Archibald Richard Burdon Haldane was born in 1900, the nephew of Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane. Like his father and uncles, he attended the Edinburgh Academy, after which he went to Balliol College, Oxford to read history. He returned to Scotland to enter his father's legal firm. In 1982, he was awarded the CBE in recognition of his work for the bank. He was principally known, however, as a social historian and author. In recognition for his work in this field, he was awarded the honorary degree of D-Litt from the University of Edinburgh. He died in 1982.