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Hall Caine



 
 
Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH
Order of the Companions of Honour

The Order of the Companions of Honour is a United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations Order . It was founded by George V of the United Kingdom in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry, or religion....
, KBE
Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
 (14 May 1853 – 31 August 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 author. He is best known as a novel
Novel

File:2009 stapelweise Neuerscheinungen im Buchladen.JPGA novel is today a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern Romance and in the tradition of the novella....
ist and playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
 of the late Victorian
Victorian era

The Victorian Era of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the period of Victoria of the United Kingdom reign from June 1837 to January 1901....
 and the Edwardian eras
Edwardian period

The Edwardian period or Edwardian era in the United Kingdom is the period covering the reign of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, 1901 to 1910....
. In his time he was exceedingly popular and at the peak of his success his novels outsold those of his contemporaries. Many of his novels were also made into films. His novels were primarily romantic
Romance novel

The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and Romance between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late 20th and early 21st centuries, these novels are co...
 in nature, involving the love triangle
Love triangle

A love triangle is a Romantic love involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two....
, but they did also address some of the more serious political and social issues of the day.

Caine acted as secretary to Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, Painting and translator....
 and at one time he aspired to become a man of letters
Intellectual

An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intelligence and Critical thinking, either in their profession or for the benefit of personal pursuits....
.






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Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH
Order of the Companions of Honour

The Order of the Companions of Honour is a United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations Order . It was founded by George V of the United Kingdom in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry, or religion....
, KBE
Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
 (14 May 1853 – 31 August 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 author. He is best known as a novel
Novel

File:2009 stapelweise Neuerscheinungen im Buchladen.JPGA novel is today a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern Romance and in the tradition of the novella....
ist and playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
 of the late Victorian
Victorian era

The Victorian Era of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the period of Victoria of the United Kingdom reign from June 1837 to January 1901....
 and the Edwardian eras
Edwardian period

The Edwardian period or Edwardian era in the United Kingdom is the period covering the reign of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, 1901 to 1910....
. In his time he was exceedingly popular and at the peak of his success his novels outsold those of his contemporaries. Many of his novels were also made into films. His novels were primarily romantic
Romance novel

The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and Romance between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late 20th and early 21st centuries, these novels are co...
 in nature, involving the love triangle
Love triangle

A love triangle is a Romantic love involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two....
, but they did also address some of the more serious political and social issues of the day.

Caine acted as secretary to Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, Painting and translator....
 and at one time he aspired to become a man of letters
Intellectual

An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intelligence and Critical thinking, either in their profession or for the benefit of personal pursuits....
. To this end he published a number of serious works but these had little success. He was a lover of the Isle of Man
Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles....
 and Manx culture and purchased a large house, Greeba Castle
Greeba Castle

Greeba Castle is a large house in the Isle of Man. It was the home of Hall Caine, the novelist from 1896 to his death in 1931. It gives its name to the adjacent point on the Isle of Man TT course....
, on the island. For a time he was a Member of the House of Keys
Member of the House of Keys

Member of the House of Keys, or MHK is the title given to a person who has been elected into the House of Keys, the lower house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man....
 but he declined to become more deeply involved in politics. A man of striking appearance, he travelled widely and used his travels to provide the settings for some of his novels. He came into contact with, and was influenced by, many of the leading personalities of the day, particularly those of a socialist
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 leaning. Caine's novels now seem outdated and despite his immense popularity during his life he is now virtually unknown and unremembered.

Early life and influences


Hall Caine was born in Runcorn
Runcorn

Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port within the Halton in the ceremonial counties of England of Cheshire, England. In mid-2004 its population was estimated to be 61,252....
, Cheshire
Cheshire

Cheshire is a Counties of England in North West England. The county town, and the location of the county council, is the City status in the United Kingdom of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town in terms of area and population is Warrington....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 and christened Thomas Henry Hall Caine but he disliked the name Thomas and never used it. His father came from the Isle of Man but in the absence of work there he emigrated to Liverpool
Liverpool

Liverpool [] is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a History of borough status in England and Wales in 1207 and was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1880....
 where he trained as a ship's smith
Smith (metalwork)

A smith, or metalsmith, is a person involved in the shaping of metal objects.In Pre-Industrial Era times, smiths held high or special social standing since they supplied the metal tools needed for farming and warfare....
. At the time of Hall Caine's birth he was working temporarily in Runcorn docks
Port of Runcorn

The Port of Runcorn is in the town of Runcorn, Cheshire, England. It is situated to the west of a point where the River Mersey narrows, known as River Mersey#Runcorn Gap....
. Within a few months the family were back in Liverpool where Caine spent his childhood and youth. He was educated at the Hope Street British Schools until he was aged 14. During this time he paid a number of visits to relatives on the Isle of Man where the foundations for a life-long attachment to the island, to its language, its myths and its legends were built. After leaving school he was articled to John Murray, an architect
Architect

An architect is trained and licenced in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e....
 and surveyor
Surveying

Surveying or land surveying is the technique and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional space position of points and the distances and angles between them....
. He developed a passion for books and spent much time in Liverpool's Free Library, later maintaining that he was mainly self-taught
Autodidacticism

Autodidacticism is self-education or self-directed learning. An autodidact is a mostly self-taught person, as opposed to learning in a school setting or from a tutor....
. At the age of 15 he discovered the poetry of Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an England poet, critic and Philosophy who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romanticism in England and one of the Lake Poets....
 and this was to be his first important literary influence. He started writing at this time and contributed articles to a trade paper The Builder, which also carried literary articles, and to local newspapers, particularly the Liverpool Mercury.

