George Meredith with his son Arthur
William Hardman
1862
Photograph
This photograph of George Meredith and his son Arthur was taken by Meredith's close friend William Hardman, whom he described as "a barrister who does photographs, of his friends principally" (qtd. in Hardman, p.50; the photograph appears on the facing page). Like his own father before him, and Sir Austin in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel: A History of Father and Son (1859), Meredith was left to bring up his first son alone. He was a loving and protective father, though he was disappointed when the boy turned out to be rather unremarkable (see Jones 106-7). Arthur , who was born in June 1853, is about 9 years old here.
Scanned image and text by Jacqueline Banerjee.