Biographical entry Wickens, Charles Henry (1872 - 1939)

Summary

Charles Henry Wickens was Commonwealth Statistician and later Commonwealth Statistician and Actuary (1922-1932), succeeding Sir George Knibbs (qv). His Australian life tables for the decennia 1881-90, 1891-1900 and 1901-10 enabled comparisons between the States, found that life expectancy had increased since 1890 and that female rates of mortality were generally lower than those of males. Wickens also investigated social insurance schemes in preparation for the development of national insurance proposals by Sir Earle Page. He received the Messenger prize from the Institute of Actuaries (London, 1906) for an essay on the collection and analysis of mortality and population data; was a Foundation member of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand and a President of the Actuarial Society of Australasia (1924).

Details

Events

c. 1896

Education - Qualified through private study as an associate of the Institute of Actuaries

1897 - 1899

Career position - Assistant Clerk in the Western Australian Public Service

1899 - 1906

Career position - Clerk in the Statistical Bureau

June 1901 - 1905

Career position - Assistant Compiler and Departmental Actuary

1906

Award - Messenger Prize received from the Institute of Actuaries, London

1906 - 1913

Career position - Compiler with the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics

1913 - 1922

Career position - Supervisor of census

1922 - 1924

Career position - Commonwealth Statistician

1923

Career position - Formulated the Commonwealth superannuation scheme

1924

Career position - President of the Actuarial Society of Australasia

1924 - 1932

Career position - Commonwealth Statistician and Actuary

1928

Career position - Chair of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand

Published resources

Book Sections

• Hazlehurst, Cameron; Kerley, Margot, 'Wickens, Charles Henry (1872-1939), Statistician and Actuary', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 12, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 481-482. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120541b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituary: Mr. C. H. Wickens', Australian Journal of Science, vol. 2, no. 1, 1939, p. 17. Details
• Lancaster, H. O., 'Charles Henry Wickens, 1872-1939 [includes list of publications]', Australian Journal of Statistics, vol. 16, no. 2, 1974, pp. 71-82. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Wickens, Charles H', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-512926. Details