Robert Acklom Ingram was an English mathematician, clergyman and political economist.

He was born on 6 June 1763 (others say 6 July 1761) in Wormingford, the son of Rev. Robert Ingram (1727–1804) of Boxted, Essex

Boxted, Essex

Boxted is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located approximately north of Colchester and northeast of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Colchester and in the parliamentary constituency of North Essex. There is a Parish council...

 and Katherine Acklom (1727–1809). He went to school in Dedham, Essex

Dedham, Essex

Dedham is a village within the borough of Colchester in northeast Essex, England, situated on the River Stour and on the border of Essex and Suffolk...

 and graduated Senior Wrangler from Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...

 in 1784, becoming a fellow and was tutor of the college (1785–1802). He was also rector of Seagrave

Seagrave

Seagrave is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It has a population of around 500. It is north of Sileby and close to Thrussington and Barrow upon Soar....

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

from 1803 to 1809.

As a political economist he was concerned with poverty and the welfare of the working classes.
He is noted for his tract Disquisitions on Population (London, 1808) opposing the views of Malthus as expressed in An Essay on the Principle of Population

An Essay on the Principle of Population

The book An Essay on the Principle of Population was first published anonymously in 1798 through J. Johnson . The author was soon identified as The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus. While it was not the first book on population, it has been acknowledged as the most influential work of its era...

.

Family life

Rev. Robert Acklom Ingram married Matilda Springthorpe (1779–1859), daughter of Richard Springthorpe (b 1743) of Ashby-de-la-Zouche, Leicestershire and Matilda Allsopp (d 1811), on 25 Apr 1805 at Rempstone. Their daughter, Matilda (1806–1886), married Dixon Robinson

Dixon Robinson

Dixon Robinson was an English lawyer, Gentleman Steward of the Honour of Clitheroe and philanthropist in the Nineteenth Century.He was born on 17 June 1795 at Chatburn, Lancashire, third son of Josias Robinson and Susanna Dixon .-The Lancashire Lawyer:He became a partner in the firm of Carr and...

 (1795–1878) of Clitheroe Castle

Clitheroe Castle

Clitheroe Castle in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England is a motte and bailey castle built in a natural carboniferous limestone outcrop, .It has been suggested that Clitheroe Castle may have been first built before 1086 as there is reference to the "castellatu Rogerii pictaviensis" in the Domesday Book....

, Lancashire.

His mother, Katherine Acklom was a forceful woman with a temper who was also jealous of her two sisters who had married richer men. She persuaded his father to sell six farms and invest in South Sea Annuities consequently they lost a lot of income in the South Sea Bubble.

Rev. Robert Acklom Ingram died on 5 Feb 1809 in Seagrave.