Hale White

William Hale White 1887 crayon drawing by Arthur Hughes (1831-1915)

William Hale White (December 22, 1831 - March 14, 1913), known by his pseudonym Mark Rutherford, was a British writer and civil servant.

Life and career

Plaque on his birthplace.

White was born in Bedford and educated at Bedford Modern School. His father, William White, a member of the Nonconformist community of the Bunyan Meeting, moved the family to London, where he was well known as a doorkeeper of the House of Commons; he wrote sketches of parliamentary life for the Illustrated Times, his son collected the writings and later released them as The Inner Life of the House of Commons in 1897. White was educated for the Congregational ministry, but the development of his views prevented his taking up that career, and he became a clerk in the Admiralty. He had already served an apprenticeship to journalism before he made his name with three autobiographical novels, supposedly edited by one Reuben Shapcott: The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford (1881), Mark Rutherford's Deliverance (1885), and The Revolution in Tanner's Lane (1887). Under his own name he translated Spinoza's Ethic (1883). Later books are Miriam's Schooling, and other Papers (1890), Catherine Furze (2 vols., 1893), Clara Hopgood (1896), Pages from a Journal, with other Papers (1900), and John Bunyan (1905). Though for a long time little appreciated by the public, his novels, particularly the earlier ones, share a power and style which must always give his works a place of their own in the literary history of their time. George Orwell described Mark Rutherford's Deliverance as 'one of the best novels written in English'. Bedford now has a school named after him (see Mark Rutherford School).

Family

His eldest son, Sir William Hale-White, was a distinguished doctor (sketch). His second son, Jack, married Agnes Hughes, one of Arthur Hughes' daughters.

Novels

• The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford: Dissenting Minister Trubner and Co., London, 1881
• Mark Rutherford's Deliverance Trubner and Co., London, 1885
• The Revolution in Tanner's Lane Trubner and Co., London, 1887
• Miriam's Schooling Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., London, 1890
• Catharine Furze T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1893
• Clara Hopgood T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1896

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• E. J. Feuchtwanger, White, William (1807–1882), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

External links

• Works by William Hale White at Project Gutenberg
• Mark Rutherford Resource

This article is about the British writer. For the English footballer, see Mark Rutherford (footballer).