death_date nationality birth_date alt known_for image article_title education name
11 august 1840 british 22 august 1771 portrait c. 1831 of john rickman painted by samuel lane in creating the united kingdom census john_rickman . jpg john rickman
 guildford lincoln college , oxford . grammar school , magdalen hall , oxford & john rickman
john rickman

john rickman -lrb- 22 august 1771 -- 11 august 1840 -rrb- was an english government official and statistician of the early nineteenth century .
he was born in newburn , northumberland , son of the rev thomas rickman and educated at guildford grammar school , magdalen hall , oxford and lincoln college , oxford .
the poet robert southey was one of his friends .
from 1799 to 1801 he edited the `` commercial , agricultural , and manufactures ' magazine '' which published his article ` on ascertaining the population ' in 1800 .
an earlier version of this paper entitled ` thoughts on the utility and facility of a general enumeration of the people of the british empire ' was brought to the attention of charles abbot .
shortly after , in 1800 , abbot appointed rickman his private secretary .
rickman is credited with drafting the first bill which became the 1800 census act , the full title of which was `` an act for taking an account of the population of great britain , and of the increase or diminution thereof '' , which became law in december 1800 .
rickman was instrumental in carrying out the first four censuses of great britain , including not only a population count , but also the collection and analysis of parish register returns .
following abbot 's election to the post of speaker of the house of commons in february 1802 , rickman took the post of speaker 's secretary , which he held until july 1814 when he was appointed second clerk assistant at the table of the house of commons .
he became clerk assistant in 1820 , a post which he held to his death .
it is often stated , but never the case that rickman was clerk of the house of commons .
rickman served as secretary to two parliamentary commissions established in 1803 .
the first for the making of roads and bridges in scotland ; the second for the construction of the caledonian canal through scotland 's great glen .
the civil engineer thomas telford was amongst the commissioners on both these commissions : john rickman was a close friend of telford , and was his executor .
besides rickman 's work on the census , he also collected and mustered other statistics .
between 1816 and 1836 he abstracted the poor rate returns for the poor law committee ; later he produced returns on education for lord john russell 's education committee and in 1839 he compiled a return of local taxation .
in april 1815 he was elected a fellow of the royal society .
the subtitle to orlo william 's biography of rickman : `` lamb 's friend the census taker '' under-emphasises his extensive parliamentary work .
