Torrens joined the marines in 1796 and spent the next 38 years in military service, which saw him rise to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1818, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1821 he founded the Political Economy Club. He acquired the Traveller, a Whig newspaper, in 1821 and later merged it with the Globe. He served as an MP for Ipswich in 1826, Ashburton in 1831 and Bolton from 1832-35. Torrens did much to encourage emigration and settlement of South Australia and in 1840 was named a member of the Colonial Land and Immigration Commission. He won repute during the 1840's as an astute political economist and is credited with the independent discovery of Ricardo's principle of "comparative advantage" in international trade. His works include The Economist Refuted (1808), An Essay on Money and Paper Currency (1812), An Essay on the External Corn Trade (1815), Letters on Commercial Policy (1833), On Wages and Combination (1834) and The Principle and Practical Operation of Sur Robert Peel's Bill of 1844 (1844).
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