James Cleland LLD (1770–1840) was Superintendent of Public Works in Glasgow but is remembered as a Scottish

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may w ...

and historical writer.

Life

He was a native of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, and began life as a cabinet-maker, spending some in London. In 1803 he was made Bailie for the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

area, and Bailie for the City in 1806. During his year as a Glasgow baillie in 1806-07 Cleland prepared a report on the structural problems of the Episcopal chapel, St Andrew's-by-the-Green. He was Treasurer for the city from 1808. He obtained in 1814 the post of superintendent of public works in Glasgow. In 1819 he was employed by the municipal authorities in taking a

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, the most ambitious in the United Kingdom. He was similarly employed in 1821 and 1831. The "Cleland Testimonial" building in

Buchanan Street Buchanan Street is one of the main shopping thoroughfares in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. It forms the central stretch of Glasgow's famous shopping district with a generally more upmarket range of shops than the neighbouring streets: ...

, Glasgow, was designed by David Hamilton and was completed in 1836. James Cleland lived there at the end of his life. It is now a

category B listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. He lived his final years at 130 West Nile Street in central Glasgow and died there in 1840.Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Portraits in the New Galleries of Art in Corporation Buildings

Works

Cleland published: * ''Annals of Glasgow'', Glasgow, 1816. * ''Rise and Progress of the City of Glasgow'', Glasgow, 1820. * ''Enumeration of the Inhabitants of Glasgow'', Glasgow, 1832. * ''Historical Account of Bills of Mortality of the Probability of Human Life in Glasgow and other large towns'', Glasgow, 1836. * ''Description of the Banquet in honour of the Right Honourable Sir R. Peel, Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow, 13 Jan. 1837'', Glasgow, 1837. * ''Description of the City of Glasgow'', Glasgow, 1843.

References

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleland, James 1770 births 1840 deaths Scottish statisticians Scientists from Glasgow 19th-century Scottish mathematicians 19th-century Scottish historians