Walter White was born on April 23, 1811, in Reading, Berkshire, England.

He was a librarian and writer. He was educated at two local private schools. At fourteen, White left school to work in his father’s upholstering and cabinet-making business. He spent much of his leisure time reading and studying French, German, and Latin. In 1834, soon after his marriage, he moved his family to the United States in hopes of a better life. White plied his trade in New York City and Poughkeepsie without improving his circumstances and finding the cold winters hard to endure. His account of the emigrant's life, “A Working Man's Recollections of America”, was published in 1846. The family returned to England in 1839, where White rejoined his father's business, but in 1842, he left for London. He worked first as secretary to Joseph Mainzer, a music teacher, and later as an attendant in the Royal Society's library. He became involved in the process of cataloguing and in 1861, he was promoted to assistant secretary. In 1845, White's wife left him, and he was obliged to dispose of the family house. Only his eldest son remained with him. During this time, White wrote extensively for Chambers's Edinburgh Journal and other serials.

In 1830, he married Maria Hamilton (1806–1850). He died on July 18, 1893, in London, England.