Charles Stanton Devas

Who was Charles Stanton Devas?

Charles Stanton Devas was a political economist.

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 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, the first work published in his own name, attracted considerable attention and was translated into German in 1896 by Dr. Walter Kampfe. The Manual of Political Economy, published in 1892, 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.