Lyndhurst Falkiner Giblin, (29 November 1872 – 1 March 1951) was an Australian
statistician
A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors.
It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may w ...
and
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...
. He was an unsuccessful gold
prospector, played rugby union for England, and fought in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
Biography
Giblin was the son of
William Giblin (former
Premier of Tasmania
The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of T ...
and member of Tasmania's influential
Giblin family) and Emily Jean Perkins. He was educated at
The Hutchins School
, motto_translation = Character lives after death
, city = Hobart
, state = Tasmania
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, type = Independent, day & boarding
, d ...
, in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...
, before going to England to study at
University College, London and
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
, graduating with Honours in mathematics in 1896. It was there that he played international rugby for England.
He travelled the world and unsuccessfully tried gold mining in northern British Columbia. He returned to Tasmania in 1906, taking up fruit growing and farming. Between 1913 and 1915 was a member of the
Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart.
The Assembly has 25 m ...
, elected as a member for
Denison, but only held the seat for three years.
He joined the
Australian Imperial Force in 1916 and served in France in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, finishing with the rank of Major having been awarded the
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
and the
Military Cross.
In 1918, Giblin married Eilean Mary Burton. Between 1919 and 1928 he was the Government Statistician of Tasmania. In 1929 he was made Ritchie Professor of Economics at the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
and held that post until 1940, studying State and Federal financial relations, the concept of taxable capacity, and the measurement of tariff costs and their distribution. Giblin has been credited by some with being a precursor of
Richard Kahn in the development of the concept of the
multiplier.
During the Depression of 1928-32, Giblin wrote a series of press articles entitled ''"Letters to John Smith, the causes of the crisis"'', in order to explain the situation to the general public. He was appointed as a financial advisor and given the office of acting Commonwealth Statistician between 1931 and 1932 by the Commonwealth Government led by
J.A. Lyons.
He was a member of the
Commonwealth Grants Commission
The Commonwealth Grants Commission is an Australian independent statutory body that advises the Australian Government on financial assistance to the states and territories of Australia under section 96 of the Australian Constitution. The Commiss ...
between 1922 and 1936, a director of the
Commonwealth Bank between 1935 and 1942, and chairman of the Commonwealth Financial and Economic Committee from 1939 until 1946.
King's College, Cambridge, of which he had been made a Supernumerary Fellow in 1937, established in his memory a Giblin studentship, open to an Australian graduate.
Giblin was a member of
Colonel W.V. Legge's survey party that explored the northern aspect of the
Ben Lomond
Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
in 1907. Consequently,
Giblin Peak, a mountain in northeastern Tasmania, is named in his honour of his father. The Giblin Eunson library in the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Business and Economics building is also named after Giblin.
Giblin died on 1 March 1951, aged 79. An obituary by his friend
Sidney Crawford was published in several newspapers.
Works
* Growth of a Central Bank (1951)
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
* http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms366
* https://web.archive.org/web/20050704171309/http://cupid.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/het/giblin/bio.html
* http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/0366.html#bio
* http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/G/LF%20Giblin.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giblin, Lyndhurst
1872 births
1951 deaths
Australian military personnel of World War I
Australian statisticians
Australian economists
Australian public servants
English rugby union players
England international rugby union players
Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
Gold prospectors
Australian gold prospectors
Australian recipients of the Military Cross
Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge