Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane

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Richard Burdon Sanderson Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, (July 30, 1856 - August 19, 1928), was an important British Liberal and Labour politician, lawyer, and philosopher.

[edit] Biography

Richard Haldane was born in Edinburgh, the son of Robert Haldane and his wife Elizabeth. He was the grandson of the Scottish evangelist James Alexander Haldane. His brother was respiratory physiologist John Scott Haldane, and his sister was the author Elizabeth Haldane.

Haldane was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and then at the University of Edinburgh and Gottingen University. After studying law in London, he was called to the bar in 1879 and was a rather successful lawyer. In 1885 he was elected a Liberal member of Parliament for East Lothian. 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 more and more to the left. However, he was held back by his ties to the Liberal Party and to Asquith. It was not 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. 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.

[edit] External links

• Works by Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane at Project Gutenberg

Preceded by: Hugh Oakely Arnold-Forster	Secretary of State for War 1905–1912	Succeeded by: John Seely
Preceded by: The Earl of Loreburn	Lord Chancellor 1912–1915	Succeeded by: The Lord Buckmaster
Preceded by: The Viscount Cave	Lord Chancellor 1924	Succeeded by: The Viscount Cave
Preceded by: The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston	Leader of the House of Lords 1924	Succeeded by: The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
Preceded by: Henry Overton Wills III	Chancellor of the University of Bristol 1912–1928	Succeeded by: Winston Churchill
Preceded by: The Earl Haig	Chancellor of the University of St Andrews 1928	Succeeded by: The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley

Preceded by: New Creation

Viscount Haldane

Succeeded by: Extinct