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William Petty
Sir William Petty FRS (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to survey the land that was to be confiscated and given to Cromwell's soldiers. He also remained a significant figure under King Charles II and King James II, as did many others who had served Cromwell. Petty was also a scientist, inventor, and merchant, a charter member of the Royal Society, and briefly a member of the Parliament of England. However, he is best remembered for his theories on economics and his methods of political arithmetic. He was knighted in 1661.
Petty was born in Romsey, where his father and grandfather were clothiers. He was a precocious and intelligent youth and in 1637 became a cabin boy. His readiness to provide caricatures of fellow crew members won him few friends. He also learnt of his defective sight when he failed to spot a landmark he had been told to look for. The captain, who had by this time seen the landmark from the deck for himself "drubbed him with a cord". He was subsequently set ashore in Normandy after breaking his leg on board. After this setback, he applied in Latin to study with the Jesuits in Caen, supporting himself by teaching English. After a year, he returned to England, and had by now a thorough knowledge of Latin, Greek, French, mathematics, and astronomy.
After the Third Siege of Oxford had resulted in the garrison surrendering to the parliamentarians on 24 June 1646, Petty arrived in the town and was offered a fellowship at Brasenose College and studied medicine at the University. He befriended Hartlib and Boyle and became a member of the Oxford Philosophical Club.
By 1651, Petty was an anatomy instructor at Brasenose College, Oxford, as deputy to Thomas Clayton the younger. With a second doctor, Thomas Willis, Petty was involved in treating Anne Greene, a woman who survived her own hanging and was subsequently pardoned because her survival was widely held to be an act of divine intervention. The event was widely written about at the time, and helped to build Petty's career and reputation. He was also appointed Gresham Professor of Music by the Corporation of the City of London in 1650, retaining the post until 1660.
In 1652, he took a leave of absence and travelled with Oliver Cromwell's army in Ireland as physician-general, responsible to Cromwell's son-in-law, Charles Fleetwood. His opposition to conventional universities, being committed to 'new science' as inspired by Francis Bacon and imparted by his afore-mentioned acquaintances, perhaps pushed him from Oxford. He was pulled to Ireland perhaps by a sense of ambition and desire for wealth and power. He secured the contract for charting Ireland in 1654, so that those who had lent funds to Cromwell's army might be repaid in land – a means of ensuring the army was self-financing. This enormous task, which he completed in 1656, became known as the Down Survey, later published (1685) as Hiberniae Delineatio. As his reward, he acquired approximately 30,000 acres (120 km2) in Kenmare, in southwest Ireland, and £9,000. This personal gain to Petty led to persistent court cases on charges of bribery and breach of trust, until his death.
Back in England, as a Cromwellian supporter, he ran successfully for Parliament in 1659 for West Looe.
Petty gained possession of the three baronies of Iveragh, Glanarought and Dunkerron in County Kerry. He soon became a projector, developing extensive plans for an ironworks and a fishery on his substantial estates in Kerry. Although he had great expectations of his application of his scientific methods to improvement, little came of these. He began by applying his political arithmetic to his own estates, surveying the population and livestock to develop an understanding of the land's potential. The ironworks was established in 1660.
Despite his political allegiances, Petty was well-treated at the Restoration in 1660, although he lost some of his Irish lands. Charles II, at their first meeting, brushed aside Petty's apologies for his past support for Cromwell, "seeming to regard them as needless", and discussed his experiments into the mechanics of shipping instead.
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William Petty
Sir William Petty FRS (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to survey the land that was to be confiscated and given to Cromwell's soldiers. He also remained a significant figure under King Charles II and King James II, as did many others who had served Cromwell. Petty was also a scientist, inventor, and merchant, a charter member of the Royal Society, and briefly a member of the Parliament of England. However, he is best remembered for his theories on economics and his methods of political arithmetic. He was knighted in 1661.
Petty was born in Romsey, where his father and grandfather were clothiers. He was a precocious and intelligent youth and in 1637 became a cabin boy. His readiness to provide caricatures of fellow crew members won him few friends. He also learnt of his defective sight when he failed to spot a landmark he had been told to look for. The captain, who had by this time seen the landmark from the deck for himself "drubbed him with a cord". He was subsequently set ashore in Normandy after breaking his leg on board. After this setback, he applied in Latin to study with the Jesuits in Caen, supporting himself by teaching English. After a year, he returned to England, and had by now a thorough knowledge of Latin, Greek, French, mathematics, and astronomy.
After the Third Siege of Oxford had resulted in the garrison surrendering to the parliamentarians on 24 June 1646, Petty arrived in the town and was offered a fellowship at Brasenose College and studied medicine at the University. He befriended Hartlib and Boyle and became a member of the Oxford Philosophical Club.
By 1651, Petty was an anatomy instructor at Brasenose College, Oxford, as deputy to Thomas Clayton the younger. With a second doctor, Thomas Willis, Petty was involved in treating Anne Greene, a woman who survived her own hanging and was subsequently pardoned because her survival was widely held to be an act of divine intervention. The event was widely written about at the time, and helped to build Petty's career and reputation. He was also appointed Gresham Professor of Music by the Corporation of the City of London in 1650, retaining the post until 1660.
In 1652, he took a leave of absence and travelled with Oliver Cromwell's army in Ireland as physician-general, responsible to Cromwell's son-in-law, Charles Fleetwood. His opposition to conventional universities, being committed to 'new science' as inspired by Francis Bacon and imparted by his afore-mentioned acquaintances, perhaps pushed him from Oxford. He was pulled to Ireland perhaps by a sense of ambition and desire for wealth and power. He secured the contract for charting Ireland in 1654, so that those who had lent funds to Cromwell's army might be repaid in land – a means of ensuring the army was self-financing. This enormous task, which he completed in 1656, became known as the Down Survey, later published (1685) as Hiberniae Delineatio. As his reward, he acquired approximately 30,000 acres (120 km2) in Kenmare, in southwest Ireland, and £9,000. This personal gain to Petty led to persistent court cases on charges of bribery and breach of trust, until his death.
Back in England, as a Cromwellian supporter, he ran successfully for Parliament in 1659 for West Looe.
Petty gained possession of the three baronies of Iveragh, Glanarought and Dunkerron in County Kerry. He soon became a projector, developing extensive plans for an ironworks and a fishery on his substantial estates in Kerry. Although he had great expectations of his application of his scientific methods to improvement, little came of these. He began by applying his political arithmetic to his own estates, surveying the population and livestock to develop an understanding of the land's potential. The ironworks was established in 1660.
Despite his political allegiances, Petty was well-treated at the Restoration in 1660, although he lost some of his Irish lands. Charles II, at their first meeting, brushed aside Petty's apologies for his past support for Cromwell, "seeming to regard them as needless", and discussed his experiments into the mechanics of shipping instead.