Edward Rowe Mores, FSA (; 24 January 1731 OS:_13_January_1730.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>

OS:_13_January_1730">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">OS:_13_January_1730/nowiki>_–_22_November_1778)_was_an_English_people.html" "title="Old Style and New Style dates">OS: 13 January 1730">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">OS: 13 January 1730/nowiki> – 22 November 1778) was an English people">English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

antiquarian and scholar, who wrote works on history and typography. He was also instrumental in the founding of The Equitable Life Assurance Society, The Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorships (now commonly known as Equitable Life), and is credited with being the first person to use the professional title '' actuary'' in relation to

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

Early life and education

Edward Rowe Mores was born on 24 January 1731 S/small> at Gore Court in Tunstall near

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. His father Edward Mores (1681–1740) was a member of the gentry, and had been

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Tunstall for twenty years. His mother was Sarah Windsor, the daughter of a

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

merchant. He had one sister, Ann-Catherine. In 1740, Mores's father died leaving a considerable

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officia ...

, and later the same year he entered the Merchant Taylors' School in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. His mother soon remarried, to Richard Bridgman, a

grocer A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, London, who was of increasing importance in the

Grocers' Company The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 110 Livery Company, Livery Companies of the City of London and ranks second in order of precedence. The Grocers' Company was established in 1345 for merchants occupied in the trade of grocer and is ...

. Mores entered

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

in 1746, obtaining a BA in 1750, and MA in 1753.

Antiquarianism

At Oxford, he was renowned for the range and depth of his learning and for his

idiosyncrasies An idiosyncrasy is an unusual feature of a person (though there are also other uses, see below). It can also mean an odd habit. The term is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity. A synonym may be "quirk". Etymology The term "idiosyncr ...

. He studied

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and spoke it almost exclusively to his daughter when she was young. Besides mathematics, he was interested in such diverse studies as heraldry and architecture. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1752, and the following year was elected a member of the society's council.Makala 2004. He published his first work, ''Nomina et insignia gentilitia nobilium equitumque sub Edoardo primo rege militantium'' (a study of the heraldry of the knights of Edward I), in 1749, at the age of 19 and when he was still at Oxford. He spent some years working on a projected

county history English county histories, in other words historical and topographical (or " chorographical") works concerned with individual ancient counties of England, were produced by antiquarians from the late 16th century onwards. The content was variable: ...

of Berkshire: it remained unfinished, but the manuscript was eventually published posthumously in 1783 by

Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reachi ...

as ''Collections toward a Parochial History of Berkshire''. In 1754–55 he assisted his friend

Andrew Ducarel Andrew Coltée Ducarel (9 June 1713 – 29 May 1785), was an English antiquary, librarian, and archivist. He was also a lawyer practising civil law (a "civilian"), and a member of the College of Civilians. Early life and education Ducarel was ...

(who had limited eyesight) in compiling a manuscript history of

Croydon Palace Croydon Palace, in Croydon, now part of south London, was the summer residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury for over 500 years. Regular visitors included Henry III and Queen Elizabeth I. Now known as "Old Palace", the buildings are still in us ...

and the town of

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for presentation to

Thomas Herring Thomas Herring (169323 March 1757) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1747 to 1757. Early life and education He was the son of John Herring, rector of Walsoken in Norfolk, who had previously been vicar of Foxton, near Cambridge, and his wife, ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury: however, the work led to a virulent rift between the two when Mores discovered that he was not given due credit on the title page. This work was eventually also published in 1783.

The Equitable Society

After James Dodson's death, Mores became the leader of the group which eventually became the Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorship in 1762. He specified that the chief official should be called the actuary, which is the earliest known reference to the position as a business concern.

Personal life and death

Mores married Susannah Bridgman (1730–1767) in 1753. She was the daughter of Richard Bridgman, Mores's stepfather. The couple had two children: a daughter, Sarah, who predeceased her father; and a son, Edward Rowe (d. 1846). Mores, who believed firmly in the superiority of

, spoke exclusively in Latin to his children. Mores died on 28 November 1778 at Etlow House,

Low Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Rive ...

, Essex, of a "mortification" of the leg (i.e. gangrene). He was buried with his wife (who had died in 1767) in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Walthamstow.

References

External links