In 1870 his grandfather died and later that year Caine had a type of nervous breakdown. He gave up his job and went to the Isle of Man. His uncle, James Teare, was a schoolmaster there but was ill at the time and so Caine acted as an assistant teacher in his school. During this time he started to become influenced by the writings of John Ruskin
John Ruskin

John Ruskin was a British art critic and social thought, also remembered as an author, poet and artist. His essays on art and architecture were extremely influential in the Victorian era and Edwardian period eras....
 and he became 'an eager pupil and admirer'. He later became a frequent visitor to Ruskin's Coniston
Coniston, Cumbria

Coniston is a village in the region of Furness, England. It is located in the southern part of the Lake District National Park, between Coniston Water and Coniston Old Man....
 home, Brantwood
Brantwood

Brantwood is a country house in Cumbria, England overlooking Coniston Water . It has been the home of a number of prominent people, including John Ruskin....
 and a keen member of the local Ruskin Society. In December 1871 James Teare died and Caine carved a headstone for his grave. John Murray persuaded him to return to his job and in April 1872 he was back in Liverpool. There he wrote his first extended work of fiction, a play, but could not afford to have it produced. He continued to submit material frequently to the local press and he also acted as a freelance
Freelancer

A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is a self-employed person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any particular employer....
 theatre critic
Critic

The word critic comes from the Greek language ' , "able to discern", which in turn derives from the word ' , meaning a person who offers reasoned judgment or analysis, value judgment, interpretation, or observation....
.

He then left his employment with Murray and joined the building firm of Bromley & Son as a draughtsman
Technical drawing

File:Drafter at work.jpgFile:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F038800-0010, Wolfsburg, VW Autowerk.jpgTechnical drawing is the discipline of creating Standardization technology drawing by architects, CAD drafters, design engineers, and related professionals....
. However he continued to spend much of his time in writing. With friends he formed the Notes and Queries Society, ostensibly to discuss the arts, but the Society was also used to discuss and spread political ideas. At this time Caine's political beliefs were in the area of communism
Communism

Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarianism, classlessness, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general....
, but this was a type of communism nearer to Christian socialism
Christian socialism

Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated....
 than to Marxism
Marxism

Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism holds at its core a Marxist analysis of Critique of capitalism and a theory of social change....
. In 1874 Caine, as theatre critic, went to see the Lyric Theatre's
Lyric Theatre (London)

The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B....
 touring production of Hamlet
Hamlet

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle King Claudius, who has murdered King Hamlet, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude ....
 with Henry Irving
Henry Irving

Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era. He was the first actor to be awarded a knighthood....
 in the title role. Caine was very impressed by the performance and wrote an enthusiastic and favourable review which was well received. Caine and Irving subsequently became good friends. Caine continued to work, at least nominally, at Bromley's. Amongst his writing at this time was an attempted completion of Coleridge's poem Christabel. In 1877 Caine's younger brother, John James, died from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
, aged 21, and this had a deep effect on him. However by that year he was also gaining a reputation as a public lecturer and many of his lectures had been published.

Around this time he also became interested in environmental and conservation issues. He joined the 'Save Thirlmere
Thirlmere

Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England. It runs roughly south to north and is bordered on the eastern side by the A591 road and on the western side by a minor road....
' movement which unsuccessfully tried to prevent the lake from being turned into a reservoir. In 1878, having become acquainted with the work and ideas of William Morris
William Morris

William Morris was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer, and Socialism associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement....
, he joined the 'Anti-Scrape Society', the forerunner of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by William Morris and Philip Webb in 1877, to oppose what they saw as the insensitive renovation of ancient buildings then occurring in Victorian architecture England....
, and remained a member for the rest of his life. In December 1878 Caine travelled to London to see Irving's first night at the Lyceum Theatre under his own management. Here he met Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker

Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Ireland novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Horror fiction novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London in London, which Irving owned....
 and they became good friends. Stoker was subsequently to dedicate his famous novel Dracula
Dracula

Dracula is an 1897 in literature novel by Irish people author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature....
 to Caine, under the nickname
Nickname

A nickname is a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. Another class of nickname is the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, such as Bob, Bobby, Rob, Robbie, and Bert for Robert, more properly called a short name....
 "Hommy-Beg".

