Claude Ellsworth WHITE (aka Claud) [1893-1952]

Submitted by David on Tue, 11/13/2018 - 15:49
Names
Given
Claude Ellsworth
Family
White
Alias / nickname
Claud
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
Birthplace (town, state)
Kansas City
Birthplace (country)
United States
Died
Date

He's listed in the 1941 Jurors List:

c   White, Claud Ellsworth Manager, Far East Motors 36 Hankow Road, 2nd floor, K'loon.
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Claude (sic) on official documents

Claude Ellsworth White registered as American  citizen at American  Consulate Hong Kong 20 March 1918

19 April 1924 Claude Ellsworth White 32 engineer, Mrs Renee Sera White (nee KOMOR) 23 and Jennie Paula White 1 travelled from Hong Kong to Kansas City USA

Walter Louis White born 6 June 1925 Matilda Hospital, The Peak, Hong Kong and registered as an American citizen  in HK by American Consulate.

Renee Sera White (nee KOMOR) naturalised by marriage to Claude Ellsworth White 26 November 1921. Born Nagasaki to Hungarian parents.

Jennie Paula White born 31st August Matilda Hospital The Peak Hong Kong

Information from death report American Consulate General Hong Kong  B.C.C. 15 September 1952

Claude Ellsworth White Born 31 May 1893 Kansas City USA

Died at Forfar Road Kowloon Hong Kong at 2:30 p.m. 8 September 1952 aged 59

Cause of death coronary thrombosis. Last known address is USA Los Angeles California

Cremated. Ashes to be retained by Mrs C E White widow for indefinite period for eventual local burial. Copy of the report sent to Mrs C E White (widow) 2 Forfar Road Kowloon Hong Kong. Jennie Paula Dunnett daughter 1 Taipo Market Road Kwloon Hong Kong and Walter Louis White son in Washington USA

Claude Ellsworth White appears to have arrived in Hong Kong in the 1910s. He later married Renee Sera White and had two children, Jenny Paula White and Walter Louis White, born 31 August 1922 and 6 June 1925 in Hong Kong respectively.

Before the Japanese invasion, C. E. White was the manager of Far East Motors. He was well connected to important and influential people through the Company's motor vehicle dealership. During the Battle of Hong Kong, C. E. White, his daughter, Jenny Paula Dunnett and her infant son, Michael got caught up in the siege of the Repulse Bay Hotel. (See Gwen Dew's Prisoner of the Japs -https://archive.org/details/prisonerofthejap007029mbp/page/n11/mode/2up?q=dunnett ) They were interned in Stanley Camp and later repatriated to the United States in 1942. 

No information on his wife, Renee Sera White or son, Walter Louis White. They may have been evacuated to the United States prior to the Japanese invasion.

After the Pacific War ended, Claude Ellsworth White returned to Hong Kong to resume operation at Far East Motors as mentioned at: https://industrialhistoryhk.org/far-east-motors-distributor-of-chevrolet-cadillac-holden-and-standard-automobiles-and-operator-of-avis-rent-a-car-in-hk/ 

C. E. White died in Hong Kong in 1952. From the previous post by annpake, it appears that his wife and daughter were residing in Hong Kong at the time of his death. There is a granite headstone in the Hong Kong Cemetery in memory of him. See Hong Kong Memory website here

Further information from the Jewish Historical Society of Hong Kong:

1. https://jhshk.org/community/the-jewish-cemetery/burial-list/komor-siegfried/

2. https://jhshk.org/community/the-jewish-cemetery/burial-list/komor-siegfried/#jp-carousel-7178