Coghlan, Timothy Augustine

• Sir Timothy Coghlan

Sir Timothy Augustine Coghlan, government statistician and public servant, was born on 9 June 1855 in Sydney. He was educated at Cleveland Street Public School and Sydney Grammar school from 1867-69. In 1870 he worked at Edward Flood's wool-broking office and worked as a teacher at Fort Street Public School until December 1972. In April 1873 Coghlan became a cadet of the harbours and rivers navigation branch of the Department of Public Works where he was promoted to assistant engineer in 1884. In 1886 Coghlan sought the patronage of (Sir) George Dibbs to obtain the new position of government statistician. In July 1886 he produced the "New South Wales Statistical Register for 1885" and a new companion "Handbook to the Statistical Register." In December 1887, he produced a new yearbook "Wealth and Progress of New South Wales." In 1893 Coghlan became a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, London. He became one of the first members of the Public Service Board in January 1896. In 1892-1905 he was registrar of Friendly Societies, and in 1900-05 chairman of the Central Board for Old-Age Pensions; he was involved in several inquiries, including royal commissions into the management of the Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (1897), on the decline of the birth rate and on the mortality of infants (1903) and on electoral districts (1904). Coghlan was awarded the Imperial Service Order in 1903. From 1905-1912, 1916- 1917 and later 1920-26 he was acting NSW Agent-General in London. During his time in London, Coghlan produced another publication, "Labour and Industry in Australia" (1918). He was knighted in 1914 and raised to Knight Commander of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1918. Coghlan died in London on 30 April 1926.

public servant; statistician

Created by Erin Gallant on 19 August 2011; revised on 12 September 2011

Hicks, Neville, 'Coghlan, Sir Timothy Augustine (1855–1926)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/coghlan-sir-timothy-augustine-5708/text9651 (accessed on 12 September 2011)