P000700 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 1993-10-20 human McCarthy, G.J. and Helen Cohn updated 2025-10-14 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000700b.htm person Pell Morris Birkbeck AACR2 31 March 1827 7 May 1879 Place of Birth Albion, Illinois, United States of America Place of Death Glebe, New South Wales, Australia Mathematician Actuary 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. 1849 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 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 1863 Career event - Admitted to the New South Wales bar 1866 1879 Career position - Member, Royal Society of New South Wales 1868 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 The University of Sydney (1850 - )

Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 1852 - 1877; Member of the Senate 1861 - 1879

 Royal Society of New South Wales (1866 - )

Member 1866 - 1879; Member of Council 1869 - 1877

 Philosophical Society of New South Wales (1856 - 1866)

Member 1856 - 1866; Member of Council 1856 - 1860

 Australian Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Science, Commerce and Agriculture (1850 - 1856)

Member 1855 - 1856

Wikidata

VIAF - Virtual International Authority File

 Pell, Morris Birkbeck (1827-1879)

Trove

 'Pell, Morris Birkbeck', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Pell, Morris Birkbeck Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Journal Article: On the Constitution of Matter Pell, Morris Birkbeck On the Constitution of Matter Sydney Royal Society of New South Wales 1871 Transactions of the Royal Society of New South Wales 5 appendix pp 1-25 Resource Section: Pell, Morris Birkbeck Pell, Morris Birkbeck Australian Science Archives Project 1995 Physics in Australia to 1945 R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham Journal Article: On the rates of mortality and expectation of life in New South Wales as compared with England and other countries Pell, M. B. On the rates of mortality and expectation of life in New South Wales as compared with England and other countries 1867 Transactions of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1 66-76 Journal Article: On the distribution of profits in mutual life assurance societies Pell, M. On the distribution of profits in mutual life assurance societies 1862 Transactions of the Philosophical Society of New South Wales 1 223-36 Journal Article: The first hundred years of mathematics in the University of Sydney Turner, I. S. The first hundred years of mathematics in the University of Sydney 1955 Journal and proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society 41 245-66 Journal Article: Professor Morris Birkbeck Pell: A biographical note Salier, Cecil W. Professor Morris Birkbeck Pell: A biographical note 1932 Journal and proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society 18 5 246-51 Journal Article: Morris Birbeck Pell, 1827 - 1879 Lancaster, H. O. Morris Birbeck Pell, 1827 - 1879 1977 Australian Mathematical Society gazette 4 89-94 Journal Article: Silhouettes of early Australian statistics Seneta, E. Silhouettes of early Australian statistics 1988 Australian Journal of Statistics 30 B 2-22 Morris Birkbeck Pell - Records University of Sydney, Archives Morris Birkbeck Pell - Records P 56 1862 - 1931 Personal records 1862-1931 [10 cm, P 56]. 0.1 m Morris Birkbeck Pell - Records Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales Morris Birkbeck Pell - Records 1862 - 1932 Correspondence and other papers, with notes by Pell's grandson, N.J.B. Plomley, on the Pell and Birkbeck families with illustrations; notes and letters used by C.W. Salier in compiling a biographical record of Pell 1930-32.