Sylvanus Percival Vivian
Encyclopedia
Sir Sylvanus Percival Vivian (London, October 1, 1880–1958) was the 7th Registrar General
of England and Wales (1921–1945), and the longest serving Registrar General after George Graham
.
The administration of census taking was also altered for 1921, Superintendent Registrars no longer being directly involved, although they were given the title of honorary ‘Census Advisory Officers’, and could be consulted when necessary. The 1921 census was due to have been held in April, but was postponed until June, owing to industrial unrest. The decision to postpone the census was taken only ten days before the original date of 24 April, by which time all the schedules had been printed and distributed. An amendment slip was therefore produced, showing the revised date of 19 June. To save the taxpayers’ money, advertising space on the back of the amendment slip was sold. Unfortunately the advertising in question was for the ‘Sunday Illustrated’, and new venture of Horatio Bottomley
MP, who shortly afterwards was exposed as a swindler and a cheat, went bankrupt and spent 5 years in prison for fraud. No advertising has been allowed on census material since.
The 1921 enumeration itself, fortunately, went smoothly. Its results were of particular interest, following the social and economic upheavals of the First World War. In 1931, Vivian took advantage of the latest technology and made a series of broadcasts on the BBC, explaining the value of the census, and how the form should be completed. He also made several statements in the press. Exhibitions of old census returns were mounted at the Public Record Office in 1931, to coincide with the census, and in 1937 at Somerset House to mark the centenary of Civil Registration. These included 1841 and 1851 returns showing famous people such as Disraeli, Dickens, and the Royal Family.
Vivian was still Registrar General during the Second World War, when, for the first time the decennial census, due in 1941, did not take place at all. Instead, Vivian oversaw the system of National Registration, and the production of National Identity Cards for the entire population.
Vivian and was educated at St Paul's School and St. John's College, Oxford. In 1903 he entered the Inland Revenue Department
where he remained until 1912, when he was appointed assistant secretary at the National Insurance Commission, which was established as a consequence of the National Insurance Health Act 1911.
After some five years at the Commission, Vivian was seconded in 1917 to the Ministry of Food (The Times). He was later instrumental in subordinating the General Register Office (GRO) to the policy and control of its parent department, the Ministry of Health.
Sir Robert Morant became permanent secretary of the new department, and Vivian was so closely identified with him that he was known in Whitehall as "Morant's little Sylvanus". The General Register Office (GRO), which was responsible for census-taking and the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales, also became part of the Ministry of Health. The Ministry was unhappy both about the constitutional independence of the GRO, and its professional and statistical capabilities. Rather than an independent research body, the Ministry wanted the GRO to merely service the Ministry's policy sections, and sought to introduce into it statisticians trained in the new mathematical procedures pioneered by Francis Galton and Karl Pearson (Higgs, 188–94).
Given Vivian's ability and close relationship with Morant, it is not surprising that he was appointed to the GRO as 'deputy' Registrar General in 1919 to push through these changes. The existing Registrar General, Sir Bernard Mallet, objected both to the changes introduced, and to his weakened position within the Office, and resigned. Vivian formally became Registrar General at the beginning of 1921 (Higgs, 188–94). This led to a number of changes in the structure and output of the GRO. The last Annual Report of the Registrar General to be published as a Parliamentary Paper appeared in 1920 (Eighty-second Annual Report of the Registrar General), and the series was wound up in 1922. It was replaced in 1923 by a more anonymous Registrar General's Statistical Review (Registrar General's Statistical Review for 1921). The GRO's publications in the inter-war period appear to have closely followed the policy line being taken by the Ministry of Health, avoiding, for example, a direct analysis of the social class influences on mortality. Internally, the post of Superintendent of Statistics, which had originated with William Farr in the 1840s, was abolished. The last Superintendent, T. H. C. Stevenson, became merely one of a number of statisticians within the GRO, and a disgruntled member of staff. However, Vivian appears to have been able to head off more far-reaching proposals for abolishing the GRO completely, and absorbing its staff into the overall functions of the Ministry of Health. (Higgs, 193–201).
Vivian also helped to get the 1920 Census Act passed, which gave permanent authorisation for the taking of a decennial census. This allowed the GRO to set up a permanent census unit (Higgs, 201–2). Vivian was responsible for the organisation of the 1921 and 1931 censuses, both of which saw significant innovations in the questions asked. His preparations for the 1941 census came to be bound up with the planning of a national registration system for the purposes of conscription, which began at least as early as 1935. In that year Vivian was chairing a sub-committee of the Committee on Imperial Defence on the subject, and a draft National Service Bill had been drawn up. Vivian reasoned that the enumeration system required could be used both for national registration on the outbreak of war, or for the decennial census, whichever came first. With the outbreak of war in 1939 the enumeration machinery was activated to compile the national register. The population figures produced were seen by the GRO as the nearest thing to a census likely to be taken in war conditions, and as such they were first circulated for official use and then published in 1944 The register was used for rationing purposes, and for the deployment of labour in the military and other essential services, and also for the issue of identity cards (Higgs, 209–10; General Register Office, National registration). During the war, Vivian was also chairman of the Electoral Machinery Committee (appointed in 1942), and he was a member of the Boundary Commission (Re-distribution of Parliamentary Seats) in 1944. He was knighted in 1937 and retired in 1945. He died in 1958 (The Times).
