View source for Thorold Rogers

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox economist
| name              = Thorold Rogers
| school_tradition  = [[English historical school of economics|English historical school]]

| image             = File:Thorold Rogers.jpg
| caption           =
| birth_date        = 23 March 1823
| birth_place       = [[West Meon]], Hampshire, England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|1890|10|14|1823|3|23}}
| death_place       = [[Oxford]], England
| nationality       = English
| field             = [[Political Economy]]
| alma_mater = [[King's College London]]<br>[[University of Oxford]]
| influences        =
| influenced        =
| contributions     =
}}

'''James Edwin Thorold Rogers''' (23 March 1823 – 14 October 1890), known as '''Thorold Rogers''', was an English economist, historian and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician who sat in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] from 1880 to 1886. He deployed historical and statistical methods to analyse some of the key economic and social questions in [[Victorian England]].  As an advocate of free trade and social justice, he distinguished himself from some others within the [[English historical school of economics|English Historical School]].<ref>[http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/schools/enghist.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417022659/http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/schools/enghist.htm|date=17 April 2009}}</ref><ref>Thorold Rogers, ''The Economic Interpretation of History: Lectures Delivered at Worcester College Hall, Oxford, 1887-8'' (1891).</ref>

==Background and formative years==
Rogers was born at [[West Meon]], Hampshire,<ref name =DNB>{{DNB Cite|wstitle=Rogers, James Edwin Thorold}}</ref> the son of George Vining Rogers and his wife Mary Ann Blyth, daughter of John Blyth. He was educated at [[King's College London]] and [[Magdalen Hall, Oxford]].<ref name=Debrett>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1886londuoft#page/132/mode/2up |title=Debrett's House of Commons |website=Archive.org |year=1867 |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> After taking a first-class degree in 1846, he received his [[Master of Arts|MA]] in 1849 from Magdalen and was ordained. A High Church man, he was curate of St. Paul's in [[Oxford]], and acted voluntarily as assistant curate at Headington from 1854 to 1858, until his views changed and he turned to politics. Rogers was instrumental in obtaining the [[Clerical Disabilities Act 1870]] ([[33 & 34 Vict.]] c. 91), of which he was the first beneficiary, becoming the first man legally to withdraw from his clerical vows in 1870.

For some time the classics were the chief field of his activity. He devoted himself to classical and philosophical tuition in Oxford with success, and his publications included an edition of [[Aristotle]]'s ''Ethics'' (in 1865).<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Rogers, James Edwin Thorold|volume=23|pages=455–456}}</ref>

==Anecdotes==
[[File:James Edwin Thorold Rogers - Caricature.jpg|thumb|Rogers caricature by [[Leslie Ward]] from Vanity Fair]]
The Victorian journalist [[George W. E. Russell]] (1853–1919) relates an exchange between Rogers and [[Benjamin Jowett]] (''Fifteen Chapters of Autobiography'', 1914, 111–2) :

'Another of our Professors – J. E. Thorold Rogers – though perhaps scarcely a celebrity, was well known outside Oxford, partly because he was the first person to relinquish the clerical character under the Act of 1870, partly because of his really learned labours in history and economics, and partly because of his Rabelaisian humour. He was fond of writing sarcastic epigrams, and of reciting them to his friends, and this habit produced a characteristic retort from Jowett. Rogers had only an imperfect sympathy with the historians of the new school, and thus derided the mutual admiration of Green and Freeman —

"Where, ladling butter from a large tureen,
See blustering Freeman butter blundering Green."

To which Jowett replied, in his quavering treble, "That's a false antithesis, Rogers. It's quite possible to bluster and blunder, too!"'