Caine had come to be very impressed by the poems of Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, Painting and translator....
 and he gave a series of three lectures on the poems of Rossetti and other Pre-Raphaelites
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of England Paintings, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, John Everett Millais, Frederic George Stephens, Thomas Woolner and William Holman Hunt....
. He sent a copy of one of his published lectures to Rossetti who by that time had become a virtual recluse
Recluse

A recluse is someone in Solitude who hides away from the attention of the public, a person who lives in solitude, i.e. seclusion from intercourse with the world....
 and was "ravaged by years of addiction to chloral and too much whisky". A frequent correspondence followed and they eventually met in September 1880 when Caine visited Rossetti in his home at Cheyne Walk
Cheyne Walk

Cheyne Walk is a historic street in Chelsea, London. Most of the houses were built in the early eighteenth century. Before the construction in the nineteenth century of the busy Thames Embankment, which now runs in front of it, the houses fronted the River Thames....
, Chelsea
Chelsea, London

Chelsea is an area of south-west London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road power station and Chelsea Harbour....
, where he lived "in shabby splendour". The following year Caine left his employment in Liverpool and went to live with Rossetti and stayed there until Rossetti's death in April 1882. During that time he was "secretary, companion, housekeeper, general factotum and eventually nurse" to Rossetti. Caine had negotiated for Rossetti's painting Dante's Dream of the Death of Beatrice to be hung in Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery
Walker Art Gallery

The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England, outside of London. It is promoted as "the National Gallery, London of the North"....
 and he represented the painter at its installation in November 1881. In January 1882 Caine's anthology
Anthology

An anthology, literally a "garland" or "collection of flowers", is a collection of literary works, originally of poems. In genre fiction and especially science fiction, anthology is used to categorize collections of shorter works such as short story and short novels, usually collected into a single volume for publication....
 Sonnets of Three Centuries was published.

The writer

After Rossetti's death Caine gained an income by writing articles for the Liverpool Mercury while at the same time preparing a book about his time with Rossetti. This was entitled Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti; it appeared in October 1882 and sold reasonably well. In 1883 Cobwebs of Criticism was published, a book about reviewers and whether or not their criticisms had been valid. During this time he was maintaining old friendships and building new ones with people who included Ford Madox Brown
Ford Madox Brown

Ford Madox Brown was an England painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often William Hogarth version of the Pre-Raphaelite style....
, Algernon Swinburne, Theodore Watts
Theodore Watts-Dunton

Theodore Watts-Dunton was an English critic and poet. He is now best remembered as the friend and minder of Algernon Charles Swinburne, whom he rescued from alcoholism....
, R. D. Blackmore
R. D. Blackmore

Richard Doddridge Blackmore , referred to most commonly as R. D. Blackmore, was one of the most famous England novelists of the second half of the nineteenth century....
, Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold was an England poet, and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold , literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator....
, Robert Browning
Robert Browning

Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian literature poets....
 and Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet, who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems. She is best known for her long poem Goblin Market, her love poem "Remember", and for her Christmas poem "In the Bleak Midwinter"....
. In consequence of his work as a theatre critic Caine met the actor-manager Wilson Barrett
Wilson Barrett

Wilson Barrett was an England actor, Talent manager, and playwright. In the 1880s he was, according to Jacob Adler, the most famous actor on the London stage....
.

It was at this time that Caine began to consider that his future might lie in writing fiction. After appearing as a serial in the Mercury, Caine's first novel Shadow of a Crime was published by Chatto & Windus in February 1885. Set in the Lake District
Lake District

The Lake District, also known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a rural area in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes and its mountains , and its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets....
 and based on a love triangle, it sold well and was still in print in the 1900s. It "launched Caine on a career as a romantic novelist of huge popularity which was to span forty years and produce fifteen novels". The same year She's All the World to Me, another love triangle, was published in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
, a book which Watts and Chatto considered was not up to his previous standard, but Caine wanted the money from it and also exposure in America<.ref> The following year Chatto and Windus published A Son of Hagar in three volumes. Again set in the Lake District, it dealt with the theme of illegitimacy. It received some good reviews, but not from George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, was an Irish people playwright.Although Shaw's first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, his talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays....
 who "took a bilious view of the romantic novels of his day with their ridiculous plots". However in time Shaw and Caine were to become good friends.

Caine craved to be recognised as a man of letters and to this end he wrote a biography
Biography

A biography is a description of someone's life, usually published in the form of a book or essay, or in some other form, such as a film. An autobiography is a biography by the same person it is about....
, Life of Coleridge, which was published in 1887. It was a failure and this confirmed to Caine that his future lay in fiction. Later that year his next novel The Deemster was published, again by Chatto & Windus. It was the first of Caine's novels to be set in the Isle of Man, where judges are called deemster
Deemster

A deemster is a judge in the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man High Court is presided over by a deemster or the Judge of Appeal. The deemsters also promulgate the Laws on Tynwald Day by reading them out to the people in English language and Manx language....
s, and placed it in the 18th century. It included the story of a fatal fight with the body being taken out to sea only to float back to land the next day. It was a big success and the reviews were excellent. It ran to more than 50 editions and was translated into at least 9 languages. Wilson Barrett bought the stage rights and produced a stage version called Ben-my-Chree (Manx for 'Girl of my Heart') which was also successful despite its changed ending.

