Sir George Francis Hardy (14 December 1855 – 5 October 1914) was a British

actuary An actuary is a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. The name of the corresponding field is actuarial science. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset man ...

, Egyptologist and amateur astronomer. He became a

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

in 1877 and was President of the

Institute of Actuaries The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional bodies which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom. The institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland. While the Institute and ...

from 1908 to 1910.

Career

Aged 15, Hardy joined the British Mutual Empire Life Office and later qualified for the

, after passing his first exam in 1874 and becoming a Fellow in 1880. In that year he published (with George King) "Notes on the practical application of Mr Makeham's Formula to the Graduation of Mortality Tables" in which both practical methods and the theory of actuarial science were extended. This theory is now called the

Gompertz–Makeham law of mortality The Gompertz–Makeham law states that the human death rate is the sum of an age-dependent component (the Gompertz function, named after Benjamin Gompertz), which increases exponentially with age and an age-independent component (the Makeham ter ...

. Following years as a tutor and in private practice, Hardy was elected President of the Institute of Actuaries in 1908. He advised Governments, and was instrumental in the work that lead to the

National Insurance Act 1911 The National Insurance Act 1911 created National Insurance, originally a system of health insurance for industrial workers in Great Britain based on contributions from employers, the government, and the workers themselves. It was one of the foun ...

. A bronze bust of Hardy was sculpted by

Gilbert Bayes Gilbert William Bayes (4 April 1872 – 10 July 1953) was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess piec ...

for the institute. Hardy was a Chairman of the Actuarial Advisory Committee to the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, a role for which he was awarded the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in the

1914 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1914 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were announced on 2 January 1914. Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross (GCB) ;Mil ...

. He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

on 9 February 1877. His interest in astronomy had started early, with a copy of Herschel's ''Outlines of Astronomy'' that was dated in his own hand when he was a teenager. In 1874, he suggested a new method of determining the Sun's distance from the Earth using

solar parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...

, which was published in ''

The English Mechanic and World of Science ''The English Mechanic and World of Science'', commonly referred to as ''English Mechanic'', was a popular-science magazine, published weekly from 1865 to 1926, generally consisting of 24 pages. It was aimed at people interested in inventions and ...

''. Hardy's interest in Egyptology led to suggesting a method for determining the age the

Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ...

. Based on astronomical evidence, he suggested that the

Fourth Dynasty of Egypt The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other ...

would have started around 3,700 BC (now shown to be incorrect). This was between two other estimates: 2,700 to 2,840 (by various authorities) and 4,731 BC (by

Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Flinders Petrie, was a British Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egypt ...

). Today the start of the Fourth Dynasty is dated to 2613 BC.

Personal life

Hardy was born in Islington and died at

Edwardes Square Edwardes Square is a garden square in Kensington, London, W8. The square was built between 1811 and 1820. 1–23 and 25–48 Edwardes Square are listed Grade II for their architectural merit. Gardens The communal gardens were laid out in 1820 ...

, Kensington, London, where he had lived. He was educated at a school at which his father was the head teacher. He married Jane Ann Lester in 1883, who was a half sister of Muriel Lester.

Publications

* ''Memorandum on the age tables and rates of mortality of the Indian census of 1901'' * ''The Theory of the Construction of Tables of Mortality : A Course of Lectures'' (1909) * ''Hardy, George F. and Frank B. Wyatt. "Report of the actuaries in relation to the scheme of insurance against sickness, disablement, etc., embodied in the national insurance bill, 1911" in Institute of Actuaries Journal, July, 1911''

References

External links

Records of the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, Commissions, and Consultative Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, George Francis 1855 births 1914 deaths British actuaries Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society English Egyptologists Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People from Islington (district) 19th-century British businesspeople