Manchester Statistical Society

Manchester Statistical Society is a learned society founded in 1833 in Manchester, England.

Manchester Statistical Society

Formation	1833
Type	learned society
Registration no.	1069363
Legal status	Charity
Purpose	the collection of facts illustrative of the condition of society, and the discussion of subjects of social and political economy.
Headquarters	Manchester, United Kingdom
Region served	Manchester and Greater Manchester
Official language	English
Collections	Library, Archives
96th President	Dr John Rigby
Website	www.manstat.org

History

The Manchester Statistical Society (MSS) claims to be "the first organisation in Britain to study social problems systematically and to collect statistics for social purposes"[1] and in 1834 was "the first organisation to carry out a house-to-house social survey".[2] The first of around 20 such societies that were either mooted or actually formed in the early Victorian period, only that in Manchester and what was originally called the London Statistical Society (now the Royal Statistical Society) still exist.[3]

Those who were most concerned with the public health consequences of the rapidly expanding, industrialising city of Manchester in the early years of the MSS came mainly from relatively new, minor medical charities such as the Manchester Lying-in Hospital, the Chorlton Dispensary and the Ardwick and Ancoats Dispensary rather than being leaders of the city's medical profession who were based at medical schools and the Manchester Infirmary. John Roberton came from the first of these new charities and was the driving force of the Society in the 1840s, sharing an interest in collation and interpretation of medical statistics with fellow members such as James Kay. Their efforts followed those made by Thomas Percival and John Ferriar, who had made significant medical advances at the Manchester Infirmary in the late-eighteenth century before that institution became overwhelmed by the demands being placed upon it by the city's growth.[4] There were a fairly small number of members - around 60 in 1839-40 - among whom were a dozen people who were significant in running the Anti-Corn Law League.[5]

The pioneering work of the MSS in the sphere of public health issues was in turn followed by the reinvigorated interest of more senior medical practitioners and members of society after the introduction of the Public Health Act of 1848 and the formation of the Manchester and Salford Sanitary Association in 1852.[4]

John Pickstone, a medical historian, says that the MSS

... was associated with the resurgence of Manchester liberalism, with moves for central and local government reform and with new, regional, groupings of doctors. In their new societies the leaders of local medicine and surgery sought to show that they were scientific professionals not just tradesmen; intellectual and aware investigators, even though they were in provincial cities rather than London or Edinburgh.[4]

The society became a registered charity (No. 1069363) in 1998. The society continues to date and holds regular meetings.[6] Past presidents include two Nobel Laureates in economics, John Hicks and Arthur Lewis.

Officers

Presidents

Presidents of the Manchester Statistical Society have been:[7]