In January 1890 the next novel was published after being serialised in the Isle of Man Times. This was The Bondman which was published by Heinemann
Heinemann

Heinemann may refer to:* Heinemann , a publishing company* Heinemann Park, aka. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans...
 rather than Chatto & Windus because they offered better terms. It is set in the Isle of Man and in Iceland. Again it was a great success despite its complicated story and its being "hopelessly sentimental and melodramatic". Later the same year, in September, the next novel, The Scapegoat, was published. This time the novel was set in Morocco and its main theme is the persecution of the Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s; Caine hated anti-Semitism. It had a pro-Jewish theme and although it was a critical success, it did not sell as well as The Bondman. The Scapegoat brought Caine a considerable correspondence, mainly because of its pro-Jewish stance. Following this Caine returned to non-fiction, publishing three lectures on the history of the Isle of Man as a book entitled The Little Manx Nation. His next fiction consisted of three novellas in one volume which were entitled Cap'n Davey's Honeymoon, The Last Confession and The Blind Mother. This was published in 1893 and was dedicated to Bram Stoker but did not sell well. However his next book, The Manxman published in 1884, was one of his greatest successes, eventually selling over half a million copies and being translated into 12 languages. This was again set in the Isle of Man and involved a love triangle.

During his career Caine travelled widely and used his experiences abroad in his writings. Places visited included Iceland, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Rome, Berlin, Austria and the Russian frontier. For many years Caine had been concerned about matters relating to copyright
Copyright

Copyright is a form of intellectual property which gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation; after which time the work is said to enter the public domain....
 and in 1895 he travelled via the United States of America to Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 for the Society of Authors and successfully negotiated for the introduction of copyright protection there.

In 1897 came the most successful novel yet, The Christian. It was the first novel in Britain to sell over a million copies although once again it attracted much adverse publicity. As with most of his novels, it was first published in serial form, this time in the Windsor Magazine and then, dramatised by the author, produced as a play. The theme of the novel was the problems encountered by a young woman trying to live an independent life; it was the first time that Caine had taken up the Woman Question
The woman question

The woman question is a phrase usually used in connection with a social change in the later half of the nineteenth century which questioned the fundamental roles of women in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Russia....
. The play was first performed at the Knickerbocker Theatre
Knickerbocker Theatre (Broadway)

The Knickerbocker Theatre was a Broadway theatre theatre located at 1396 Broadway in New York City.The 1500-seat theatre was designed by the architect firm of J.B....
 in New York in October 1898 and it was also a great success. Caine followed it by a lucrative lecture tour. However when The Christian was first produced in England at the Duke of York's Theatre
Duke of York's Theatre

The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935....
 in October 1899, its reception was only lukewarm.

It was to be four years before the appearance of Caine's next work, The Eternal City. This was set in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
 and was the only one to be first conceived as a play. It appeared in serial form in the Lady's Magazine and finally in book form in August 1901. This proved to be Caine's most successful novel, it sold more than a million copies in English alone and appeared in 13 other languages. It was another romance with the hero being accused of plotting to murder the Italian king. The stage version opened at His Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in the Haymarket, in the City of Westminster. The present building was designed by Charles J....
, London in October 1902. Once again the reviews were mixed, the literary critics tending to be scathing while it was praised by many clergymen. Around this time Caine tried to revive the literary magazine Household Words
Household Words

Household Words was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens which took its name from the line from Shakespeare "Familiar in his mouth as household words" ? Henry V ....
 which had been founded by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens, Royal Society of Arts , pen-name "Boz", was the most popular English people novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous Reform movement....
.

In August 1902 King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death on 6 May 1910....
 and Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark

Alexandra of Denmark was queen consort to Edward VII of the United Kingdom and thus Empress of India during her husband's reign, 1901 to 1910....
 visited the Isle of Man. The Queen had enjoyed Caine's Manx novels and Caine was invited to join the royal couple on their yacht and to accompany them on their tour of the island the following day. The Eternal City opened as a play in October with incidental music by Mascagni
Pietro Mascagni

Pietro Mascagni was an Italy composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece, Cavalleria rusticana, caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and singlehandedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music....
. A few days after the London opening the Caines went to USA for the play's American opening in Washington
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, which was followed by a tour. In 1902 all of Caine's novels were still in print and towards the end of 1903 six companies were performing The Eternal City, in England, USA, Australia and South Africa. However that year Household Words ceased publication.

The Prodigal Son was published in November 1904, again by Heinemann, and in the same month it opened as a play at the Grand Theatre, Douglas
Douglas, Isle of Man

Douglas is the Capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping bay of two miles....
. It was set mainly in Iceland, with scenes in London and the French Riviera
French Riviera

The C?te d'Azur , often known in English as the French Riviera, is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeastern corner of France, extending from Menton near the Italy border on the east to either Hy?res or Cassis in the west....
, and is again based on the eternal triangle. The book was again an instant success and once again the criticisms were mixed; it was translated into 13 languages. The play opened in September 1905 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a London borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane....
 with Caine's sister, Lily, playing a main part but it had only a moderate run. In 1906 The Bondman appeared for the first time as a play, produced again at Drury Lane, with Caine's son Derwent aged 16, making a stage début. The setting had been changed from Iceland to Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
, which gave an opportunity for an eruption of Mount Etna
Mount Etna

Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina, Italy and Catania. Its Arabic name was Jebel Utlamat ....
 in the last last. Mrs Patrick Campbell
Mrs Patrick Campbell

Mrs Patrick Campbell was a British people stage actor....
 took a leading role. Once again while the play was a huge popular success, it was panned by the critics. 1908 saw the publication of My Story, an autobiography
Autobiography

An autobiography is a biography written by its subject . The term was first used by the poet Robert Southey in 1809 in the English language Periodical publication Quarterly Review, but the form goes back to antiquity....
 which said more about others, particularly Rossetti, than about himself, and much of what was written was not entirely correct. It did not sell particularly well.

