Lyndhurst Falkiner Giblin, (29 November 1872 – 1 March 1951) was an Australian

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, 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 ...

. He was an unsuccessful gold

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

, played rugby union for England, and fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Biography

Giblin was the son of

William Giblin William Robert Giblin (4 November 1840 – 17 January 1887) was Premier of Tasmania (Australia) from 5 March 1878 until 20 December 1878 and from 1879 until 1884. Early life Giblin was born at Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), son of W ...

(former

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the Government of Tasmania, executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the Tasmanian House of Assem ...

and member of Tasmania's influential Giblin family) and Emily Jean Perkins. He was educated at

The Hutchins School The Hutchins School is an Anglican, day and boarding school for boys from pre-kindergarten to Year 12 in Hobart, Tasmania. Established in 1846, Hutchins is one of the oldest continually operating schools in Australia. Hutchins is a founding-m ...

, in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, before going to England to study at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, graduating with Honours in mathematics in 1896. It was there that he played international rugby for England. Among his English friends was the writer E.V. Lucas. 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 Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

, 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

, finishing with the rank of Major having been awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

and the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. 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 (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

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 Multiplier may refer to: Mathematics * Multiplier (arithmetic), the number of multiples being computed in multiplication * Constant multiplier, a constant factor with units of measurement * Lagrange multiplier, a scalar variable used in mathema ...

. 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 commis ...

between 1922 and 1936, a director of the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

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 (, ), , 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 Memorial Park and the Loch Lomond and The Trossach ...

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 The Giblin Peak is a mountain of the Ben Lomond mountain range in northeast Tasmania, Australia. It is the highest elevation on Giblin Fells, a prominent bluff south of Ben Lomond's highest elevation - Legges Tor. With an elevation of above s ...

, 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

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 Australian gold prospectors Australian recipients of the Military Cross Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People educated at The Hutchins School Politicians from Hobart

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External links