• 1833–34 Benjamin Heywood
• 1834–36 Lt-Col. Shaw Kennedy
• 1836–37 Rev. Edward Stanley
• 1837–39 Thomas Ashton
• 1839–41 Shakespeare Phillips
• 1841–44 William Langton
• 1844–47 Dr John Roberton
• 1847–49 Samuel Robinson
• 1849–50 Henry Houldsworth
• 1850–51 William Nield
• 1851–53 Robert Needham Philips
• 1853–55 James Heywood
• 1855–57 William Metcalf
• 1857–59 Rev. C. J. Richson
• 1859–61 Dr Daniel Noble
• 1861–63 Edward Herford
• 1863–65 Dr Alfred Asplan
• 1865–67 David Chadwick
• 1867–69 William Langton
• 1869–71 William Stanley Jevons
• 1871–73 John Mills
• 1873–75 Dr John Watts
• 1875–77 Thomas Read Wilkinson
• 1877–79 Thomas Dickens
• 1879–81 Elijah Helm
• 1881–83 William Baker
• 1883–84 John Slagg
• 1884–86 Robert Montgomery
• 1886–88 Thomas B Moxon
• 1888–90 Edwin Guthrie
• 1890–92 Dr J. E. C. Munro
• 1892–94 William Fogg
• 1894–96 W. H. S. Watts
• 1896–98 George H. Pownall
• 1898–1900 Rt Rev. Dr L. C. Casartelli
• 1900–01 Prof. Alfred William Flux
• 1901–03 Sir William H. Houldsworth, Bt
• 1903–05 Frederick Merttens
• 1905–07 Frederick Brocklehurst
• 1907–09 Dr James Niven
• 1909–11 Sir S. J. Chapman, KBE
• 1911–13 Sir Drummond Fraser, KBE
• 1913–15 Theodore Gregory
• 1915–17 Barnard Ellinger
• 1917–19 Very Rev. Mgr Dr Anselm Pocock
• 1919–21 Sir Christopher T. Needham
• 1921–23 Frank Roby
• 1923–25 Prof. Henry Clay
• 1925–27 W. H. Goulty
• 1927–29 Sir William Clare Lees, OBE
• 1929–30 Sir Kenneth D. Stewart, KBE
• 1930–33 Prof. George William Daniels
• 1933–35 David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford
• 1935–36 A. Linney Arnold
• 1936–38 Sir E. Raymond Streat, KBE
• 1938–40 T. S. Ashton
• 1940–42 R. C. Reynolds, OBE
• 1942–44 L .F. Behrens
• 1944–46 Sir John Hicks
• 1946–48 Sir Kenneth Lee, Bt
• 1948–50 Godfrey W. Armitage
• 1950–51 Professor Michael Polanyi
• 1951–53 Dr F. C. Toy, CBE
• 1953–55 Sir Ralph W. Lacey, KBE
• 1955–56 Prof. W. A. Lewis
• 1956–58 A. H. Allman
• 1958–59 Prof. E. Devons
• 1959–60 Prof. M. S. Bartlett
• 1960–62 L. H. C. Tippett
• 1962–63 H. E. Wadsworth
• 1963–65 R. W. Baldwin
• 1965–67 Sir Bruce Williams
• 1967–69 Sir Charles Frederick Carter
• 1969–71 Rt Hon. Lord Bowden
• 1971–73 Alfred C. Wild
• 1973–75 Prof. E. V. Morgan
• 1975–77 Arthur Duval
• 1977–79 Dr Tom J. Lunt
• 1979–81 Dr Wallis Taylor
• 1981–83 Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw
• 1983–85 Richard Harrington
• 1985–87 Alan Roughley
• 1987–89 Prof. M. J. Artis
• 1989–91 John D. Ilett
• 1991–93 Prof. J. Stanley Metcalfe, CBE
• 1993–95 Dr Keith Julian
• 1995–97 Prof. Brian Robson, OBE
• 1997–99 David Buckley
• 1999–2001 Jonathan Aylen
• 2001–03 Paul K. Berry
• 2003–05 Prof. Luke Georghiou
• 2005–07 Brenda E. Ilett
• 2007–09 John Acaster
• 2009–11 Dr Stuart Thompson
• 2011–13 Dr Philip Lund
• 2013–15 Dennis Carter
• 2015–17 Dr John Rigby
• 2017-19 Rt Rev. Dr David Walker
• 2019-21 Dr Fred Wheeler

See also

• List of societies for education in Manchester

References

1. "Manchester Statistical Society's History". Manchester Statistical Society. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
2. Ashton, Thomas S. (1977) [1934]. Economic and Social Investigations in Manchester, 1833-1933. Brighton: The Harvester Press. ISBN 0-85527-025-X.
3. O'Brien, Christopher (January 2011). "The origins and originators of early statistical societies: a comparison of Liverpool and Manchester". Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (Statistics in Society). Wiley. 174 (1): 51–62. doi:10.1111/j.1467-985X.2010.00649.x.
4. Pickstone, John (19–26 December 1987). "Manchester's History And Manchester's Medicine". British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Edition). BMJ Publishing Group. 295 (6613): 1604–1608. doi:10.1136/bmj.295.6613.1604. JSTOR 29529232. PMC 1257489. PMID 3121091.
5. Pickering, Paul; Tyrell, Alex (2000). The People's Bread: A History of the Anti-Corn Law League. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-56720-497-4.
6. MSS website
7. "Past Presidents". Manchester Statistical Society. Retrieved 22 October 2017.

External links

• Manchester Statistical Society Homepage