Caine's next major work of fiction was The White Prophet which was set in Egypt and which addressed the problems of colonial rule and attempted a synthesis of the world's religions. It appeared first in its stage version in Douglas in August 1908. On the first night one of the actors was ill and Caine himself took his part. It appeared as a book the following month. For the first time in a Caine novel, the strongest element was not romance, but rather adventure, with a degree of theological discussion. The book did not do as well as his previous ones.

The next major work was The Woman Thou Gavest Me, published in 1913, which "caused the biggest furore of any of his novels". Libraries objected to its morals, dealing as it did with the divorce laws of the time and attitudes towards illegitimacy. Once again it addressed the Woman Question. However it sold extremely well. It was reprinted five times before the end of the year when nearly half a million copies had been sold. Despite the storm of criticism, or maybe because of it, Caine's reputation as a novelist had been restored.

The Great War


In previous years Caine had edited books to raise money for Queen Alexandra's charities in 1905 and 1908. In 1914, following the outbreak of the Great War
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, he decided to produce another charity book, this time in support of the exiled King Albert of Belgium
Albert I of Belgium

Albert I was the third King of the Belgians from 1909 until 1934....
. King Albert rewarded him by creating him an Officer of the Order of Leopold of Belgium
Order of Leopold II

The Order of Leopold II is a Order of Belgium and is named in honor of King L?opold II of Belgium. The decoration was established in 1900 by L?opold II as king of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium, incorporated into the Belgian awards system....
.

Caine tried to involve America in the war by writing articles, mainly for The New York Times
The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"?named for its staid appearance and style?is regarded as a national newspaper of record....
 and in 1915 he gave a series of lectures in the USA but these were not well received. He wrote a series of articles for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in 1855. Excepting the Financial Times and The Herald , it is the only remaining national daily newspaper printed on traditional newsprint in the broadsheet format in the United Kingdom, as most other broadsheet publications have converted to the smaller tabloid/Compa...
 about how the war was affecting "ordinary" people. These were published in 1915 as a book entitled The Drama of 365 Days: Scenes in the Great War. In 1916 he was invited to work with Lord Robert Cecil
Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood

Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood Order of the Companions of Honour, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Queen's Counsel , known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923, was a lawyer, politician and diplomat in the United Kingdom....
 at the Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the Departments of the United Kingdom Government responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs....
 towards the creation of the League of Nations
League of Nations

The League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919?1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members....
 after the end of the war. The same year Caine produced a small book entitled Our Girls: Their Work for the War Effort to show that women were also playing an active part in the war. He was also involved in writing a propaganda
Propaganda

Propaganda is the dissemination of information aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to Objectivity providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience....
 film to assist the war effort but the war ended before the film could be completed.

Towards the end of 1917 Caine was offered a baron
Baron

Baron is a specific title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English language beorn meaning "nobleman."...
etcy but for personal reasons he declined it and instead he accepted a knight
Knight

File:Gothic armor 2.jpgKnight is the term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentry....
hood as a KBE
Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a United Kingdom order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom....
, insisting on being called, not 'Sir Thomas Hall Caine' but 'Sir Hall Caine'.

After the war


Caine returned to writing novels and in 1921 Heinmann's published The Master of Man: The Story of a Sin. It was set in the Isle of Man and involves infanticide
Infanticide

Infanticide is the practice of someone intentionally causing the death of an infant. Often it is the mother who commits the act, but criminology recognizes various forms of non-maternal child murder....
. Initially it sold well but sales soon dropped. It was considered to be old-fashioned; Caine was using old themes and had not kept up with the time. One reviewer referred to Caine as "this Victorian author". The following year Caine acquired the Sunday Illustrated newspaper which had been founded by Horatio Bottomley
Horatio Bottomley

Horatio William Bottomley was a British financier, swindler, journalist, newspaper proprietor, populist politician and Member of Parliament ....
. In November of that year he was made a Companion of Honour
Order of the Companions of Honour

The Order of the Companions of Honour is a United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations Order . It was founded by George V of the United Kingdom in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry, or religion....
. Caine's last novel The Woman of Knockaloe was brought out in 1923, this time published by Cassell's. It is another love story set on the Isle of Man but this time dealing with the harm caused by racial hatred. That year he sold the Sunday Illustrated and also made his first broadcast, an address on 'Peace'.

Caine's last published work in his lifetime was a revised version of Recollections of Rossetti with a shortened title to coincide with the centenary of Rossetti's birth in 1928. In 1929 Caine was given the Freedom
Freedom of the City

Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe to esteemed members of its community or to organisations that have given the community heroic service; the term applies to two separate honors, one civilian and one military...
 of Douglas. For the much of his life Caine worked on a book entitled Life of Christ but it was not published until some time after his death, in 1938 with a foreword by his two sons. It "aroused little or no interest and quickly disappeared".

