C. F. G. Masterman (Charles Frederick Gurney) Biography

British writer on social conditions, born in Wimbledon, educated at Christ's College, Cambridge. The zealous social concern produced by his Christian idealism and liberal political principles led him to take up residence in one of the poorest parts of south-east London in 1900, where he planned The Heart of Empire (1901); subtitled ‘Discussions of modern city life in England’, the book contained contributions from a number of his associates, including G. M. Trevelyan, in addition to his own survey of urban deprivation. From the Abyss (1902) contrasted the extremes of poverty and affluence which coexisted in London. The Condition of England (1909), his best-known work, addressed the absence of effective social reform with persuasive conviction. He was elected to Parliament in 1906 and held various positions in Liberal Governments until 1915, when he lost his seat in the House of Commons. He supplied the model for the politician Waterhouse in Parade's End (1924–8) by his friend Ford Madox Ford (then Hueffer). His other works include In Peril of Change (1905) and England after War (1922). There is a biography by his wife Lucy Masterman (1939).