Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brown, Samuel (1810-1875)
BROWN, SAMUEL (1810–1875), actuary and statist, entered the ofiice of the old Equitable Life in 1829 as a junior. He was appointed actuary of the Mutual Life Office in 1850, and of the Guardian Insurance Company in 1855. He contributed numerous papers to the ‘Assurance Magazine,‘ and also to the ‘Journal of the Statistical Society.' He took a very prominent part in the decimal coinage movement, and several times discussed the question before the International Statistical Congress. He also advocated uniform weights and measures throughout the commercial world. He took un active part in founding the Institute of Actuaries in 1848, and became its president in 1867, holding the office for three consecutive years. He was also joint editor of the ‘Journal of the Institute of Actuaries.’ In 1868 he was president of the Economic section of the British Asociation at Norwich. He instituted the ‘Brown Prize’ at the Institute of Actuaries, and the first award under the terms of the endowment-fifty guineas for the best essay on the history of life insurance-was made in 1884. He gave evidence before various parliamentary committees on insurance and kindred topics. He died in 1875, aged 65.
[Walford`s Insurance Cyclopædia.]