Introduction

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REPORT


ON THE

TWELFTH CENSUS OF SCOTLAND.


CENSUS OFFICE,
EDINBURGH, 27th December, 1913.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS Mc KINNON WOOD, M.P.,

His Majesty's Secretary for Scotland.

SIR ,

We have now the honour of submitting the Third and Final Volume of our Report on the Twelfth Census of Scotland, which was taken on the night of 2nd April 1911.

We have already submitted a Preliminary Report, and the First and Second Volumes of this Report. The Preliminary Report was rapidly prepared from abstracts furnished by registrars, and was published within a few weeks of the date of the Census; it dealt with the population figures of the more important administrative divisions of Scotland. The First Volume was submitted in thirty-seven Parts, at dates varying between 27th February 1912 and 31st January of this year, each part being so designed as to supply for each of the four cities and for each of the thirty-three counties all the more essential censal information relative thereto. The Second Volume was submitted on 27th June of this year, and consisted of a summary of the Parts of the First Volume, along with figures relative to Scotland as a whole, and with some information not included in the First Volume, the most noteworthy being facts regarding the Industries of the population.

The volume now submitted deals with subjects which, in the previous volumes, were either not dealt with or only briefly considered, and may, in fact, be received as an appendix volume dealing with points, which, while not being of the same administrative importance as those dealt with in the First and Second Volumes, are none the less of national interest, if not of national importance.

The following is a list of subjects dealt with in this volume:—

  • The occupations of persons enumerated in Scotland but born in England and Wales and Ireland.
  • The nationalities, ages, and occupations of Foreigners, Colonials, and naturalised British subjects, enumerated in Scotland.
  • The numbers, distribution, birthplaces, and occupations of the infirm.
  • Special statistics regarding the inmates of institutions.
  • The statistics of the fertility of marriage.

In this volume, as in the previous two volumes, we make no attempt to give complete descriptive details in the text of the information contained in the large abstract tables, holding our first and principal duty to be the tabulation of the censal information in such a form and so clearly as to enable those interested, administratively or otherwise, to gather for themselves what statistical facts they may require, and for themselves formulate conclusions. The text we now submit should be taken as a mere summary of some of the points that appeal to us as of importance or interest, and not as an exhaustive analysis of even the more important facts. Completeness is aimed at in the abstract tables, but not in the text.

A considerable section of the volume deals with matters not previously included in the reports on Scottish Censuses, and among these may be mentioned the occupations of persons born in England, Wales, and Ireland, the birthplaces of the infirm, and the fertility of marriage. These subjects, and especially the last named, have added greatly to the work of tabulation, but we trust that the figures and conclusions arrived at will contribute some additional interest to the Report.

In closing our Report we desire to put on record our appreciation of the loyal support given to us by the entire Census staff, and more particularly of its senior members. Without the loyal support of the staff, and without the skilful and painstaking supervision of Mr Andrew Froude, and of Mr John J. Cossar, who acted jointly as superintendents, the work could not have been brought to a successful issue. The introduction of a new method of tabulation, of local subdivisions of the country not previously considered, of new subjects—more especially the industries of the population and the fertility of marriage—have all tended to increase the complexities and difficulties of the preparation of the Report, and that all these difficulties have been overcome, and that this Report should be completed in a period of time only slightly longer than that occupied in the preparation of previous Census Reports, reflect credit on the capabilities, industry, and application of the staff and their supervisors.

We desire to express our acknowledgment and appreciation of advice and help given us by Dr Tocher, Lecturer on Statistical Methods in the University of Aberdeen, and by Mr R. M. Hunter, member of the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland. The former, by advising us in the selection of statistical methods, and by freely criticising portions of the work submitted to him, gave us the benefit of his statistical experience and knowledge. The latter, by applying his mathematical skill to the graduation of the Single Ages Table, which appeared in the Second Volume, was of material service in the completion of our work. To both of them sincere thanks are due, not only from us, but also from all others interested in our national statistics.

Having now had a full experience of the advantages of mechanical card tabulation, we are in a position to give an emphatic and unqualified opinion that this method is a very great advance on the older ticking-sheet method. It has given us greater confidence in the accuracy of the tabulation; it has enabled us to carry tabulations further and to elucidate new facts; and it has shortened the time necessary for the completion of the work. The final volume of the report on this Census may have been produced in no shorter time than the report on the last Census—it has, in fact, taken rather longer—but; had the elaboration of the present Census been dealt with by the older method, we have no hesitation in asserting that its completion would have been delayed for months, if not years. The addition to the Census studies of making researches into the industries of the population, and into the fertility of marriage, has increased the work of tabulation enormously, and, were it not for the mechanical means adopted, the tabulation could not have been accomplished with the same degree of accuracy and comprehensiveness.

We have the honour to be,
Sir,

  Your most obedient Servants,
  J. PATTEN MACDOUGALL,
Registrar General.
  JAMBS C. DUNLOP,
Superintendent of Statistics.

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