Mark Rutherford
Mark Rutherford, born William Hale White in 1831 in Bedford, England, was a notable Victorian author renowned for his exploration of personal and religious themes in literature. Initially raised in a Calvinist environment, he faced internal conflicts regarding his faith, which influenced his writing. After a brief stint at a seminary, he was expelled due to his religious doubts, prompting a career shift towards journalism and civil service. He became an editor for the Westminster Review, working alongside George Eliot before securing a long-term position at the British Admiralty.
Rutherford adopted his pen name while crafting his literary works, most famously "The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford, Dissenting Minister," published in 1881. This book, along with its sequel, gained significant acclaim and was recognized for its unique blend of fiction and nonfiction, contributing to the evolution of the novel as a literary form. Throughout his life, he balanced writing with family, having six children with his first wife, Harriet, who passed away in 1891. After remarrying Dorothy Vernon Smith in 1911, Rutherford continued to write until his death in 1913, leaving behind a legacy that challenged conventional narrative forms and delved deeply into the human experience.
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Mark Rutherford
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- Born: December 22, 1831
- Birthplace: Bedford, England
- Died: March 14, 1913
- Place of death: Groombridge, Kent, England
Biography
Victorian author Mark Rutherford was born William Hale White in Bedford, England, in 1831, the son of William White, a printer and bookseller, and Mary Anne (Chignell) White. As an adult, Rutherford’s earliest memory was of Queen Victoria’s coronation. He enjoyed a happy childhood near the River Ouse that was interrupted by a day of sternness each week. In later years, he rebelled against the stringent traditions of Calvinist religion, though not immediately. After finishing at Bedford Modern School, he followed his parents’ wishes and at age seventeen joined the Cheshunt seminary, though he wished to attend Oxford University. After three years at Cheshunt, he transferred to New College, but the school expelled him upon realizing his religious doubts.
With this turn of events, Rutherford, joined the Westminster Review as an editor, working with George Eliot before she became a well-known author. Rutherford left the newspaper for a civil service position in 1854, and two years later began a position at the British Admiralty that he would keep for thirty years. In 1856, he married Harriet Arthur, with whom he had five sons and one daughter. While working at the Admiralty he also wrote articles, often about the House of Commons and life in London, for local newspapers and submitted academic essays to English journals.
He soon assumed the name Mark Rutherford and began using it to write a fictionalized autobiography. The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford, Dissenting Minister was published in 1881 to great popularity, and a successful sequel appeared in 1885. Reviewers struggled over how to define the books in terms of fiction and nonfiction and deemed nontraditional novels such as Rutherford’s autobiography to be markers of a new kind of fiction. Following these successes, Rutherford continued to write novels and essays during the next decades. In 1891, his wife Harriet died, and he entered into a second marriage with Dorothy Vernon Smith in 1911. He died two years later on March 14, 1913.