Caine, Hall, sir, 1853-1931

English novelist.

Sir Hall Caine was a British novelist and playwright. He lived with Dante Gabriel Rossetti as secretary and companion for the last year of Rossetti's life. His works include RECOLLECTIONS OF ROSSETTI and THE CHRISTIAN. Caine was the highest paid novelist of his day.

Thomas Henry Hall Caine was born in Runcorn, Cheshire, England on May 14, 1853; author of various novels, including Shadow of a crime (1885), A son of Hagar (1887), The eternal city (1901), and The woman of Knockaloe : a parable (1923); also wrote plays, short stories, nonfiction, and two silent film screenplays; edited two books, Sonnets of three centures and King Albert's book : a tribute to the Belgian king and people; worked as a leader-writer for Mercury, a Liverpool periodical; died in 1931.

Thomas Henry Hall Caine was born at Runcorn, Cheshire, on May 14, 1853, the eldest son of John Caine and Sarah Hall. Much of Caine's childhood was divided between Liverpool and the Isle of Man, where his father's family resided. Leaving elementary school in Liverpool at the age of fourteen, Caine became the pupil of a local architect, but, owing to ill health, abandoned architectural studies for a time and returned to the Isle of Man, where he succeeded his uncle as schoolmaster at Kirk Maugold Head. Returning to Liverpool after nearly a year, he began contributing to building trade journals, newspapers, and magazines. As the result of a lecture he presented on Dante Gabriel Rossetti, he met the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet and lived with him as secretary-companion from 1881 until Rossetti's death in 1882. Caine was offered a position on the Liverpool mercury in 1883 and worked for a time as one of its leader-writers. His first novel, The shadow of a crime, appeared as a serial in the Liverpool weekly mercury during 1885. The publication in 1887 of The deemster, a story set on the Isle of Man, marked the beginning of his extraordinary popularity. From 1892 to 1893 Hall Caine visited Poland and the frontier towns of Russia, at the request of the Russo-Jewish Committee, to investigate the persecution of Jews. In 1895 he represented the Incorporated Society of Authors in successful negotiations with the government of Canada to extend copyright protection to Canadian authors. From 1901 to 1908 he represented Ramsey, Isle of Man, as a liberal member of the Manx House of Keys. During the First World War Caine wrote numerous patriotic articles and edited King Albert's book (1914), the proceeds of which aided Belgian refugees. and for which he was made an officer of the Belgian Order of Leopold. In 1918 he was made a Knight of the British Empire and in 1922 a Companion of Honour. He died at his home, Greeba Castle, Isle of Man, on August 31, 1931. Sir Hall Caine wrote more than a dozen novels, including The bondman (1890), The Manxman (1895), The Christian (1897), The eternal city (1901), The woman thou gavest me (1913) and Master of man (1921). A number of his novels were adapted for the stage. A Life of Christ, left unfinished at his death, was published posthumously in 1938. Hall Caine married the former Mary Chandler in 1886 and together they had two sons, Ralph and Derwent.

English author.

"Caine was secretary to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the poet, painter, and leader of the Pre-Raphaelite artists in England, from 1881 to Rossetti's death in 1882. Caine's first novel, The Shadow of a Crime, was published in 1885. It was followed by several others-including The Deemster (1887), The Manxman (1894), The Eternal City (1901), The Woman Thou Gavest Me (1913), and The Woman of Knockaloe (1923). Caine settled in the Isle of Man and sat from 1901 to 1908 in the House of Keys, the lower house of its legislature. He was knighted in 1918 for services as an Allied propagandist in the United States." Caine, Sir Hall. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 14, 2004, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=18850>

Epithet: novelist

Title: Knight

Biography

Thomas Henry Hall Caine was born in Runcorn, Cheshire, England on May 14, 1853; author of various novels, including Shadow of a Crime (1885), A Son of Hagar (1887), The Eternal City (1901), and The Woman of Knockaloe: a Parable (1923); also wrote plays, short stories, nonfiction, and two silent film screenplays; edited two books, Sonnets of Three Centuries and King Albert's Book: a Tribute to the Belgian King and People ; worked as a leader-writer for Mercury, a Liverpool periodical; died in 1931.

Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine was born on 14 May 1853, the eldest of six children, in Cheshire. While he was very young the family moved to Liverpool. He was educated to the age of fourteen, and then was apprenticed to architect John Murray. He had a nervous breakdown three years later, following the death of his grandfather, abandoned his apprenticeship, and went to the Isle of Man to live with his aunt and uncle. When his uncle, the schoolmaster, passed away, he took over the school for some time.

While he was at Man he became aware of John Ruskin's writings, which made a major impact on him. After two years he moved back to Liverpool, where he resumed working in architecture, joining various societies, and writing for the Liverpool papers. When Bram Stoker became manager of the Lyceum Theatre, he and Caine met and became good friends, with Stoker dedicating Dracula to Caine.

Caine became an admirer of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poetry, and after giving a lecture on it, he sent a copy to the poet, who replied favorably. After over a year of correspondence, Caine was invited to visit Rossetti at home, and he moved into the Chelsea house the next year, 1881, and stayed until Rossetti's death in 1882. While there, he made many friends in the literary and artistic circles of London. In January of that year he published his first book, Sonnets of Three Centuries, and later that year Recollections of Rossetti and a long series of novels followed.

In December of that year, thirteen-year-old Mary Alice Chandler moved into his home (thirteen was the age of consent in 1882). Ralph, their first son, was born in 1884, and they were secretly married in Edinburgh on September 3, 1886. Two years later, they moved to Keswick, and another son, Derwent, was born in 1891. Over the next forty years he travelled throughout Europe, North Africa, and America, visiting the settings of his novels which became more and more popular, many being put on the screen. He worked in America in 1915 and 1916, speaking on behalf of the Allied cause, work which led to his knighthood. He hated his given name and insisted on being called "Sir Hall" rather than "Sir Thomas." He died on August 31, 1931, and was followed six months later by Mary Alice.