INGRAM, JOHN KELLS

born July 7, 1823, Temple Carne, County Donegal, Ire. died May 1, 1907, Dublin Irish economic historian who also achieved fame as a scholar and poet. Ingram graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1843. He showed considerable promise in both mathematics and classics and achieved early popularity as a poet. In 1852 he became professor of oratory at Trinity College and wrote extensively on Shakespeare's plays. He then became Regius professor of Greek (186677), librarian (187987), and vice provost (189899). In 1847 Ingram helped to found the Dublin Statistical Society. His early economic writings dealt mainly with the Poor Law, which in theory was to provide relief for the poor but in reality did little to alleviate the distress in Ireland. Strongly influenced by the French sociologist Auguste Comte, Ingram rejected classical economic methodology (which attempts to isolate economic phenomena) and instead sought to build a unified theory of economics along Comtean lines. His writings on this topic included the essay Present Position and Prospects of Political Economy (1878) and A History of Political Economy (1888).