Haldane MacFall (24 July 1860 – 25 July 1928) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who became an authoritative

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

, the author of several works of art history, an essayist and a novelist. He illustrated many of his own works, as well as

bookplate An , also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. Simple typographical bookplates are ...

s and cover art for others, and exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Early life

Chambers Haldane Cooke MacFall was born in Roy Bareilli, Bengal, (now

Raebareli Raebareli () is a city in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Raebareli district, and a part of Lucknow Division and comes under the Uttar Pradesh State Capital Region (UP-SCR). The city is situated on the ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 24 July 1860. His father, David Chambers McFall (1833–1898) was an army surgeon attached to the Indian border regiment. His mother, Abigail Crawford, died while Haldane and his younger brother Albert William Crawford McFall (1862–1923) were young children. The family returned to England in the late 1860s and in 1870 Haldane's father remarried a sixteen year old, Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke, later to become a successful novelist under the pseudonym

Sarah Grand Sarah Grand (10 June 1854 – 12 May 1943) was an Irish-English feminist writer active from 1873 to 1922. Her work revolved around the New Woman ideal. Early life and influences Sarah Grand was born Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke in Ros ...

. Like his father and grandfather Thomas, Haldane chose a career in the army and undertook officer training at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

Career

He graduated from Sandhurst as a Second Lieutenant and in 1885 joined the

West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...

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. After service in the

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he fought with the Regiment in the

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campaign, which was where he began his literary and artistic career, writing about his experiences for

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd with Thomas's brother, Lewis Samuel Thomas, as a co-founder. The Graphic was set up as ...

and also contributing illustrations to the magazine. However, a tropical disease he contracted during his posting in West Africa forced his retirement from the army in 1890 with the rank of Lieutenant. Wishing to pursue his interest in art, he lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in the early 1890s, before returning to England to earn his livelihood mainly as a writer. In 1898, he moved in with his stepmother, Sarah Grand, who was then living in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

. She had left Haldane's father, and their son David, in 1890, after an unhappy marriage and was successfully pursuing her own writing career. Haldane set his first novel ''The Wooings of Jezebel Pettyfer'' in Jamaica and, unusually for the time, it had a West Indian hero. It was published the year he moved into Sarah's house. His next novel, ''The Masterfolk'', was a witty portrait of

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

life in London and Paris in the 1890s. Published in 1903, it was also the year he married Mabel Anne Plumridge (1861–1931), daughter of Admiral Sir James Hanway Plumridge and his third wife Georgina Skinner, whose brother was another army officer, Thomas Skinner. He continued to write for periodicals, combining his interest in art with critiques of exhibitions; writings which are said to have drawn the attention of Whistler. But it was his books on art, particularly his biographies of artists which became his primary source of income. Between 1903 and 1909 he wrote biographies of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

, Whistler,

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific art ...

and

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (; ; 16 April 1755 – 30 March 1842), also known as Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun or simply as Madame Le Brun, was a French painter who mostly specialized in portrait painting, in the late 18th and early 19t ...

, as well as several histories of art movements, numerous illustrations and book covers. During this period Haldane also collaborated with several artists, including

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (né Gaudier; 4 October 1891 – 5 June 1915) was a French artist and sculptor who developed a rough-hewn, primitive style of direct carving. Biography Henri Gaudier was born in Saint-Jean-de-Braye near Orléans. In 1910, ...

, who sculpted his bust and

Claud Lovat Fraser Claud Lovat Fraser (15 May 1890 London – 18 June 1921, Dymchurch) was an English artist, designer and author. Early life Claud Lovat Fraser was christened Lovat Claud; as a young man he reversed those names for euphony's sake but he was alw ...

, who with

Edward Gordon Craig Edward Henry Gordon CraigSome sources give "Henry Edward Gordon Craig". (born Edward Godwin; 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966), sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director an ...

, provided illustrations for his essay on art and aesthetics, ''The Splendid Wayfaring'' (1913). He was fluent in French.

Later life

Grave of Haldane Macfall in Highgate Cemetery

He was 54 years old at the outbreak of the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914, but he returned to the army and, although he was not sent to the front, he proved to be an efficient officer and was promoted rapidly to end the war with the rank of Major. Throughout the War he continued to write, publishing several books and essays on military topics. His final work was a spirited defence of his friend

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...

, published in 1928, the year of his death. He is buried with his wife Mabel on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

Novels

* ''The Wooings of Jezebel Pettyfer'' (1898) * ''The Masterfolk'' (1903) * ''Rouge'' (1906) * ''The Three Students'' (1926)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacFall, Haldane English art critics 20th-century English novelists British art historians British illustrators West India Regiment officers Sherwood Foresters officers 1860 births 1928 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery British Army personnel of World War I Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British military personnel in colonial India People from the Bengal Presidency 19th-century British Army personnel