Politics

In 1901 Caine was elected a Member of the House of Keys as a Liberal
Liberalism

Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophy that considers individualism liberty and equality to be the most important political goals....
 for the constituency of Ramsey
Ramsey

Ramsey may refer to:In places in the United Kingdom:* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England* Ramsey Abbey, historic ecclesiastical centre near Ramsey, Cambridgeshire...
 at a by-election and was re-elected, with a smaller majority, in 1903. This had been helped by the success of his Manx novels benefiting the tourist trade of the island. He continued as a member until 1908 although due to the other pressures on his time he seldom spoke in the House. He also had little time to offer to politics on a larger scale. When he was invited by Lloyd George
David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor Order of Merit , Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a United Kingdom statesman and the only Wales Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - he is also the only one to have spoken English language as a second language, Welsh language having been his first....
 to stand for the English parliament he refused. He was however elected as the first president of the Manx National Reform League.

Films

Hall Caine
Some of Caine's novels were made into film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
s, all of which were black-and-white
Black-and-white

Black-and-white is a number of monochrome forms in visual arts. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses....
 and silent
Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system....
. Unauthorised versions of The Deemster and The Bondsman had been made by Fox and in 1914 Vitalograph filmed The Bondsman, which was also unauthorised. The first authorised film was a version of The Christian, made by the London Film Company in 1915 and starring his son Derwent Hall Caine
Derwent Hall Caine

Sir Derwent Hall Caine was a British actor, publisher and Labour Party politician.Caine was the son of Hall Caine the novelist of an Isle of Man family and his wife Mary Chandler....
 in one of the parts. In 1916 The Manxman, also produced by the London Film Company, was filmed on the Isle of Man and when it was released in 1917 it drew huge crowds in Britain and America. A film of The Deemster, also starring Derwent, was made by the Arrow Film Corporation and released in 1918. The Christian was also remade in 1923, directed by the celebrated Maurice Tourneur
Maurice Tourneur

Maurice Tourneur, born February 2, 1873 – died August 4, 1961, was an important international film director and screenwriter.Born Maurice Thomas in the Belleville, Paris district of Paris, France, his father was a jeweler....
.

The first version of The Eternal City
The Eternal City (1915 film)

The Eternal City is a silent film directed by Hugh Ford and Edwin S. Porter, produced by Adolph Zukor and based upon a Hall Caine novel. The film was released through the Paramount Pictures division of Famous Players-Lasky....
 was shot in 1915 by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
, and in 1923 the Samuel Goldwyn Company shot a remake
The Eternal City (1923 film)

The Eternal City is a silent film directed by George Fitzmaurice, from a script by Ouida Berg?re based on a Hall Caine novel, starring Barbara La Marr and Bert Lytell, and released by the Samuel Goldwyn Company....
 in Italy. Caine was so unhappy with the latter film that he tried to withdraw his name from it, unsuccessfully.

More films were in progress, including Darby and Joan. This was based on an old novella; it was produced by Master Films and again it starred Derwent. A film of The Woman Thou Gavest Me was made in 1919 by Famous Players and this drew good audiences and good reviews. The Woman of Knockaloe was filmed by Paramount
Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
 in 1927 as Barbed Wire. Then Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, Order of the British Empire was a British filmmaker and film producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres....
 arrived on the Isle of Man to film The Manxman
The Manxman

The Manxman is a silent film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Based on a romantic novel by Hall Caine, the director began work on the film just two weeks after the birth of his daughter, Patricia Hitchcock....
 but he and Caine did not get on well and the rest of the film was shot in Cornwall. It was released in 1929 as Hitchcock's last silent film. Caine was not happy with it.

Personal and domestic

In appearance Caine was a short man who tended to dress in a striking fashion. His eyes were dark brown and slightly protuberant, giving him an intense stare. He had red-gold hair and a dark red beard which he trimmed to appear like the Stratford
Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, Warwickshire, south east of Birmingham and south west of the county town, Warwick....
 bust
Bust (sculpture)

A bust is a sculpture or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders....
 of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
; indeed if people did not notice the likeness he was inclined to point it out to them. He was also preoccupied throughout his life with the state of his health. This was often the result of overwork or other stresses in his life and he would sometimes use nervous exhaustion as an excuse to escape from his problems.

Caine's concern about his health led him in his Liverpool days into involvement with Francis Tumblety
List of proposed Jack the Ripper suspects

A series of murders that took place in the East End of London from August to November 1888 were blamed on an unidentified assailant known as "Jack the Ripper"....
, an American herbalist
Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy....
 of dubious reputation. Caine was attractive to women and attracted by them, and was also attractive to men, including Tumblety. During his time in Liverpool Caine had a number of love affairs but nothing came of them.

After Rossetti's death when he was living in rooms in Clement's Inn Caine came into contact with a girl named Mary Chandler. Following pressure from her stepfather, Mary came to live with Caine. She was aged 13 (which was at that time the age of consent
Age of consent

While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to human sexual behavior, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent of consenting to sexual acts....
) while Caine was aged 29. Their friends assumed they were married. Mary had had little schooling and so Caine arranged for her to have some more education at Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks

Sevenoaks is a town situated in the west of Kent, England. It gives its name to the Sevenoaks , of which it is the principal town, and lies 21.5 miles south-east of the centre of London, at the southern end of one of the principal commuter rail lines from the capital....
 where she stayed for six months being taught either at a private school or privately by a governess. She then returned to live with Caine and in 1884, at the age of 14, she was pregnant. Their son, to be named Ralph, was born in their rented house in Hampstead
Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, located north-west of Charing Cross. It is part of the London Borough of Camden. It is situated within Inner London....
 in August 1884; at this time they were still unmarried. The following month they moved to live in Aberleigh Lodge, Bexley Heath
Bexleyheath

