Pell, Morris Birkbeck (1827 - 1879)

Summary

Morris Pell was a mathematician and actuary who in 1852 became Foundation Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the University of Sydney. His interests included calculus of variations, probability, finite differences, differential geometry, optics and astronomy. He was considered an authority on actuarial matters in Australia. Among his publications was "On the rates of mortality and expectation of life in New South Wales" (1867), the first life table based on Australian experience. At the University he set up the mathematical courses, advocated for improving mathematical standards at secondary level, and served on the Senate for 18 years. Ill-health caused him to resign his Chair in 1877. Pell participated in a number of government inquiries including as Chairman of the Hunter River Floods Commission, the Sydney City and Suburban Sewage and Health Board, and the Commission on methods of testing marine steam-boilers. He was an active member of local scientific societies, serving on Council of the Philosophical and Royal Societies of New South Wales.

Details

Chronology

1849

Education - BA, University of Cambridge

1850 - 1852

Career position - Fellow, St John's College, University of Cambridge

1852 - 1877

Career position - Foundation Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, University of Sydney

1854 - 1870

Career position - Actuarial consultant, Australian Mutual Provident Society

1855

Career position - Chairman, commission of inquiry into the Surveyor General's Office

1855 - 1856

Career position - Member, Australian Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Science, Commerce and Agriculture

1856 - 1860

Career position - Member of Council, Philosophical Society of New South Wales

1856 - 1866

Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of New South Wales

1861 - 1879

Career position - Member of the Senate, University of Sydney

1863

Career event - Admitted to the New South Wales bar

1866 - 1879

Career position - Member, Royal Society of New South Wales

1868

Career position - Chairman, Commission on methods of testing marine steam-boilers

1869 - 1870

Career position - Chairman, Hunter River Floods Commission

1869 - 1877

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Society of New South Wales

1870 - ?

Career position - Director and consulting actuary, Mutual Life Association of Australasia

1872 - ?

Career position - Examiner in law, University of Sydney

1875 - 1877

Career position - Chairman, Sydney City and Suburban Sewage and Health Board

Related entries

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Morris Birkbeck Pell - Records, 1862 - 1932; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

University of Sydney, Archives

• Morris Birkbeck Pell - Records, 1862 - 1931, P 56; University of Sydney, Archives. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Collins, David, Chemistry in 19th Australia - Select Bibliography, An exhibition of the Encyclopedia circa 2005 with assistance from Ailie Smith and Gavan McCarthy., eScholarship Research Centre (original publisher), Melbourne, 2009, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/ciab/ciab_ALL.html. Details

Book Sections

• Turner, I. S., 'Pell, Morris Birbeck (1827 - 1879), professor of mathematics' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 5: 1851 - 1890 K-Q, Bede Nairn, Geoffrey Serle and Russell Ward, eds (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1974), pp. 428-9, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pell-morris-birkbeck-4386. Details

Journal Articles

• Lancaster, H. O., 'Morris Birbeck Pell, 1827 - 1879', Australian Mathematical Society gazette, 4 (1977), 89-94. Details
• Pell, M., 'On the distribution of profits in mutual life assurance societies', Transactions of the Philosophical Society of New South Wales, 1 (1862), 223-36. Details
• Pell, M. B., 'On the rates of mortality and expectation of life in New South Wales as compared with England and other countries', Transactions of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 1 (1867), 66-76. Details
• Pell, Morris Birkbeck, 'On the Constitution of Matter', Transactions of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 5 (1871), appendix pp 1-25. Details
• Saxler, C. W., 'Professor Morris Birkbeck Pell', Journal and proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 18 (1932), 246-51. Details
• Seneta, E., 'Silhouettes of early Australian statistics', Australian Journal of Statistics, 30 (B) (1988), 2-22. Details
• Turner, I. S., 'The first hundred years of mathematics in the University of Sydney', Journal and proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 41 (1955), 245-66. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6913616. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/31771924. Details
• 'Pell, Morris Birkbeck (1827-1879)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-811403. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Pell, Morris Birkbeck', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000700p.htm. Details