==Political economy==
Simultaneously with these occupations he had been studying economics. He became the first Tooke Professor of Statistics and Economic Science at [[King's College London]], serving in this role from 1859 until his death.<ref name="EB1911"/> During this time he also held the [[Drummond Professor of Political Economy|Drummond professorship]] of political economy at [[All Souls College, Oxford]] from 1862 until 1867, when [[Bonamy Price]] was elected in his stead.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://oep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/28/3/364 |author=N. B. DeMarchi|title=On the Early Dangers of Being Too Political an Economist|journal=Oxford Economic Papers|volume=28|pages=364–380|access-date=2016-01-13|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.oep.a041349|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=2662895|author=Salim Rashid|title=The Price-Rogers Election; Politics or Religion?|journal=Oxford Economic Papers|volume=30|issue=2|date=July 1978|pages=310–312|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.oep.a041416}}</ref> In this he became a friend and follower of [[Richard Cobden]], an advocate for free trade, non-intervention in Europe and an end to imperial expansion, whom he met during his first tenure as Drummond professor. Rogers said of Cobden, "he knew that ... political economy ... was, or ought to be, eminently inductive, and that an economist without facts is like an engineer without materials or tools."<ref>{{cite web|url=|title=Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, Front Matter |website= |date= }}</ref> Rogers had a wealth of facts at his disposal: his most influential works were the 6-volume ''History of Agriculture and Prices in England from 1259 to 1795'' and ''Six Centuries of Work and Wages''; he spent 20 years collecting facts for the latter work.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Literary Gossip|journal=The Week: A Canadian Journal of Politics, Literature, Science and Arts|date=13 March 1884|volume=1|issue=15|page=238|url=https://archive.org/stream/weekcanadianjour01toro#page/n120/mode/1up|access-date=29 April 2013}}</ref>

He served as [[List of Presidents of Co-operative Congress|President]] of the first day of the 1875 [[Co-operative Congress]].<ref name=PDF>{{cite web|title=Congress Presidents 1869–2002|url=http://archive.co-op.ac.uk/downloadFiles/congressPresidentstable.pdf|website=Archive.co-op.ac.uk|date=February 2002|access-date=10 May 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528100558/http://archive.co-op.ac.uk/downloadFiles/congressPresidentstable.pdf|archive-date=28 May 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> He was elected [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Southwark (UK Parliament constituency)|Southwark]] in 1880 and held the seat until it was divided under the [[Redistribution of Seats Act 1885]]. At the [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885 general election]] he was elected MP for [[Bermondsey (UK Parliament constituency)|Bermondsey]] and held the seat until 1886. Rogers also lectured in political economy at [[Worcester College, Oxford]] in 1883 and was re-elected Drummond professor in 1888.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Works==
* ''A History of Agriculture and Prices in England from 1259 to 1793'' (1866–1902), 7 vols. [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924013979244#page/n3/mode/2up I], [https://archive.org/stream/ahistoryagricul05rogegoog#page/n4/mode/2up II] (1866), [https://archive.org/stream/ahistoryagricul07rogegoog#page/n6/mode/2up III], [https://archive.org/stream/historyofagricul04rogeuoft#page/n7/mode/2up IV] (1882), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofagricul05rogeuoft#page/n7/mode/2up V], [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924052143777#page/n5/mode/2up VI] (1887), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofagricul07rogeuoft#page/n5/mode/2up VII, Part I], [https://archive.org/stream/pt2historyofagri07rogeuoft#page/n5/mode/2up VII, Part II] (1902)
* ''Speeches on questions of public policy by John Bright, M.P.'' Preface by James E. Thorold Rogers, editor.  2 vols. London: Macmillan and Co. (1868)
* Adam Smith, ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,'' editor. 2 vols. (1869); revised edition (1880); on line at [https://archive.org/details/inquiryintothena030768mbp  Osmania University, Digital Library of India, Internet Archive. Preface by Thorold Rogers pp. v–xxx1x] and [https://archive.org/details/aninquiryintona00rogegoog  v. II (1869)]
* ''Historical Gleanings, A Series of Sketches (Montagu, Walpole, Adam Smith, Cobbett)'', London : Macmillan (1869)
* ''Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., Edited by John Bright and James E. Thorold Rogers,'' London, T. Fisher Unwin (1870).  Preface by Thorold Rogers.  v. 1 {{ISBN|1-84702-915-9}} v. 2 {{ISBN|1-4254-9223-1}}; third ed. (1908) on line at [http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Cobden/cbdSPPtoc.html  Library of Economics and  Liberty]
* [https://www.questia.com/library/book/cobden-and-modern-political-opinion-essays-on-certain-political-topics-by-james-e-thorold-rogers.jsp   ''Cobden and Modern Political Opinion. Essays on certain political topics,'' London, Macmillan (1873) on line.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605014211/http://www.questia.com/library/book/cobden-and-modern-political-opinion-essays-on-certain-political-topics-by-james-e-thorold-rogers.jsp |date=5 June 2011 }}{{ISBN?}}
* [https://archive.org/details/acompletecollec00rogegoog  ''A Complete Collection of the Protests of the Lords: With Historical Introductions,'' Vol. 1 1624–1741. Oxford, Clarendon Press; London, Macmillan & Co. (1875) On line.] vol. 2. 1741–1825; vol. 3. 1826–1874.
*   [https://archive.org/details/publicaddresses00briggoog  ''Public Addresses by John Bright, M.P., ed. James E. Thorold Rogers,'' Preface by Thorold Rogers, pp. v–xi. 2nd ed., revised.  London, Macmillan (1879) On line.]
* [http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/rogers/sixcenturies.pdf  ''Six Centuries of Work and Wages: The History of English Labour''] 2 vols. London, Swan Sonnenschein (1884) {{ISBN|0-415-38229-7}} – McMaster. On line.
* [https://archive.org/details/firstnineyearsb00rogegoog ''The First Nine Years of the Bank of England,'' London, Macmillan (1887)  Internet Archive, on line.]
* ''The Relations of Economic Science to Social and Political Action.''  London: Swan  Sonnenschein (1888).
* ''The Economic Interpretation of History'' London, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1888); T. Fisher Unwin (1909).
* ''Holland.'' London, T. Fisher Unwin (1888); New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons (1889)
* [https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3426817W/The_industrial_and_commercial_history_of_England ''The Industrial and Commercial History of England: Lectures Delivered to the University of Oxford,''  ed. Arthur G. L. Rogers. New York, G. P. Putnam, 1892.  Google Books, on line.]

