George Pryme (1781-1868)
Robert A. Cord
Introduction
The Professorship of Political Economy at Cambridge has a long and distinguished history dating back nearly two centuries. However, unlike many of those who have held this prestigious position, the first holder, George Pryme, is almost unknown to academic and professional economists, including, dare one say, to historians of economics.1 There is good reason for this, namely that Pryme was and is not recognised as an economist who made any original or significant contributions to the subject. Nevertheless, it is difficult to deny his importance as an organiser and crusader for the teaching and promotion of political economy as a serious academic discipline at Cambridge at a time when the University was at risk of being left behind by other institutions. Section 2 of this chapter presents a biography of Pryme’s interesting and varied life, tracing his early years and then undergraduate education in mathematics at Cambridge, his subsequent work as a barrister, and as a Member of Parliament (MP). Section 3 is an in-depth examination of Pryme’s unceasing efforts to promote political economy at Cambridge combined with some of his views on the subject, where they can be ascertained. Section 4 concludes the chapter.
1 For instance, although Pryme must have been known to Schumpeter, he fails to get a mention in the great Austrian’s monumental, albeit somewhat idiosyncratic, History of Economic Analysis. [1]
- [1] R.A. Cord (*) Researcher in Economics, UKe-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 R.A. Cord (ed.), The Palgrave Companion to Cambridge Economics, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-41233-1_12
