Charles Henry Wickens: 1872–1939

Summary An account of the life of the second Commonwealth Statistician, Charles Henry Wickens (1872–1939), has been given. After a primary school education in a Victorian country centre, Wickens became Associate of the Institute of Actuaries. Having joined the public service of Western Australia in 1897, he was appointed Compiler in the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics in 1906; he served as Commonwealth Statistician and Actuary, 1922 to 1932, giving outstanding service as government adviser and head of an important government department. He was a leader among theoretical and practical economists. His contributions to the study of Australian demography, especially life tables and vital statistics, were of the highest quality and permanent value. He made also scholarly contributions to actuarial theory and to the popularization of the work of the Bureau.