Henry G. White

The antiquities seized from Alessandro Palma di Cesnola in 1878 were kept in a room of Colonel Henry G. White's house in Larnaca. White was Commissioner of Larnaca, and Stanley-Price records that he forwarded Lieutenant Spencer's reports on the excavations at Enkomi to Colonel George Greaves in Nicosia, after which Greaves ordered the police to Enkomi¹. Alessandro Palma di Cesnola presented himself at White's house on 6 October 1878. White sat as Assessor at the trial in the Civil Court of Larnaca, with Claude Delaval Cobham interpreting¹.

The confiscated finds became a sight for visitors. Esmé Scott-Stevenson wrote that they were "under lock and key in a room at the Commissioner's house. Colonel White allowed me to see some of the treasures"⁴. Lady Brassey was shown them in 1878³. At the trial Cesnola's defence said that antiquities were owned and for sale in nearly every house in Larnaca and that he was one among many, "including Commissioner White himself", who had purchased them; Stanley-Price reports this as the defence's assertion¹.

A Lieutenant-Colonel H. G. White wrote to the British Museum between 1879 and 1899, among other things on "Excavations in Cyprus" on 24 June 1895². Whether he was the Commissioner is unclear, since the sources give only the initials. His dates of birth and death are not recorded.