Frederick Morton Eden
Encyclopedia
Sir Frederick Morton Eden, 2nd Baronet, of Maryland
(18 June 1766 – 14 November 1809) was an English writer on poverty and pioneering social investigator.
Frederick Morton Eden was the eldest son of Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland, and his wife Caroline Calvert, sister of the last Lord Baltimore
and niece of Thomas Bladen
's wife. His father was governor of Maryland
and was created a baronet
in 1776. Frederick inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1784. Eden studied at Christ Church, Oxford
. He was one of the founders of the Globe Insurance Company and later its chairman. 1803
He died suddenly at the office of the company at the early age of 43.
The book was intended to provide a factual basis for the current debate on what to do about the poor. Eden writes at the beginning of the book
In the style of the time, the full title of the book is a catalogue of its contents:
Eden did some of the field-work himself, obtained information from clergymen but also sent out "a remarkably faithful and intelligent person" with a questionnaire he had designed. This was modelled on that used by Sir John Sinclair in his Statistical Account of Scotland.
wrote of Eden's work "Altogether, this is the grand storehouse of information respecting the labouring classes of England, and should have a prominent place in every library."
Karl Marx
wrote that Eden was "the only disciple of Adam Smith
during the eighteenth century that produced any work of any importance"' (DNB).
Edgeworth
wrote the article on Eden in the original Palgrave Dictionary. He considered that the book entitled Eden to "rank with Arthur Young as one of those immediate successors of Adam Smith who best developed the inductive branch of political economy."
The twentieth-century British Prime Minister Anthony Eden
was a kinsman and, according to a recent biography (D.R. Thorpe Eden: The Life and Times of Anthony Eden ), he was influenced by F. M. Eden's work and kept a copy on his shelves throughout his life.
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
(18 June 1766 – 14 November 1809) was an English writer on poverty and pioneering social investigator.
Early life
Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore
Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, 4th Proprietor of Maryland was an English nobleman and last in the line of Barons Baltimore...
and niece of Thomas Bladen
Thomas Bladen
Sir Thomas Bladen was a politician and colonial governor. He served as the 19th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1742 to 1747.-Early life and marriage:...
's wife. His father was governor of Maryland
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...
and was created a baronet
Eden Baronets
The Eden Baronetcy, of West Auckland in the County of Durham, and the Eden Baronetcy, of Maryland in North America, are two titles in the Baronetage of England and Baronetage of Great Britain respectively that have been united under a single holder since 1844.The Eden Baronetcy of West Auckland was...
in 1776. Frederick inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1784. Eden studied at Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. He was one of the founders of the Globe Insurance Company and later its chairman. 1803
He died suddenly at the office of the company at the early age of 43.
Career
Eden’s reputation as a social investigator rests on The State of the Poor, published in 3 volumes in 1797. He explained the circumstances that led him to do the research
"The difficulties which the labouring classes experienced, from the high price of grain, and of provisions in general, as well as of cloathing [sic] and fuel, during the years 1794 and 1795, induced me, from motives both of benevolence and personal curiosity, to investigate their conditions in various parts of the kingdom."
The book was intended to provide a factual basis for the current debate on what to do about the poor. Eden writes at the beginning of the book
"These and many similar questions [relating to the poor laws] cannot, as it seems to me, be fully and satisfactorily answered, unless many minute circumstances are previously stated, which have been rarely sufficiently attended to in the plausible and ingenious but unsolid speculations of several merely theoretic reasoners."
In the style of the time, the full title of the book is a catalogue of its contents:
"The State of the Poor: or a history of the labouring classes in England, from the Conquest to the present period; in which are particularly considered, their domestic economy, with respect to diet, dress, fuel, and habitation; and the various plans which, from time to time, have been proposed and adopted for the relief of the poor: together with parochial reports relative to the administration of work-houses, and houses of industry; the state of the Friendly Societies, and other public institutions; in several agricultural, commercial and manufacturing, districts. With a large appendix; containing a comparative and chronological table of the prices of labour, of provisions, and of other commodities; an account of the poor in Scotland; and many original documents on subjects of national importance."
Eden did some of the field-work himself, obtained information from clergymen but also sent out "a remarkably faithful and intelligent person" with a questionnaire he had designed. This was modelled on that used by Sir John Sinclair in his Statistical Account of Scotland.
Influence and legacy
In The Literature of Political Economy McCullochJohn Ramsay McCulloch
John Ramsey McCulloch , a Scottish economist, author and editor, is widely regarded as the leader of the Ricardian school of economists after the death of David Ricardo in 1823. He was appointed the first professor of political economy at University College London in 1828...
wrote of Eden's work "Altogether, this is the grand storehouse of information respecting the labouring classes of England, and should have a prominent place in every library."
Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
wrote that Eden was "the only disciple of Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
during the eighteenth century that produced any work of any importance"' (DNB).
Edgeworth
Francis Ysidro Edgeworth
Francis Ysidro Edgeworth FBA was an Irish philosopher and political economist who made significant contributions to the methods of statistics during the 1880s...
wrote the article on Eden in the original Palgrave Dictionary. He considered that the book entitled Eden to "rank with Arthur Young as one of those immediate successors of Adam Smith who best developed the inductive branch of political economy."
The twentieth-century British Prime Minister Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
was a kinsman and, according to a recent biography (D.R. Thorpe Eden: The Life and Times of Anthony Eden ), he was influenced by F. M. Eden's work and kept a copy on his shelves throughout his life.
Family life
Eden married Anne Smith on 10 January 1792. They had seven children:- Marianne Eden (c1793-13 May 1859)
- Sir Frederick Eden, 3rd Baronet (c1794-24 December 1814)
- Caroline Eden (c1801 - 10 November 1854)
- Sir William Eden, 4th/6th Bt.+1 b. 31 Jan 1803, d. 21 Oct 1873)
- Rt Reverend Robert Eden (2 September 1804 - 26 Aug 1886)
- Lieutenant-General George Morton Eden (10 May 1806 - November 1862)
- Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Eden (3 July 1808 - 7 Mar 1878)
Further reading
- Stone, Richard. (1997): Some British Empiricists in the Social Sciences 1650-1900 Cambridge University Press, New York.
- Stone, M. (2001): Sir Frederick Morton Eden. In Statisticians of the Centuries (C.C. Heyde and E. Seneta, eds.), pp. 115-118. Springer , New York.
External links
- Sir Frederick Eden at www.thepeerage.com Retrieved September 2011