Everything about Richard Burdon Haldane totally explained
Richard Burdon Sanderson Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane,
KT,
OM,
PC,
FRS,
FSA (
30 July 1856 -
19 August 1928), was an important
British Liberal and
Labour politician,
lawyer, and
philosopher.
Biography
Childhood and Family Background
Lord Haldane was born in
Edinburgh, the son of Robert Haldane and his wife Mary Elizabeth Burdon-Sanderson. He was the grandson of the Scottish evangelist
James Alexander Haldane. His brother was respiratory
physiologist John Scott Haldane, his nephew was
JBS Haldane and his sister was the
author Elizabeth Haldane.
Haldane received his first education at the
Edinburgh Academy and at the
Göttingen University and
University of Edinburgh where he received first-class honors in Philosophy and as Gray scholar and Ferguson scholar in philosophy of the four Scottish Universities. After studying law in
London, he was called to the bar in
1879 and was a very successful lawyer. Haldane remained a lifelong bachelor after his fiancée broke off their engagement.
In
1885 he was elected a
Liberal member of
Parliament for
Haddingtonshire. In
1895, he helped found the
London School of Economics. He was also a member of the
Coefficients dining club of social reformers set up in
1902 by the
Fabian campaigners
Sidney and
Beatrice Webb. In 1904 he was President of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club and gave the Toast to Sir Walter at the clubs annual dinner. In
1905, he was appointed
Secretary of State for War in
Henry Campbell Bannerman's administration. Haldane, a prominent Liberal Imperialist and close associate of
Herbert Henry Asquith, was a strong advocate of British commitments on the continent, and took great steps in preparing the
army for participation in a possible European war by establishing the
British Expeditionary Force. His tenure also saw the creation of the
Imperial General Staff, the
Territorial Army, the
Officer Training Corps, and the
Special Reserve. He was given a
peerage in
1911, becoming the
Viscount Haldane. Upon
Lord Loreburn's retirement in
1912, Haldane succeeded him as
Lord Chancellor, but was forced to resign in
1915, after being falsely accused of pro-
German sympathies.
As the war progressed, Haldane moved increasingly close to the Labour Party but he was held back by his ties to the Liberal Party and to Asquith. It wasn't until the general election of
1923 when Haldane made several speeches for
Labour candidates. When the
Labour government was formed by
Ramsay MacDonald, Haldane was recruited to serve once again as
Lord Chancellor. He was also joint Leader of the Labour Peers with
Lord Parmoor. Haldane was a vital member of the
Cabinet as he was one of only three members who had sat in a cabinet before; the other two had sat only briefly and for junior posts.
Haldane also served as second
Chancellor of the
University of Bristol, and was elected Chancellor of the
University of St Andrews shortly before his death.
Writings
He co-translated the first English edition of
Schopenhauer's
The World as Will and Representation, published between 1883 and 1886. He wrote several philosophical works, the best known of which is
The Reign of Relativity (
1921), which dealt with the
philosophical implications of the
theory of relativity.
He was president of the
Aristotelian Society from 1907 to 1908.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Richard Burdon Haldane'.
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