Charles Stanton Devas

Charles Stanton Devas (26 August 1848 – 6 November 1906) was an English political economist.

Life Charles Stanton Devas was born in Woodside, Old Windsor on 26 August 1848. He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a first class in the honours School of Law and History. Before proceeding to the university he had been received into the Roman Catholic Church and his subsequent career was entirely devoted to the service of religion. By treating political economy, both in books and lectures, from a definitely Catholic standpoint, he was unusual in his field at the time.

The Groundwork of Economics (1883), the first work published in his own name (for the translation into English of Hergenröther's Church and State was anonymous), attracted considerable attention and was translated into German in 1896 by Walter Kampfe. The Manual of Political Economy (Stonyhurst Philosophical Series), published in 1892 (third edition, 1907), achieved more success, and became a recognised textbook in English-speaking schools and seminaries. In 1886, he published Studies in Family Life, a historical inquiry into this branch of economics, with a view to justifying the contention that Christianity is an essential factor in the problem of social well-being. This book was translated into German in 1887 by Paul Maria Baumgarten. In 1895 he published anonymously in London a poetical version of the story of Sintram.

Charles Stanton Devas died on 6 November 1906, and is buried at St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake.