar and it is said that Gilbert's seventeen year encouragement of his brother John to document the natural history of the southern tip of Iberia led to Gilbert's decision to document Selborne's natural history.
[2] John was to prepare a book for publication when he returned to England but his brother Ben, and Gilbert who was also consulted, agreed to reject, Fauna Calpensis.
White's son, also Benjamin, joined the firm and he was involved in publishing Gilbert's Selborne.
He never knew of the success of his brother Gilbert's book, as this started 30 years after his death when Natural History became fashionable.