Petty, William

Petty, William (1623–87), political economist, born at Romsey, Hampshire, the son of a clothier. A devotee of Francis Bacon's writings on ‘useful knowledge’, he learned navigation at sea, attended the Jesuit College in Caen, studied medicine in the Netherlands, and in 1645 was tutored by Hobbes in Paris (where he met leading French scientists gathered around Mersenne). In England (1646) he established links with the German refugee Samuel Hartlib, who advocated the application of science to social and economic needs. Petty completed his medical studies at Oxford (1649–50), where he was a member of the scientific group around John Wilkins, the warden of Wadham College. In addition to Petty the group included figures such as Seth Ward, Thomas Willis, and Robert Hooke, and was a forerunner of the Royal Society. Petty was appointed professor of anatomy at Oxford, but left for Ireland in 1652 as physician‐general to Cromwell's armies.

In Ireland Petty completed the Down Survey (1654–9) and thereafter abandoned medicine in favour of cartography, surveying, demography, and economics. He viewed Ireland as a testing ground for Baconian principles of improvement. His practical and theoretical works were rewarded by Cromwell with grants of land, chiefly in Kerry; Charles II continued to favour him and awarded a knighthood (1662). In 1659 Petty returned to London and, like Boyle whom he knew in Ireland, was one of the first members of the Royal Society (founded 1660). Thereafter he divided his time between London and Ireland, where he resided 1666–73, 1676–85.

Petty produced remarkable socio‐economic studies based on statistical and scientific methods. Among his best‐known works concerning Ireland are the Treatise of Taxes and Contributions (1662), which discusses the economies of England and Ireland, and makes suggestions as to their improvement; and The Political Anatomy of Ireland (written 1672, pub. 1691), which describes the land, people, politics, and natural resources. His Hiberniae delineatio (1685), which had its origins in the Down Survey, was the first general atlas of Ireland. Between 1682 and 1687 he wrote ten essays on the populations of various cities, including Dublin (1682). Petty also embarked on practical projects in Ireland. He invested in ironworks in Kerry, developed fishing grounds off the coast, and continued trials with double‐hulled ships in Dublin bay. Petty was first president of the Dublin Philosophical Society, whose utilitarian character owed much to his influence. He is significant both for his analysis of aspects of Irish life, and more generally for his pioneering work in political economy.

Bibliography

Strauss, E. , Sir William Petty: Portrait of a Genius (1954)

David Sturdy