Charles
Masterman
was born at Rotherfield Hall, Sussex in 1873. He was educated at Christ
College, Cambridge, where he became
President of the Union in 1896. While he was at university he edited
Granta
and later contributed articles to newspapers and journals such as
the Daily News, Athenaeum
and the Nation.
Influenced by the teaching of Henry Scott
Holland, Masterman became an active member of the Christian
Social Union. In April, 1890, Masterman moved into a tenement
block in Camberwell in London, in order to experience working-class
life. This provided the material for his book, From
the Abyss
(1902). In
Peril of Change
(1905) and The
Condition of England
(1909), Masterman continued to explore the changing social conditions
of Britain.
Masterman was selected as the Liberal candidate
for West Ham North and won the seat in the 1906
General Election. Masterman was an impressive member of the House
of Commons and in 1908 Herbert Asquith
appointed him as the government's Parliamentary Secretary of the Local
Government Board. This was followed by periods as Under-Secretary
of State of the Home Office (July 1909 - February 1912) and Financial
Secretary to the Treasury (February 1912 - February 1914).
After the outbreak of the First World War Masterman
was appointed head of the government's War Propaganda
Bureau. Masterman recruited talented writers such as John
Buchan and Arthur Conan Doyle to help
him with his work. Several books were published such as Britain's
War By Land
(1915), History
of the War
(1916) and The
Battle of the Somme
(1916).
Only two photographers, both army officers, were allowed to take pictures
of the Western Front. The penalty for
anyone else caught taking a photograph at the front was the firing
squad. Masterman was aware that the right sort of pictures would help
the war effort. In May 1916 Masterman recruited the artist, Muirhead
Bone. He was sent to France and by October had produced 150 drawings
of the war. Published in the national newspapers, the venture was
such a success that Masterman arranged for a whole team of artists
to visit France. Over the next two years over ninety artists went
to the Western Front including Eric
Kennington, Francis Dodd, William
Orpen, Paul Nash, John
Nash, C. R. W. Nevinson, Henry
Lamb, William Rothenstein, Wyndham
Lewis, John Sargent, Stanley
Spencer, Augustus John, Gilbert
Ledward and Charles Jagger.
Defeated in the 1918 General Election, Masterman
remained without a seat in the House of Commons
until elected for Rusholme, Manchester,
in the 1923 General Election. However, he
was defeated in the 1924 General Election.
Charles
Masterman
died on 17th November 1927.
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