Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester (1757-1829): The Speaker of the House of Commons 1802–1817. He was responsible for the legislation that led to the first census in 1801. Through their mutual interest in statistics, he became Rickman’s patron and was responsible for appointing Rickman Secretary to The Speaker in 1802. Southey called him ‘Emperor of the Franks’ because he was able to take advantage, through Rickman, of Abbot’s privilege of franking mail for free.