Derwent Hall Caine

Sir
Derwent Hall Caine
1st Baronet Caine of Greeba Castle

Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet in 1915
Member of Parliament
for Liverpool, Everton
In office
1929–1931
Preceded by Herbert Charles Woodcock
Succeeded by Frank Hornby
Majority 1567
Personal details
Born (1891-08-12)12 August 1891
Keswick, Cumberland
Died 2 December 1971(1971-12-02) (aged 80)
Miami
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Relations Hall Caine(father) Mary Chandler (mother)Gordon Hall Caine (brother)
Children Three
Profession Actor, film-maker, publisher,businessperson

Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet (12 September 1891  2 December 1971) was a British actor, publisher and Labour politician.

Biography

Caine was born into an Isle of Man family, the son of novelist Hall Caine and his wife Mary Chandler. He was born at Keswick in Cumberland, and so derived his name from the nearby lake of Derwent Water.[1] He was a sensitive child with asthma,and attended St Cyprian's School in Eastbourne for his health.[2] He became an actor, making his stage debut in 1906 in his father's adaptation of his novel, The Bondman. In 1915 he took one of the parts in his father's first authorised film – a version of The Christian, made by the London Film Company.

His father went to America to encourage American involvement in World War I and had dramatic interests there. In 1915 Derwent Caine sailed to America to look after those interests. Although he was declared unfit for active service, he was nearly prevented from travelling because of a change of rules.[3]

In America he starred in three films made by the Arrow Film Corporation. These were The Deemster (which had been written by his father), a version of Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, and the propaganda film Huns at our gate.[4]

Back in England, with his brother Gordon Ralph Hall Caine, he founded the publishing house The Reader's Library.[5]

In 1929 he stood for parliament as Labour candidate for Liverpool, Everton and was returned as Member of Parliament. In January 1931, he was charged with dangerous driving after colliding with a taxi in the early hours of the morning in Trafalgar Square, injuring the four taxi passengers (an army Major in the Scots Guards, his wife and two friends).[6] Caine was subsequently acquitted.[7]

When the Labour government collapsed in 1931 he carried on supporting Ramsay MacDonald as a National Labour MP. Hall Caine was the only sitting National Labour MP to be opposed by the Conservatives in the 1931 General Election. He lost his seat, to Frank Hornby, and finished bottom of the poll. At the same election, his elder brother Gordon Hall Caine was elected Conservative member for East Dorset. In 1935 the two brothers established the Hall Caine Airport on the Isle of Man.[8]

He was given a knighthood in 1935 and a baronetcy in 1937.[9][10]

Caine had at least three children out of wedlock,[11] and one of them, Elin, was adopted by Caine's parents as their own daughter in 1912.[2] He died in Miami.

Filmography

References

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Herbert Charles Woodcock
Member of Parliament for Liverpool, Everton
19291931
Succeeded by
Frank Hornby
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
New creation
Caine baronets
(of Greeba Castle)
1937–1971
Succeeded by
Extinct
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