Sir William Petty (1623-1687), Political economist

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A Founder Fellow of the Royal Society. Petty overcame a humble origin to rise rapidly following the Parliamentary victory in the civil war. He was elected Professor of Anatomy at Oxford, 1651, and made a fortune following Cromwell's conquest of Ireland by surveying the land to be confiscated and distributed amongst the victors. He retained his positions at the Restoration and impressed Charles II with his design for a double-keeled ship. He is principally remembered for carrying out the first serious attempt at a scientific and mathematical study of social statistics in Political Arithmetic (1690).