==Family==
Rogers married Ann Susannah Charlotte Reynolds, daughter of Henry Revell Reynolds, Treasury Solicitor, in December 1854.<ref name=Debrett/> They had a daughter, [[Annie Rogers|Annie Mary Anne Henley Rogers]], who was an active supporter of the Liberal party, higher education for women and women's suffrage.<ref name =DNB/> Between December 1850 and January 1853 (her death), he had been married to Anna, only daughter of William Peskett, surgeon, of [[Petersfield]], Hampshire.<ref name =DNB/>

==Notes==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[W. J. Ashley]], "James E. Thorold Rogers" ''Political Science Quarterly'' (1889) pp.&nbsp;381–407. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2139135 in JSTOR]
* Kadish, Alon. ''Historians, Economists, and Economic History'' (2012) pp 3–35 [https://www.amazon.com/Historians-Economists-Economic-Routledge-Revivals/dp/0415613973 excerpt]
* {{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}

==External links==
* [http://www.stsepulchres.org.uk/burials/rogers_james.html The grave of Rogers in St Sepulchre's Cemetery, Oxford, with biography]
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-james-rogers | Thorold Rogers }}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=40010}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=James Edwin Thorold Rogers}}
*{{NPG name}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef   | before = [[Edward Clarke (barrister)|Edward Clarke]]<br />[[Marcus Beresford (1818–1890)|Marcus Beresford]] }}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Southwark (UK Parliament constituency)|Southwark]]
  | years  = [[1880 United Kingdom general election|1880]]–[[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]]
  | with   = [[Arthur Cohen (politician)|Arthur Cohen]]
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }}

{{s-new | constituency}}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Bermondsey (UK Parliament constituency)|Bermondsey]]
  | years  = [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]]–[[1886 United Kingdom general election|1886]]
}}
{{s-aft  | after  = [[Alfred Lafone]] }}
{{S-end}}

{{English historical school economists}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, James Edwin Thorold}}
[[Category:1823 births]]
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[[Category:British economic historians]]
[[Category:English economists]]
[[Category:English historical school of economics]]
[[Category:Politics of the London Borough of Southwark]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886]]
[[Category:Presidents of Co-operative Congress]]
[[Category:Drummond Professors of Political Economy]]
[[Category:Burials at St Sepulchre's Cemetery]]