Bexleyheath, formerly known as "Bexley New Town", part of the London Borough of Bexley in South East London, consists of a suburban development located 12 miles east-south-east of Charing Cross....
, next door to William Morris' Red House
Red House (London)

Red House in Upton, London, Bexleyheath in the south eastern suburbs of London, England is a key building in the history of the Arts and Crafts movement and of 19th century British architecture....
. In 1886 they travelled to Scotland where they were married in Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
 under Scottish law by declaration before witnesses. After the publication of Caine's first novel, Mary kept a scrapbook of everything relating to him. Now held in the Manx Museum, Douglas
Douglas, Isle of Man

Douglas is the Capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping bay of two miles....


In 1888 after the success of The Deemster, the lease on Aberleigh House was nearing its end and Caine wanted to live in the Lake District
Lake District

The Lake District, also known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a rural area in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes and its mountains , and its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets....
. He bought a house called Hawthorns in Keswick
Keswick, Cumbria

Keswick is a market town within the district of Allerdale, Cumbria, England. With a population of 4,281, according to the 2001 census, it is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park....
 and the family moved there while Caine rented part of a flat in Victoria Street, London. Mary was left to supervise the move and she was to become a devoted wife, reading all his work, advising and criticising when appropriate and was his first secretary. Later Caine was to distance himself from her which "nearly destroyed her".

Their second son, Derwent was born in 1891. Caine felt an urge to move to the Isle of Man and in 1893 they rented a castellated
Crenellation

Crenellation is the name for the distinctive pattern that frames the tops of the walls of many medieval castles, often called battlements. Crenellation most commonly takes the form of multiple, regular, rectangular spaces cut out of the top of the wall to allow defenders spaces to shoot arrows from and other spaces to hide behind full c...
 house which looked over the Douglas to Peel
Peel, Isle of Man

||-||-||}Peel is a town on the Isle of Man, in the parish of German . It is often called the only "city" because it is the home of the island's cathedral....
 road called Greeba Castle
Greeba Castle

Greeba Castle is a large house in the Isle of Man. It was the home of Hall Caine, the novelist from 1896 to his death in 1931. It gives its name to the adjacent point on the Isle of Man TT course....
 for six months. Meanwhile their London home, which had been in Ashley Gardens, became a flat in Whitehall Court between Whitehall
Whitehall

Whitehall is a road in Westminster in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I of England, which is often regarded as the heart of London....
 and the Victoria Embankment
Victoria Embankment

The Victoria Embankment, is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London....
. They did not return to Greeba Castle at this time but took a house in Peel. Hawthorns, which in the meantime had been occupied by Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford was born in Langholm, Scotland, UK. He was a stonemason, architect and civil engineer and a noted road, bridge and canal builder....
, was sold. Eventually after years of haggling, Caine bought Greeba Castle in 1896. He was to live there for the rest of his life and made extensive internal and external alterations to it. However Mary never liked the house. Following the production of The Christian in New York and the subsequent lecture tour, the marriage began to come under strain but it did survive.

In 1902 the Caines rented a large house on Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London

Wimbledon is a suburb of London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located south west of Charing Cross.For most of the past one hundred years, Wimbledon has been internationally known as the home of the The Championships, Wimbledon....
 Common, The Hermitage, and Mary spent much time there while Caine was abroad or at Greeba Castle. Rumours spread that the marriage was in trouble and, as many of his visitors were male, that Caine was homosexual
Gay

The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree," "happy," or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
. However there was never any reliable substance to this. By 1906 the couple were leading increasingly separate lives but Mary remained loyal and faithful throughout. She preferred to live in London while Caine spent much time touring or staying at Greeba Castle.

In 1912 Derwent Hall Caine had an illegitimate daughter, Elin, and she was brought up as Caine and Mary's child. By 1914 Mary at last had her London house — Heath Brow which overlooked Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath

Hampstead Heath is London's largest ancient parkland covering . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the List of highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London clay The Heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, a train...
. After the Great War this house had become too big and Mary then moved into Heath End House, again overlooking Hampstead Heath. By 1922 they took a de facto separation, but not a legal one; Caine could not live with Mary, nor could he break with her completely. Their marriage continued but both suffered from various forms of ill health.

In August 1931 Hall Caine slipped into a coma and died aged 78 at Greeba Castle. On his death certificate was the diagnosis of "cardiac syncope". He was buried in Kirk Maughold
Maughold (parish)

Maughold is a village and parish in the Isle of Man.The village of Maughold lies on the coast some three miles from Ramsey, with mountainous terrain on its landward side....
 churchyard
Churchyard

A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird....
 and a slate obelisk was erected over his grave, designed by Archibald Knox. A memorial service was held in St Martin's-in-the-Fields. In March 1932, only six months after her husband's death, Mary Hall Caine died from pneumonia
Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an Inflammation illness of the lung. Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolus inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid ....
. She was buried alongside her husband in Maughold churchyard. A statue of Hall Caine stands in Douglas, financed by money from the estate of Derwent Hall Caine.

