Who was Thomas Malthus?
Economist and Demographer, famous for his theories
on population numbers.
Date and Place of Birth:
Between 14th-17th February 1766, Rookery, near
Dorking, Surrey, England
Family Background:
He was the sixth of seven children of Daniel
Malthus, a small landowner and his wife Henrietta. Daniel counted
David Hume and Jean Jacques Rousseau amongst
his friends.
Education:
Bramcote School, Nottinghamshire and the Dissenting
Academy at Warrington. Jesus College, Cambridge.
Chronology/Biography of Thomas Malthus:
1791: Took MA at
Cambridge.
1793: Elected a
Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge.
1797: He took Anglican
orders to be a Vicar.
1798: Became Curate
at Okwood near Albury in SUrrey. He was born with a cleft palate
which gave him a slight speech impediment. First published his famous
treatise "An Essay on the Principle of Population" which
he was to update and enlarge in six new editions up to 1826. The
original reacted against the optimism of his father's friend Jean
Jacques Rousseau and the writings of William
Godwin. He wrote that throughout history a section of every
human population seemed trapped in poverty and when populations
grew in times of plenty then misfortune would occur in times of
lean. Malthus argued that population was held within resource limits
by positive checks where the death rate was raised such as war,
famine and disease and by preventative ones, which reduce the birth
rate such as celibacy, birth control and abortion. He also stated
that if the lower classes behaved like the middle classes they would
not have children until they could afford to keep them properly.
1801: FIrst British
Census taken by the Government in direct consideration of Malthus's
theories.
1805: Became Great
Britain's first Professor of History and Political Economy at the
East India Company College (known nowadays as Haileybury) in Hertfordshire.
1807: Wrote a letter
to Samuel Whitbread, Esq. M.P. on his proposed Bill for the Amendment
of the Poor Laws.
1808: Began to
write a series of articles for the Edinburgh Review such as Spence
on Commerce.
1811: Wrote on the
Depreciation of paper currency. Edinburgh Review 17.
1818: Elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
1821: Defended himself
against William Godwin in the Edinburgh Review.
1824: Wrote on the
Political economy in the Quarterly Review.
Written Works:
- 1798:
“Essays on the Principle of Population”
- 1800: "The
Present High Price of Provisions" (Pamphlett). "Endogenous
Theory of Money"
- 1814: "Observations
on the Effects of the Corn Laws" (pamphlet)
- 1815: "The
Nature of Rent". "The Policy of Restricting the Importation
of Grain"
- 1817: "Statement
Respecting the East-India College"
- 1820: "Principles
of Political Economy"
- 1823: "The
Measure of Value, Stated and illustrated"
- 1827: "Definitions
in Political Economy"
Marriage:
To his cousin Harriet on 12th April 1804. They
had two daughters and a son despite criticisms by Shelley
that he was a eunuch and by others that he had too many children.
Places of Interest:
SOMERSET
Epitaph in Bath Abbey
Date and Place of Death:
23rd December 1834, St. Catherine's, near Bath,
Avon, England.
Age at Death:
68.
Site of Grave:
Bath Abbey beneath the porch, England.
