A Haberdasher’s tale.

Is anyone interested in excess deaths? They used to be.

This is a very British story: an underdog tradesman starting something still in use today. It is the story of John Graunt, a well-to-do haberdasher (someone who traded in small account resents like buttons and zippers and thread), whose methodical and mathematical genius produced instruments still used today. He is considered the founder of demography -…