Postscript


Caine's legacy

Hall Caine was an author who was enormously popular and successful in his lifetime. Crowds would gather outside his houses to try to get a glimpse of him. He was "accorded the adulation reserved now for pop stars and footballers" and yet he is now virtually unknown.

Allen suggests two reasons for this. First that, in comparison with Dickens, his characters are not clearly drawn, they are "frequently fuzzy at the edges" while Dickens' characters are "diamond-clear"; and Caine's characters tend to be much the same. Something similar could also be said about his plots. In addition, and possibly the main drawback, is that although Caine's books can be romantic and emotionally moving, they lack humour; rather they are deadly earnest and serious.

At one time the Isle of Man had a second civil airport near Ramsey which was called the Hall Caine Airport. It closed in 1939.

Comment by a critic

G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy and detective fiction....
 said in "A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls" that "it is quite clear that this objection, the objection brought by magistrates, has nothing to do with literary merit. Bad story writing is not a crime. Mr. Hall Caine walks the streets openly, and cannot be put in prison for an anticlimax."

Bibliography


Fiction

  • 1885 - The Shadow of a Crime
  • 1885 - She's All the World to Me: A Manx Novel
  • 1886 - A Son of Hagar
  • 1887 - The Deemster
  • 1888 - The Prophet, a play which was never staged
  • 1889 - The Good Old Times, a play
  • 1890 - The Bondman: A New Saga
  • 1890 - The Scapegoat: A Romance
  • 1890 - The Prophet, published as a novella
  • 1893 - Cap'n Davey's Honeymoon, The Last Confession, The Blind Mother, 3 novellas published in one volume
  • 1894 - The Manxman
  • 1894 - The Madhi: or Love and Race, A Drama in Story
  • 1896 - Jan the Icelander or Home, Sweet Home, A Lecture Story
  • 1897 - The Christian
  • 1901 - The Eternal City
  • 1903 - The Isle of Boy: A Comedy, a play
  • 1904 - The Prodigal Son
  • 1906 - Drink: A Love Story on a Great Question
  • 1909 - The White Prophet
  • 1913 - The Woman Thou Gavest Me
  • 1916 - The Prime Minister, a play
  • 1916 - The Iron Hand, a one-act play
  • 1919 - Darby and Joan, a film script
  • 1921 - The Master of man: The Story of a Sin
  • 1923 - The Woman of Knockaloe: A Parable


Non-fiction


  • 1882 - Sonnets of Three Centuries: An Anthology edited by Caine
  • 1882 - Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti
  • 1883 - Cobwebs of Criticism
  • 1887 - Life of Samuel Coleridge Taylor
  • 1891 - The Little Manx Nation
  • 1894 - The Little Man Island: Scenes and Specimen Days in the Isle of Man, a guide to the island
  • 1905 - The Queen's Christmas Carol, an anthology edited by Caine, for the queen's charities
  • 1906 - My Story, an autobiography
  • 1908 - Queen Alexandra's Christmas Gift Book, another anthology edited by Caine
  • 1910 - King Edward: A Prince and a Great Man
  • 1914 - King Albert's Book, a tribute to the Belgian King and people
  • 1915 - The Drama of 365 Days: Scenes in the Great War
  • 1916 - Our Girls: Their Work for the War
  • 1928 - Recollections of Rossetti, an expanded version of the earlier book
  • 1938 - Life of Christ, published posthumously


In addition he wrote countless articles and stories of which an account has never been kept. The above bibliography is based on that compiled by Allen.

Filmography


  • 1911 - The Christian, based on the play. Directed by Franklyn Barrett in Australia. 28 minutes
  • 1914 - The Christian, based on the play and the novel. Directed by Frederick A. Thomson in USA.
  • 1915 - The Eternal City, based on the play and the novel. Directed by Hugh Ford and Edwin S. Porter in USA. 80 minutes
  • 1915 - The Christian, based on the novel. Directed by George Loane Tucker in UK.
  • 1916 - The Manxman, based on the novel. Directed by George Loane Tucker in UK. 90 minutes
  • 1916 - The Bondman, based on the novel. Directed by Edgar Lewis in USA.
  • 1917 - The Deemster, based on the novel (also known as The Bishop's Son). Directed by Howell Hansel in USA.
  • 1918 - Victory and Peace. Directed by Herbert Brenon in UK.
  • 1919 - The Woman Thou Gavest Me, based on the novel. Directed by Hugh Ford in USA. 60 minutes
  • 1923 - The Prodigal Son, based on the novel. Directed by A.E. Coleby in UK and Iceland.
  • 1923 - The Christian, based on the play and the novel. Directed by Maurice Tourneur in USA. 80 minutes
  • 1923 - The Eternal City, based on the novel. Directed by George Fitzmaurice in USA. 80 minutes
  • 1924 - Name the Man based on the novel The Master of Man; the Story of a Sin. Directed by Victor Sjöström in USA. 80 minutes
  • 1927 - Barbed Wire, based on the novel The Woman of Knockaloe, a Parable. Directed by Rowland V. Lee in USA. 67 minutes
  • 1929 - The Bondman, based on the novel. Directed by Herbert Wilcox in UK.
  • 1929 - The Manxman, based on the novel. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock in UK. 90 minutes.


The above filmography is based on the Hall Caine page on the Internet Movie Database

External links

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