William Lucas Sargant (1809–1889) was an English educational reformer and political economist.

Life

Sargant was born 2 Oct 1809 at

King's Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward within the borough of Birmingham. The district lie ...

, Worcestershire the son of William and Elizabeth Sargant; his father was in trade in Edmund Street and Whittall Street,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, as a maker of military arms and other equipment for the

triangular trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...

. He was educated at Hazelwood School,

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

, run by

Thomas Wright Hill Thomas Wright Hill (24 April 1763 in Kidderminster – 13 June 1851 in Tottenham) was an English mathematician and schoolmaster. He is credited as inventing the single transferable vote in 1819. His son Rowland, famous as the originator of t ...

. He then entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, but left within two years to work in his father's business. Sargant married first at Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England on 11 Nov 1835, Maria Redfern, by whom he fathered: 1. Maria (m 1862 Arent de Peyster Chance), 2. William, 3. Emily Martha, and 4. Laura) and second at St. Andrew's, Clifton, Gloucestershire, England on 14 Apr 1855, Theodosia Nash (1826 – 1914), by whom he fathered: 5. Francis Lucas (1856 – 1937), 6. George Herbert (1859 – 1947), 7.Elizabeth Maud (1861 – 1944), 8. Arthur Edgar (1864 – 1934), and 9. Mary Theodosia (1867 – 1903). Sargant took part in local affairs in Birmingham, becoming a J.P. in 1849, serving on the town council, and as a reorganising governor of

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

. In 1857 he associated himself with an educational prize scheme for aiding promising scholars at elementary schools; and in 1870 he helped to promote the National Association League, of which he became chairman. As a churchman he advocated religious teaching in elementary schools, and found himself strongly opposed by a minority of the members of the League; but he held his own in a long struggle. In 1879 Sargant retired from business, and he died at Birmingham on 2 November 1889.

Works

Sargant's main publications were: * ''The Science of Social Opulence'', 1856. * ''Economy of the Labouring Classes'', 1857. * ''Social Innovators and their Schemes'', 1858.
''Robert Owen, and his Social Philosophy''
1860. * ''Recent Political Economy'', 1867. * ''Apology for Sinking Funds'', 1868. * ''Essays by a Birmingham Manufacturer'', 4 vols. 1869–72.
''Taxation: Past, Present, and Future''
1874. * ''Inductive Political Economy'', vol. i. 1887. He also contributed to the proceedings of the

Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Sargant, William Lucas 1809 births 1889 deaths English economists People from Birmingham, West Midlands 19th-century English businesspeople