Mark Rutherford (William Hale White)

Between 1881 and 1897 five novels were published under the name of Mark Rutherford: The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford (1881) and Mark Rutherford’s Deliverance (1885) were followed by The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane (1887), Miriam’s Schooling (1890), Catharine Furze (1893), and Clara Hopgood (1896). The identity of their writer, William Hale White (b.1831–d.1913), was concealed under this pseudonym (and the device of a fictional editor, “Reuben Shapcott”) for many years, only gradually becoming known in his old age. His readership was small, though some titles have been regularly reprinted. White’s interests and literary output ranged much more widely than his fiction, including journalism, literary criticism, and philosophical translation. He did not begin as a novelist, but had been supplying newspaper columns for many years before the publication of the Autobiography. He continued writing until his death, and important material was published posthumously. Born in Bedford, and growing up within the fellowship of Bunyan Meeting, White is celebrated as a chronicler of English Protestant Dissent. His personal struggle for faith leads him to be associated with the Victorian ‘crisis of faith,’ though he should not be simplistically characterized as a ‘doubter.’ Initially intended for the ministry, but excluded in still imperfectly understood circumstances from his training at New College, London, he went on to a working life spent chiefly as a civil servant, rising to a position of some responsibility at the Admiralty. The early forced change of direction, and the evidence of his long intellectual engagement with questions of belief and life-purpose, form a central theme in assessments of his life and writing, shape the presentation of the key monographs on White, and are reflected in analysis of the novels. Widowed in middle age, a late second marriage to the much younger Dorothy Smith was important for his legacy. She fostered his memory, in 1924 publishing selections from his correspondence (Letters to Three Friends) and her Groombridge Diary of their years together. Later she cooperated enthusiastically with researchers, sharing unpublished papers and her memories. Over time new approaches to the nature of writings with an autobiographical character have offered fresh ways to understand White through his novels. In this context his manuscript memoir posthumously published as The Early Life of Mark Rutherford (1913) has special significance. However, despite its apparent transparency its interpretation is not straightforward.