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Wickens, Charles Henry (1872 - 1939)

Published Sources
Statistician and Actuary
Born: 16 October 1872  Kangaroo Flat, Victoria, Australia.  Died: 30 July 1939  Balwyn, Vaud.
Charles Henry Wickens was Commonwealth Statistician and later Commonwealth Statistician and Actuary (1922-1932), succeeding Sir George Knibbs (qv). His Australian life tables for the decennia 1881-90, 1891-1900 and 1901-10 enabled comparisons between the States, found that life expectancy had increased since 1890 and that female rates of mortality were generally lower than those of males. Wickens also investigated social insurance schemes in preparation for the development of national insurance proposals by Sir Earle Page. He received the Messenger prize from the Institute of Actuaries (London, 1906) for an essay on the collection and analysis of mortality and population data; was a Foundation member of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand and a President of the Actuarial Society of Australasia (1924).

Career Highlights

Chronology
c. 1896Qualified through private study as an associate of the Institute of Actuaries
1897 - 1899Assistant Clerk in the Western Australian Public Service
1899 - 1906Clerk in the Statistical Bureau
1901 - 1905Assistant Compiler and Departmental Actuary
1906Messenger Prize received from the Institute of Actuaries, London
1906 - 1913Compiler with the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics
1913 - 1922Supervisor of census
1922 - 1924Commonwealth Statistician
1923Formulated the Commonwealth superannuation scheme
1924President of the Actuarial Society of Australasia
1924 - 1932Commonwealth Statistician and Actuary
1928Chair of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand

 

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Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.Prepared by: Rosanne Walker
Created: 30 June 1997
Modified: 22 August 2006

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P002754b.htm

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