J. W. Clerke

“ BARRETT, GEORGE (1752–1821) , actuary, was the son of a farmer of Wheeler Street, a small hamlet in Surrey. At an early age, although engaged in daily labour, he made, unaided, considerable progress in mathematics, taking special interest in the class of problems connected with the duration of human life. ”

“ In the worldly sense his life was all failure. At the age of sixty-four he retired, broken in health and worn in spirit, to pass his remaining days with his sisters, at whose house in Godalming he died in 1821. ”

“ It was then published as an appendix to the edition of 1813 of Baily's work on ‘Annuities.’ There has been some controversy as to the originality of Barrett's method. His claims have been ably vindicated by De Morgan (Assurance Magazine, iv. 185, xii. 348) ; but upon this interesting question, as also for an exposition of Barrett's method and the important advances subsequently made upon it by Griffith Davies and others, we can here only refer to the authorities mentioned below.
Some time after Barrett's death most of his papers were destroyed by fire. ”