William Cunningham (economist)

Cunningham was born in Edinburgh, Scotland,[8] the third son of James Cunningham, Writer to the Signet. Educated at the Edinburgh Institution (taught by Robert McNair Ferguson, amongst others),[9] the Edinburgh Academy, the University of Edinburgh, and Trinity College, Cambridge, he graduated BA in 1873, having gained first-class honours in the Moral Science tripos.[3][10]

Cunningham took holy orders in 1873, later serving as chaplain of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1880 to 1891.[11] He was university lecturer in history from 1884 to 1891, in which year he was appointed Tooke Professor of Economy and Statistics at King's College, London, a post which he held until 1897.[12] He was lecturer in economic history at Harvard University (c. 1899), and Hulsean Lecturer at Cambridge (1885).[13] He became vicar of Great St Mary's, Cambridge, in 1887, and was a founding fellow of the British Academy.[2] In 1907 he was appointed Archdeacon of Ely.[14][15]

Cunningham's Growth of English Industry and Commerce During the Early and Middle Ages (1890; 4th ed., 1905) and Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times (1882; 3rd ed., 1903) were at the time among the standard works of reference on the industrial history of England.[16]

Cunningham's eminence as an economic historian gave special importance to his support of Joseph Chamberlain from 1903 onwards in criticizing the English free-trade policies and advocating tariff reform.

He was a critic of the nascent neoclassical economics, particularly as propounded by his colleague, Alfred Marshall, and the Cambridge school.

Cunningham has been described as "a champion of women's education in Cambridge."[17] He taught the British historian Annie Abram.

Cunningham died in 1919 in Cambridge, England.[2]

• Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times: The Mercantile System (1882); Cambridge U. Press, revised 7th ed. (1907) on line, McMaster
• Politics and Economics: An Essay on the Nature of the Principles of Political Economy, Together with a Survey of Recent Legislation, London, Kegan, Paul, Trench & Co. (1885)
• Growth of English Industry and Commerce During the Early and Middle Ages (1890); Cambridge, 5th ed. (1910) on line, McMaster
• The Use and Abuse of Money, New York, Scribner's (1891); Kessinger, (2006) ISBN 1-4254-9423-4
• William Cunningham (1897). Alien Immigrants to England. The Macmillan Co. alien immigrants to england.; Routledge (1997) ISBN 0-7146-1295-2
• An Essay on Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects (Ancient Times), Cambridge U. Press (1898)
• An Essay on Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects (Mediaeval and Modern Times), Cambridge U. Press (1900)
• The Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement (1904);[18] Cosimo ISBN 1-60520-115-4
• Christianity and Politics, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin (1915)
• The Story of Cambridgeshire (1920). Cambridge University Press (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00341-4)

• Compatriots Club
• National Party (UK, 1917)

• Works by or about William Cunningham at Wikisource
• Works by William Cunningham at Project Gutenberg