Leonard Henry Courtney, 1832-1918.

British economist and Liberal politician.

Born into a banking family and educated at St. John's College, Cambridge. Leonard Courtney was a follower of Bastiat and the French harmomist tradition. Courtney achieve the impressive rank of second wrangler at Cambridge in 1855.  Courtney competed unsuccessfully for the chair in political economy at Trinity College Dublin (losing to J.E. Cairnes) in 1861, and again at Cambridge (losing to Fawcett) in 1863.  But in 1872, Courtney had better luck, succeeding Cairnes as professor of political economy at University College London.

In 1876, Courtney resigned from his position to pursue a political career.  He was succeeded by W. Stanley Jevons in his chair at UCL. 

Courtney served as a Liberal MP in parliament from 1877, then in the Gladstone ministry from 1880 until 1884 (firstly, as under-secretary to the home department, then the colonial office, finally as financial secretary to the treasury).  He broke with Gladstone and resigned over the1884 Parliamentary Reform Bill.  Courtney continued in parliament, semi-attached to the Liberal Unionists,  until 1900, resigning over the Boer War.

On a couple of side notes, Courtney was married to Catherine Potter (elder sister of Beatrice Webb).  Courtney is also one of several people to whom the famous phrase "lies, damned lies and statistics" is commonly attributed.

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