William Cunningham FBA (29 December 1849 – 10 June 1919) was a Scottish economic historian and Anglican priest. He was a proponent of the historical method in economics and an opponent of free trade.
William Cunningham | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 29 December 1849 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 10 June 1919 (aged 69) Cambridge, England |
| Known for | Establishment of economic history in Britain |
| Spouse |
Adèle Rebecca Dunlop
(m. 1876) |
| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity (Anglican) |
| Church | Church of England[2] |
| Ordained | |
Offices held | Archdeacon of Ely (1907–1919) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Thesis | The Influence of Descartes on Metaphysical Speculation in England (1876) |
| Influences | F. D. Maurice[4] |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | |
| Sub-discipline | Economic history |
| School or tradition | English historical school of economics |
| Institutions | |
| Notable students | Ellen McArthur[5] |
| Notable works | The Growth of English Industry and Commerce (1882) |
| Influenced | |
Early life and education
editCunningham was born in Edinburgh, Scotland,[8] the third son of James Cunningham, Writer to the Signet. Educated at the Edinburgh Institution (taught by Robert McNair Ferguson, amongst others),[9] the Edinburgh Academy, the University of Edinburgh, and Trinity College, Cambridge, he graduated BA in 1873, having gained first-class honours in the Moral Science tripos.[3][10]
Career
editCunningham took holy orders in 1873, later serving as chaplain of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1880 to 1891.[11] He was university lecturer in history from 1884 to 1891, in which year he was appointed Tooke Professor of Economy and Statistics at King's College, London, a post which he held until 1897.[12] He was lecturer in economic history at Harvard University (c. 1899), and Hulsean Lecturer at Cambridge (1885).[13] He became vicar of Great St Mary's, Cambridge, in 1887, and was a founding fellow of the British Academy.[2] In 1907 he was appointed Archdeacon of Ely.[14][15]
Cunningham's Growth of English Industry and Commerce During the Early and Middle Ages (1890; 4th ed., 1905) and Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times (1882; 3rd ed., 1903) were at the time among the standard works of reference on the industrial history of England.[16]
Cunningham's eminence as an economic historian gave special importance to his support of Joseph Chamberlain from 1903 onwards in criticizing the English free-trade policies and advocating tariff reform.
He was a critic of the nascent neoclassical economics, particularly as propounded by his colleague, Alfred Marshall, and the Cambridge school.
Cunningham has been described as "a champion of women's education in Cambridge."[17] He taught the British historian Annie Abram.
Works
edit- Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times: The Mercantile System (1882); Cambridge U. Press, revised 7th ed. (1907) on line, McMaster
- Politics and Economics: An Essay on the Nature of the Principles of Political Economy, Together with a Survey of Recent Legislation, London, Kegan, Paul, Trench & Co. (1885)
- Growth of English Industry and Commerce During the Early and Middle Ages (1890); Cambridge, 5th ed. (1910) on line, McMaster
- The Use and Abuse of Money, New York, Scribner's (1891); Kessinger, (2006) ISBN 1-4254-9423-4
- William Cunningham (1897). Alien Immigrants to England. The Macmillan Co.
alien immigrants to england.
; Routledge (1997) ISBN 0-7146-1295-2 - An Essay on Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects (Ancient Times), Cambridge U. Press (1898)
- An Essay on Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects (Mediaeval and Modern Times), Cambridge U. Press (1900)
- The Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement (1904);[18] Cosimo ISBN 1-60520-115-4
- Christianity and Politics, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin (1915)
- The Story of Cambridgeshire (1920). Cambridge University Press (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00341-4)
See also
editReferences
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Koot 2004; Scott 1920, p. 4.
- ^ a b c Koot 2004.
- ^ a b c "Cunningham, William (CNNN869W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Koot 2004; Scott 1920, p. 3.
- ^ Erickson 2018, p. 29.
- ^ Goldberg 2013, p. 193.
- ^ Berg 1996, p. 70.
- ^ Koot 2004; Scott 1920, p. 2.
- ^ Scott 1920, p. 2.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 633.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 633; Koot 2004.
- ^ Scott 1920, p. 8.
- ^ Koot 2004; Scott 1920, pp. 5, 7.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 633–634.
- ^ Bentley 2005, p. 185.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 634.
- ^ Berg 1996, p. 8.
- ^ "Review of The Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement by W. Cunningham". The Oxford Magazine. 23. The Proprietors: 348. 24 May 1905. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
Bibliography
edit- Bentley, Michael (2005). "The Evolution and Dissemination of Historical Knowledge". In Daunton, Martin (ed.). The Organisation of Knowledge in Victorian Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-726326-6.
- Berg, Maxine (1996). A Woman in History: Eileen Power, 1889–1940. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-56852-4.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cunningham, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 633–634.
- Erickson, Amy Louise (2018). "Ellen Annette McArthur: Establishing a Presence in the Academy". In Smith, Hilda L.; Zook, Melinda (eds.). Generations of Women Historians: Within and Beyond the Academy. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 25–48. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-77568-5_2. ISBN 978-3-319-77568-5. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- Goldberg, Jeremy (2013). "Some Reflections on Women, Work, and the Family in the Later Medieval English Town". In Solórzano Telechea, Jesús Ángel; Arízaga Bolumburu, Beatriz Arízaga; Aguiar Andrade, Amélia (eds.). Ser mujer en la ciudad medieval europea. Logroño, Spain: Instituto de Estudios Riojanos. pp. 191–214. ISBN 978-84-9960-052-9. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- Koot, Gerard M. (2004). "Cunningham, William (1849–1919)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32669.
- Scott, W. R. (1920). William Cunningham (1849–1919). London: British Academy. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
External links
edit
Works by or about William Cunningham at Wikisource- Works by William Cunningham at Project Gutenberg
