James Edwin Thorold Rogers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Edwin Thorold Rogers (1823 – 1890), known as Thorold Rogers, an English economist and Member of Parliament, was born at West Meon, Hampshire.[1] He deployed historical and statistical methods to analyze some of the key economic and social questions in Victorian England. As an advocate of free trade and social justice he distinguished himself from some others within the English Historical School.[2]
[edit] Life
Rogers was educated at King's College London and Magdalen Hall, Oxford. After taking a first-class degree in 1846, he received his MA in 1849 from Magdalen and was ordained. A High Church man, he was curate of St. Paul's in Oxford, and acted voluntarily as assistant curate at Headington from 1854 to 1858, until his views changed and he turned to politics. He became the first Tooke Professor of Statistics and Economic Science at King's College London, from 1859 until his death. During this time he also held the Drummond professorship of political economy at All Souls College, Oxford between 1862 and 1867, when Bonamy Price was elected in his stead.[3][4] He was M.P. for Southwark 1880-85 and Bermondsey 1885-86. Rogers also lectured in political economy at Worcester College, Oxford in 1883 and was re-elected Drummond professor in 1888.
For some time the classics were the chief field of his activity. He devoted himself to classical and philosophical tuition in Oxford with success, and his publications included an edition of Aristotle's Ethics (in 1865). Rogers was instrumental in obtaining the Clerical Disabilities Relief Act, of which he was the first beneficiary, becoming the first man to legally withdraw from his clerical vows in 1870.
Simultaneously with these occupations he had been studying economics. In this he became a friend and follower of Richard Cobden, an advocate for free trade, nonintervention in Europe and an end to imperial expansion, whom he met during his first tenure as Drummond professor. Rogers said of Cobden, "he knew that ... political economy ... was, or ought to be, eminently inductive, and that an economist without facts is like an engineer without materials or tools."[5] Rogers had a wealth of facts at his disposal: his most influential works were the 6-volume History of Agriculture and Prices in England from 1259 to 1795 and Six Centuries of Work and Wages.
[edit] Works
- A History of Agriculture and Prices in England from 1259 to 1793 (1866–1902)
- Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P. London, T. Fisher Unwin (1870). Preface by Thorold Rogers. v. 1 ISBN 1847029159 v. 2 ISBN 1425492231
- A Complete Collection of the Protests of the Lords: With Historical Introductions, Vol. 1 1624-1741. Oxford, Clarendon Press; London, Macmillan & Co. (1875) on line at[6] ; vol. 2. 1741-1825; vol. 3. 1826-1874.
- Six Centuries of Work and Wages: The History of English Labour 2 vols. London, Swan Sonnenschein (1884) ISBN 0415382297 - on line[7]
- The Relations of Economic Science to Social and Political Action. London: Swan Sonnenschein (1888).
- The Economic Interpretation of History London, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1888); T. Fisher Unwin (1909).
- Holland. London, T. Fisher Unwin (1888); New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1889) - on line.[8]
- The Industrial and Commercial History of England. ed. Arthur G. L. Rogers. New York, G. P. Putnam, 1892.
[edit] References
- ^ http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/rogers/ Sidney Lee, in Dictionary of National Biography: Index and Epitome, Macmillan. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. (1903).
- ^ http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/schools/enghist.htm The English Historical School.
- ^ http://oep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/28/3/364 N. B. DeMarchi, "On the Early Dangers of Being Too Political an Economist," Oxford Economic Papers v. 28 no. 3, pp. 364-380
- ^ http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0030-7653(197807)2%3A30%3A2%3C310%3ATPEPOR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P Salim Rashid, "The Price-Rogers Election; Politics or Religion?" Oxford Economic Papers, New Series, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Jul., 1978), pp. 310-312
- ^ http://www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/YPDBooks/Cobden/cbdSPP0.html Preface to Richard Cobden's Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, on line.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=yuD1RxpT4ssC&printsec=titlepage#PPP1,M1 Protests of the Lords, Vol. 1 1624-1741. London, Macmillan (1875)
- ^ http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/rogers/sixcenturies.pdf Six Centuries of Work and Wages, on line.
- ^ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Nations_-_Holland Holland, on line.
- W. J. Ashley, "James E. Thorold Rogers" Political Science Quarterly (1889) pp. 381-407.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edward George Clarke Marcus Beresford |
Member of Parliament for Southwark 2-seat constituency (with Arthur Cohen) 1880–1885 |
Succeeded by (constituency abolished) |
| Preceded by (new constituency) |
Member of Parliament for Bermondsey 1885–1886 |
Succeeded by Alfred Lafone |
