Person Petty; Sir; William (1623 - 1687); natural philosopher, administrator, and economist Petty William Sir natural philosopher, administrator, and economist 1623 - 1687 British Male Romsey, Hampshire, England, Europe 26 May 1623 16230526 Piccadilly, Westminster, London, England, Europe 16 December 1687 16871216 Burial: Romsey Abbey, Hampshire, London, England, Europe

Physician; Surveyor Economics Demography Geography Education: School at Romsey; La Fleche; Jesuit College, Caen; Paris; Leyden (matriculated 1644); Utrecht; Amsterdam; Brasenose College, Oxford (DMed 1650) Career: Went to sea at an early age but was deserted in France with a broken leg; taught English and navigation while studying in Caen; joined the Royal Navy; went abroad at the outbreak of the Civil War; was a member of Mersenne's circle in Paris; returned to England and took up the trade of clothier (1646); Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford; Assistant to Thomas Clayton, Professor of Anatomy at Oxford; Professor of Anatomy (1651); Professor of Music, Gresham College, London (1651); Physician to the Army in Ireland (1652); Physician to Lambert, Fleetwood and Henry Cromwell, Viceroys of Ireland; Clerk of the Council and Surveyor-General of Ireland (1654); Made the 'Down Survey' of Ireland published as 'Hiberniae Delineato' (1685); MP for West Looe, Cornwall (1659), Enniscorthy, Ireland (1661); designed a double-bottomed boat, a model of which he gave to the Royal Society (1663); Judge of the Admiralty in Ireland; Commissioner of the Navy in England Honours: Kt 1661 Memberships: FRCP (1658); Dublin Philosophical Society Parents: Anthony Petty and Francesca Petty Married: Elizabeth Waller (created Baroness Shelburne 1688) Children: John Petty; Charles Petty; Henry Petty (FRS 1696); Anne Petty As a physician, Petty grew to fame as one of the people to resuscitate Anne Greene, a woman who had been hanged for infanticide but was the next day discovered to be breathing prior to the intended dissection. This fame alongside his medical skills secured him a post as physician to the army in Ireland, around the time of Cromwell's victory over the Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland and subsequent occupation of the country. As part of this, Petty was a surveyor of Irish lands to be taken from their owners and redistributed amongst English soldiers. He even developed a new system in 1654, welcomed by the government for its lower cost: the 'down survey'. Ultimately, however, the system was heavily criticised by the government for 'under-selling' the lands, thus not creating a reward for creditors, and not living up to the expectations of English civilians and soldiers. As a result of Petty's work as a surveyor, 8,400,000 acres were taken from (largely Catholic) owners and given to (largely Protestant) people. He benefited directly from the expropriation of Irish Catholics and made £9,000 from this system. Additionally, Petty had proposed a variety of political and economic schemes to James II after his ascent to the throne, amongst which was the idea of constitutional union of England and Ireland and forced transfer of people from one island to the other. Royal Society roles: Active on Council from 1663 with short breaks until his death in 1687; VP 1674- Committee and panels: Committee of the members of the Royal Society in Ireland concerning the structure and sailing of Sir William Petty's new Ship ; Mechanical Committee ; Committee of the members of the Royal Society in Ireland concerning the structure and sailing of Sir William Petty's new Ship ; Mechanical Committee Founder Fellow 28/11/1660 Proposed methods in which members could contribute more to weekly meetings and additionally bring in the arrears through experiments and ensuing debate; Paymaster (22 October 1673) to secure weekly payments and contributions to the Society Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Foster; Irish Innovators; ODNB References: Kathleen H Ochs, 'The Royal Society of London's History of Trades Programme: An Early Episode in Applied Science' in NR 1984-85 vol 39 pp 129-158 Robert G Frank, Jr, 'John Aubrey, FRS, John Lydall, and Science at Commonwealth Oxford' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 193-217 P M Rattansi, 'The Intellectual Origins of the Royal Society' in NR 1968 vol 23 pp 129-143 K Theodore Hoppen, 'The Royal Society and Ireland. II' in NR 1965 vol 20 pp 78-99 D V Glass, 'John Graunt and his Natural and Political Observations' in NR 1964 vol 19 pp 63-100 Sir Harold Hartley and Sir Cyril Hinshelwood, 'Gresham College and the Royal Society' in NR 1961 vol 16 pp 125-135 Sir Irvine Masson and A J Youngson, 'Sir William Petty, FRS (1623-1687)' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 79-90, plate John F Fulton, 'The Honourable Robert Boyle, FRS (1627-1692)' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 119-135 Douglas McKie, 'The Origins and Foundation of the Royal Society of London' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 1-37 W H G Armytage, 'The Royal Society and the Apothecaries' in NR 1954-55 vol 11 pp 22-37 G H Turnbull, 'Samuel Hartlib's Influence on the Early History of the Royal Society' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 101-130 M Greenwood, 'The First Life Table' in NR 1938 vol 1 pp 70-72 W Hayes, 'Physics as well as poetry. Physicists of Ireland, edited by M McCartney and A Whitaker' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 245-246 L Jardine, 'The 2003 Wilkins Lecture: Dr Wilkins's boy wonders' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 107-129 Daniel L Chable 'Sir William Petty (1623-1687): The Man, his Times and his Pioneering Contributions to Political Economy' (Seminar paper, 2005 Tracts X507/14) J Gribbin, 'The Fellowship', 2005, pp134-136 Deposited Papers: Bought for £1 million by British Library in 1993 from Lord Shelnuren, his descendant Petty W, IM006102.jpg ©The Royal Society International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 RCN: 49202 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH6707 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/image-rs-17122 26 May 1623 - 16 Dec 1687 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 23/11/2021 as part of Name Authority Project update. NA8268 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 28/03/2023 RS_NET\JonathanB Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/76377872 1631d8ef-061f-4aec-904a-69d7f516beb4