Serious Minds
by Richard McLauchlan
Hurst £30

HISTORY tells its story with different voices — political, economic, social, cultural and biographical. They all essentially cross-relate, but none more than that favourite of historical novelists, the family saga.

The extended family cover photograph of Richard McLauchlan’s chronicle of the Perthshire Haldane family might prepare the reader for another Forsyte Saga.

In fact, McLauchlan has no need for a novelistic imagination to people his narrative. The Haldane dynasty provided a wealth of remarkably eccentrics from the early 19th century to the present day to keep the most avid fiction addict satisfied.

The reader should be prepared to repeatedly check back on characters in the family tree provided, as not only are Christian names passed down the line but the Haldanes went in for pet names.

A mixture of traditional Scottish Calvinist roots and an equally fierce belief in educational attainment spawned many of the men — and some remarkable women — who played major roles in shaping our contemporary world.

Introducing his fascinating dramatis personae, McLauchlan observes that each generation “radicalises the ideals of the one before.”

Although the historical context, one where “old privileges, certainties and institutions were no longer tenable,” were necessarily formative on those who were fortunate to recognise these changes, notably, often “it was a Haldane who was leading the argument for their downfall.”

Who then were these Haldanes?

Today, when historical memory appears increasingly dependent on the latest TV choice of costume documentary, the most likely name to be recognised is that of JBS (Jack) Haldane, who some of our paper’s oldest readers may well remember contributed a regular series of scientific articles to its predecessor, the Daily Worker during the late ’30s up to 1950.

However, before coming to this genius and his equally remarkable sister, Naomi Mitchison, McLauchlan’s historical tapestry introduces the reader to the previous generation, notably the figure of “Uncle Richard,” better known as 1st Viscount Haldane of Cloan (the family’s estate).

If the Haldane children, Richard, Johnnie and Bay (Elizabeth), did not openly rebel against the severe traditionalist upbringing, as their own children did, the author confidently believes that their political, legal and scientific work broke down religious barriers and “combatted society’s systematic inequalities between rich and poor, masters and servants, male and female.”

As the brothers built their careers in a social world which read like a Who’s Who of Edwardian academia, both were influenced by the energy of Germany, Richard philosophically, John by its medical scientific achievements.

Richard immersed himself in Liberal and later Labour Party politics with his lifetime’s phenomenal appetite for work, serving periods as lord chancellor under both parties.

One of his many notable achievements was in reforming the army in preparation for the possible European war.

John, the father of JBS, became, almost notorious through his self-experimentation, the world’s reigning expert on respiration.

His many inventions included early safety lamps in mining and gas masks in WWI — and even a prototype space suit. The Haldanes always looked to the future.

Their sister Elizabeth, necessarily overshadowed in a male-dominated society, was equally determined to contribute to the welfare of the dispossessed she saw surrounding her privileged lifestyle.

She involved herself in work which contributed to establishing local Scottish social insurance schemes leading to Lloyd George’s radical National Insurance Act of 1911.

It was John’s two children, Jack (JBS) and Naomi (Mitchison) who carried the Haldane vein of creative genius forward, coupling it to a fierce commitment to a socialist answer to the ills of the 20th century.  

Of all the host of Haldane characters McLauchlan introduces, JBS, with his colourfully varied career and “polymathic” interests, could have been the creation of a Boy’s Own adventure story.

His dare-devil gallantry in the WWI, his academic brilliance, a forerunner in the science of genetics, a government adviser at the same time as being a member of the Communist Party, writing over 300 popular largely scientific articles for the Daily Worker, all have led to his being called “the last man who might know all there was to be known.”

He shared with his sister Naomi, the author of over 90 historical and science fiction novels, poetry, travel books and autobiography, not only enormous energy but a strong anarchic streak and almost a determination to shock society out of its comfort zone.

Biographers are said to finish either hating or loving their subjects. There is no doubt that Richard McLauchlan’s years of research have led to an admiration and affection for this mandarin family.

Perhaps the main strength of this saga will be to make readers explore further some of the main characters who have slipped away into historical amnesia.