Editing David Ricardo (section)

==Personal life==
Born in London, England, Ricardo was the third surviving of the 17 children of successful stockbroker Abraham Israel Ricardo (1733?–1812) and Abigail (1753–1801), daughter of Abraham Delvalle (also "del Valle"), of a respectable [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic Jewish]] family that had been settled in England for three generations as "small but prosperous" tobacco and snuff merchants, and had obtained British citizenship. Abigail's sister, Rebecca, was wife of the engraver [[Wilson Lowry]], and mother of the engraver [[Joseph Wilson Lowry]] and the geologist, mineralogist, and author [[Delvalle Lowry]].<ref>David Ricardo, D. Weatherall, Springer Netherlands, 2012, p. 6</ref><ref>Anglo-Jewish Portraits- A Biographical Catalogue of Engraved Anglo-Jewish and Colonial Portraits from the Earliest Times to the Accession of Queen Victoria, Alfred Rubens, Jewish Museum, London, 1935, p. 69</ref><ref name="Heertje">{{cite journal|last=Heertje|first=Arnold|year=2004|title=The Dutch and Portuguese-Jewish background of David Ricardo|journal=European Journal of the History of Economic Thought|volume=11|issue=2|pages=281–294|doi=10.1080/0967256042000209288|s2cid=154424757}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite ODNB|title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|date=2 September 2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23471|pages=ref:odnb/23471|editor-last=Matthew|editor-first=H. C. G.|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/23471|access-date=14 December 2019|editor2-last=Harrison|editor2-first=B.}}</ref> The Ricardo family were Sephardic Jews of [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] origin who had recently relocated from the [[Dutch Republic]].<ref name="Heertje"/> Ricardo began working with his father at the age of 14. At the age of 21, Ricardo eloped with a [[Quakers|Quaker]], Priscilla Anne Wilkinson, and against his father's wishes, converted to [[Unitarianism]].<ref>Francisco Solano Constancio, Paul Henri Alcide Fonteyraud. 1847. ''[https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/%C5%92uvres_compl%C3%A8tes_de_David_Ricardo/Notice Œuvres complètes de David Ricardo]'', Guillaumin, (pp. v–xlviii): ''A part sa conversion au Christianisme et son mariage avec une femme qu'il eut l'audace grande d'aimer malgré les ordres de son père''</ref> This religious difference resulted in estrangement from his family, and he was led to adopt a position of independence.<ref>Ricardo, David. 1919. ''Principles of Political Economy and Taxation''. G. Bell, p. lix: "by reason of a religious difference with his father, to adopt a position of independence at a time when he should have been undergoing that academic training"</ref> His father disowned him and his mother apparently never spoke to him again.<ref name=sraffa>{{Citation |author=Sraffa, Piero |author2=David Ricardo |title=The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo: Volume 10, Biographical Miscellany |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1955 |page=434 |isbn=0-521-06075-3}}</ref>

Following this estrangement he went into business for himself with the support of Lubbocks and Forster, an eminent banking house. He made the bulk of his fortune by profitably financing Government borrowing. A popular story states that he made his fortune as a result of speculation on the outcome of the [[Battle of Waterloo]]: in Ricardo's obituary, published on 14 September 1823,''[[The Sunday Times]]'' reported that during the battle Ricardo "netted upwards of a million sterling", a huge sum at the time, and this was later popularised by the economist [[Paul Samuelson]]. In reality, Ricardo was already very rich, and in June 1815, sold his latest government stock before the result of the battle was known in London, missing half of the rise.<ref>Wilfried Parys, [https://www.eshet-conference.net/lille/file/edl/?file=dVg5YURiRmc1TTZKOHhTamhZYmVwY0R4b3d1a0xuTkdTS0F5VlNoc2JaamRmTk5tL0hyT3h1bEJMeE5ha0g5WmNKbEhNRUV2UWhYbm9tL0ZEbVVPL09CZ2Y5eE1Ic092S3NFY01FSjVCc2ovSjNHOEQxL3pHeU9ONGZXME1VZ2p6U2ZXV0pyeEJOaWFXbzVTbjNIM3hoU1dzWG9GWitlUEh3UVNURXN4YTc3Y0tTdzVaaExVVTdRNU8vOXVRQkxqQW04Rk1pb3NDQXh3c1p0YzN4Wm91Zz09 "Samuelsonian legends about Ricardo’s finances lack historical evidence"]</ref>

He subsequently purchased [[Gatcombe Park]], an estate in [[Gloucestershire]], and retired to the country. He was appointed [[High Sheriff of Gloucestershire]] for 1818–19.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17326|page=188|date=24 January 1818}}</ref> In August 1818 he bought Lord Portarlington's seat in Parliament for £4,000, as part of the terms of a loan of £25,000. His record in Parliament was that of an earnest reformer. He held the seat until his death five years later.<ref>{{Cite web|title=David Ricardo {{!}} Biography, Theory, Comparative Advantage, & Works|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Ricardo|access-date=7 July 2021|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

Ricardo was a close friend of [[James Mill]]. Other notable friends included [[Jeremy Bentham]] and [[Thomas Malthus]], with whom Ricardo had a considerable debate (in correspondence) over such things as the role of landowners in a society. He also was a member of Malthus' [[Political Economy Club]], and a member of the [[King of Clubs (Whig club)|King of Clubs]]. He was one of the original members of [[The Geological Society]].<ref name=sraffa /> His youngest sister was author [[George Richardson Porter#Family|Sarah Ricardo-Porter]] (e.g., ''Conversations in Arithmetic'').