Archibald Richard Burdon Haldane

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(18 November 1900 – 18 October 1982) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

social historian Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to co ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

. He was the son of Edith (née Nelson) and Sir William Haldane, grandson of

James Alexander Haldane The Rev James Alexander Haldane aka Captain James Haldane (14 July 1768 – 8 February 1851) was a Scottish independent church leader following an earlier life as a sea captain. Biography The youngest son of Captain James Haldane of Airt ...

, and nephew of

Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, (; 30 July 1856 – 19 August 1928) was a Scottish-born English lawyer, philosopher, an influential British Liberal and later Labour politician and statesman. He was Secretary of State for War ...

. His brother was Graeme Haldane and he married Janet Macrae Simpson-Smith. Like his father and uncles, he attended the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

, after which he went up to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

to read history. He returned to Scotland to enter his father's legal firm and acted for a time as Fiscal to the Society of Writers to the Signet. He then became involved in the Savings Bank movement and was at one stage vice-chairman of the Savings Bank Association. In 1968, he was appointed a

in recognition of his work for the bank. He was principally known, however, as a social historian and author, and for his seminal work on the

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to marketplace, market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were anci ...

s of Scotland. In recognition for his work in this field, he was awarded the honorary degree of D Litt from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1952. He published two further books in this field, ''New Ways through the Glens'' and ''Three centuries of Scottish posts'', as well as several on his favourite pastime of trout fishing, of which he was passionately fond.

Selected bibliography

* ''By Many Waters: A Record of Fishing and Walking'' - 1940 * ''The Path by the Water'' - 1944 * ''The Drove Roads of Scotland'' - 1952 * ''New Ways Through the Glens: Highland Road, Bridge and Canal Makers of the Early 19th Century'' - 1962 * ''Three Centuries of Scottish Posts: an Historical Survey to 1836'' - 1971 * ''By River, Stream and Loch: Thirty Years with a Trout Rod'' - 1973 * ''Great Fishmonger of the Tay: John Richardson of Perth and Pitfour, 1760-1821'' - 1981

References

Sources

* ''175 Accies'' by Bill Stirling, 1999 (collection of biographical sketches of 175 selected pupils of Edinburgh Academy) {{DEFAULTSORT:Haldane, A. R.B. 1900 births 1982 deaths Scottish scholars and academics People educated at Edinburgh Academy A. R.B. Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire