Thomas Walter White was born in North Melbourne in 1888 and was educated at Moreland State School in Melbourne and privately. In 1911 he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Citizen Military Forces and, in 1914, founded the Australian Aero Club. During World War I, he served as a Captain with the first overseas flying unit (First Half Flight) and was attached to the Royal Flying Corps in Mesopotamia (1915). White was captured by the Turks near Bagdad on 13 November 1915 but escaped from Turkey in July 1918, arriving in London via Russia five months later. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1919 and was twice mentioned in despatches. 

In March 1920, a few months after his return to Australia, White married Vera Deakin, daughter of the former Prime Minister, Hon Alfred Deakin. He was Managing Director of C J White and Sons Pty Ltd in Melbourne (1920-32) and President of Melbourne Legacy Club (1925) and of the Australian Aero Club (1925-27). Promoted to Major in 1921 and to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1926, he also commanded the 6th Battalion (Royal Melbourne Regiment) (1926-31). 

Following two unsuccessful attempts, White was elected to federal Parliament in August 1929, at a by-election for the seat of Balaclava in Victoria caused by the resignation of W A Watt. He held the seat for twenty-two years, initially as a Nationalist, then as a member of the United Australia Party and, from 1944, representing the Liberal Party. In the Lyons Government, White was Temporary Chairman of Committees (1932) and Minister for Trade and Customs (1933-38). In the latter capacity he led a trade mission to New Zealand in 1937, and was an Australian delegate to the International Refugee Conference in Evian (France) in 1938. He resigned his portfolio in November 1938 when Lyons excluded him from the inner Cabinet in a ministerial reshuffle. 

During World War II, White was as officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (initially Flight Lieutenant, Wing Commander from 1941, Acting Group Captain from 1943). He served overseas (1941-43), including as Commanding Officer of the Royal Air Force Station in Brighton (England) for a period. He was demobilised in December 1944 and resumed his political career. In the first post-war Menzies Government, White was Minister for Air and Minister for Civil Aviation (1949-51). In this capacity he led the Australian delegation to the Fourth Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal in 1950. He resigned from federal Parliament on being appointed Australian High Commissioner in London (1951-56). 

White was also one of the founders of the Flying Doctor Service; a member of the governing bodies of the College of Aeronautics, the Imperial College of Science and Technology and the Imperial Institute; Australian Chairman of the Royal Life Saving Society (1934-51); a founder and President of the Australian Musical Society and of the Caulfield Branch of the RSL; and Chairman of the Empire Council of the British Empire Service League. He was the author of two publications, 'Guests of the Unspeakable' (London, John Hamilton, 1928), the story of his captivity and escape from Turkey, and 'Sky Saga: a story of Empire airmen' (London, Hutchinson, 1943). 

Sir Thomas White was made a Knight Commander in the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1952 and died at his Melbourne home in October 1957.

Sources:

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 16, 1940-1980 'Pik-Z', pp 533-5
Parliamentary Handbook 1953, pp 286-7
Who's Who in Australia 1955, p 804

Agency associated with person unregistered

1914-1914: Australian Aero Club - Founder
1925-1925: Australian Aero Club - Federal Chairman
1925-1925: Melbourne Legacy Club - President
1925-1927: Australian Aero Club, Victoria - President
1937-1937: Trade Mission to New Zealand - Leader
1937-1937: Ministerial Delegation to London to discuss trade matters
           arising out of Ottawa Agreement - Member
1938-1938: International Refugee Conference, Evian - Australian
           Delegate
1950-1950: Australian delegation to Fourth Assembly of the
           International Civil Aviation Organization at Montreal -
           Leader