PORTER, George Richardson, an eminent statistician, was born in London in 1792, and was educated at Merchant Taylors' School. A failure which he made in the trade of a sugar-broker was the occasion of bringing him into notice. Driven to literature, he published a paper on Life Assurance in the Companion to the Almanac for 1831, which introduced him to the acquaintance of Mr Charles Knight. That well-known publisher was instrumental not long afterwards in procuring for him the office of superintendent of the statistical department in the Board of Trade. Placed in this congenial situation, he soon had the opportunity of showing to the best advantage his skill in digesting and tabulating the most incongruous materials. His great work, The Progress of the Nation, which he began to publish in 1836, established his reputation as a statistician. His growing skill in his official duties also recommended him in 1841 to the post of one of the joint secretaries of the Board of Trade. He was still holding this situation when he died at Tunbridge Wells in 1852, in consequence of inflammation, which had been caused by the sting of a gnat.