George Pryme (4 April 1781 – 2 December 1868) was a British

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, academic and politician. Pryme was born in 1781 in Cottingham,

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, the only surviving child of merchant Christopher Pryme and his wife, Alice Dinsdale. Following the death of his father, Pryme and his mother moved to

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, where he attended private schools until he returned to East Riding of Yorkshire to attend

Hull Grammar School Hull Grammar School was a secondary school in Hull, England, founded around 1330 and endowed in 1479 by the prelate John Alcock. In 1988, as part of a restructure by the Local Education Authority, the site was renamed William Gee School. Meanw ...

in 1796. In 1799, Pryme entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, winning a scholarship there in 1800 and graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1803. In 1804, he began studying law at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1806, practising in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

until health problems forced him to return to Cambridge in 1808.T. A. B. Corley
‘Pryme, George (1781–1868)’
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004 , accessed 21 April 2009. In 1816, Pryme began conducting lectures on

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

at Cambridge – the first teaching of such a topic at any English university, and in that same year his lectures were published as a book entitled ''A Syllabus of a Course of Lectures on the Principles of Political Economy''. In 1828, he was made Professor of Political Economy by the university senate, although a chair was not established for the topic at Cambridge until just before his retirement.The Pryme Library of Economics at Cambridge University
''Journal of Political Economy'', Vol. 37, No. 3, June 1939. He was politically active, and successfully opposed parliamentary candidates sponsored by the

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in who ...

, and eventually winning a seat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

representing

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

as a Whig in 1832. Pryme worked hard in the parliament, pushing for university reform at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and Cambridge until his poor health prompted his family to urge his retirement from parliament in 1841. He returned to Cambridge and bought an estate in Wistow while continuing to lecture and practice as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

on occasion. He died in 1868. In 1870, his memoirs were published, ''Autobiographic Recollections of George Pryme'', edited by his daughter Alicia Bayne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryme, George 1781 births 1868 deaths English economists English barristers UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn People from Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Professors of Political Economy (Cambridge)