Gompertz's parents were Jewish Dutch merchants. Because of his faith he was denied entry to university, but he nevertheless became a member of the LMS when aged eighteen. He joined the Stock Exchange in 1810 and was elected FRS in 1819. As an actuary he was concerned with the expectation of life. Statisticians remember Gompertz for his 1825 ‘Law of Mortality’ (see Gompertz distribution), while animal rights campaigners recall that his youngest brother, Lewis, struck by ‘the similitude between man and other animals’ was one of the founders, in 1824, of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (now the RSPCA). In 1834 Benjamin was a founder member of the RSS.

http://www.actuaries.org.uk/research-and-resources/documents/benjamin-gompertz-1779-1865 Fuller biography.