 White's persona as a generous and committed Scottish Presbyterian was at odds with his exploitation of the workers at his Shawfield Chemical Works, the source of his great wealth.Politician and leader of the nascent Labour Party, Keir Hardie, exposed the scandalous working conditions there in a series of pamphlets published in 1899 entitled "White Slaves".Lord Overtoun's father, James White of Overtoun (1812–1884) was originally a lawyer, who had left the legal profession to join John & James White, chemical manufacturers, a firm founded by his father and uncle at Rutherglen in 1810.