Sir Timothy Augustine Coghlan KCMG ISO FRSS MICE (9 June 1856 – 30 April 1926) was an Australian statistician, engineer, economic historian and diplomat.

[3] When the New South Wales department of statistics was created, Coghlan was appointed government statistician and began his duties early in 1886.

In February 1906, he informed Prime Minister Alfred Deakin that he could not accept the offer due to his obligations to the Premier of New South Wales, Joseph Carruthers.

As unemotional as a professional billiard player, and as self-reliant as a sea captain, Coghlan has battled his way from a minor civil service job to his present position through sheer ability.

It has been said of this work, This document provided the first great economic history of Australia, covering the period from European settlement to the creation of the Commonwealth … [its] 2449 pages constitute a great, pullulating Victorian panorama in words and numbers that seemingly capture every person, law and landmark … Beyond its use as an encyclopedic reference work, its enduring value lies in its bounty of quantitive data.