Vivian was a man of wide culture, although his interests were plainly not statistical or medical. His contribution to literature included an edition of the works of Thomas Campion, and contributions to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Cambridge History of English Literature, and to the Dictionary of Literary Terms (The Times). His last published work, in 1953, was on the manor of Etchingham
cum Salehurst for the Sussex Record Society.
Registrar General
General Register Office, in England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and many Commonwealth nations, is the government agency responsible for civil registration - the recording of vital records such as births, deaths, and marriages...
of England and Wales (1921–1945), and the longest serving Registrar General after George Graham
George Graham
- Politics :*George Graham , 18th-century governor of Newfoundland*George Graham , former political activist*George Perry Graham , Canadian MP from Ontario*George Graham...
.
The administration of census taking was also altered for 1921, Superintendent Registrars no longer being directly involved, although they were given the title of honorary ‘Census Advisory Officers’, and could be consulted when necessary. The 1921 census was due to have been held in April, but was postponed until June, owing to industrial unrest. The decision to postpone the census was taken only ten days before the original date of 24 April, by which time all the schedules had been printed and distributed. An amendment slip was therefore produced, showing the revised date of 19 June. To save the taxpayers’ money, advertising space on the back of the amendment slip was sold. Unfortunately the advertising in question was for the ‘Sunday Illustrated’, and new venture of Horatio Bottomley
Horatio Bottomley
Horatio William Bottomley was a British financier, swindler, journalist, newspaper proprietor, populist politician and Member of Parliament .-Early life:...
MP, who shortly afterwards was exposed as a swindler and a cheat, went bankrupt and spent 5 years in prison for fraud. No advertising has been allowed on census material since.
The 1921 enumeration itself, fortunately, went smoothly. Its results were of particular interest, following the social and economic upheavals of the First World War. In 1931, Vivian took advantage of the latest technology and made a series of broadcasts on the BBC, explaining the value of the census, and how the form should be completed. He also made several statements in the press. Exhibitions of old census returns were mounted at the Public Record Office in 1931, to coincide with the census, and in 1937 at Somerset House to mark the centenary of Civil Registration. These included 1841 and 1851 returns showing famous people such as Disraeli, Dickens, and the Royal Family.
Vivian was still Registrar General during the Second World War, when, for the first time the decennial census, due in 1941, did not take place at all. Instead, Vivian oversaw the system of National Registration, and the production of National Identity Cards for the entire population.
Vivian and was educated at St Paul's School and St. John's College, Oxford. In 1903 he entered the Inland Revenue Department
Inland Revenue Department
Inland Revenue Department may refer to the following government departments responsible for taxation:*Inland Revenue Department *Inland Revenue Department *Inland Revenue, former department in the United Kingdom...
where he remained until 1912, when he was appointed assistant secretary at the National Insurance Commission, which was established as a consequence of the National Insurance Health Act 1911.
After some five years at the Commission, Vivian was seconded in 1917 to the Ministry of Food (The Times). He was later instrumental in subordinating the General Register Office (GRO) to the policy and control of its parent department, the Ministry of Health.
Sir Robert Morant became permanent secretary of the new department, and Vivian was so closely identified with him that he was known in Whitehall as "Morant's little Sylvanus". The General Register Office (GRO), which was responsible for census-taking and the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales, also became part of the Ministry of Health. The Ministry was unhappy both about the constitutional independence of the GRO, and its professional and statistical capabilities. Rather than an independent research body, the Ministry wanted the GRO to merely service the Ministry's policy sections, and sought to introduce into it statisticians trained in the new mathematical procedures pioneered by Francis Galton and Karl Pearson (Higgs, 188–94).
Given Vivian's ability and close relationship with Morant, it is not surprising that he was appointed to the GRO as 'deputy' Registrar General in 1919 to push through these changes. The existing Registrar General, Sir Bernard Mallet, objected both to the changes introduced, and to his weakened position within the Office, and resigned. Vivian formally became Registrar General at the beginning of 1921 (Higgs, 188–94). This led to a number of changes in the structure and output of the GRO. The last Annual Report of the Registrar General to be published as a Parliamentary Paper appeared in 1920 (Eighty-second Annual Report of the Registrar General), and the series was wound up in 1922. It was replaced in 1923 by a more anonymous Registrar General's Statistical Review (Registrar General's Statistical Review for 1921). The GRO's publications in the inter-war period appear to have closely followed the policy line being taken by the Ministry of Health, avoiding, for example, a direct analysis of the social class influences on mortality. Internally, the post of Superintendent of Statistics, which had originated with William Farr in the 1840s, was abolished. The last Superintendent, T. H. C. Stevenson, became merely one of a number of statisticians within the GRO, and a disgruntled member of staff. However, Vivian appears to have been able to head off more far-reaching proposals for abolishing the GRO completely, and absorbing its staff into the overall functions of the Ministry of Health. (Higgs, 193–201).
Vivian also helped to get the 1920 Census Act passed, which gave permanent authorisation for the taking of a decennial census. This allowed the GRO to set up a permanent census unit (Higgs, 201–2). Vivian was responsible for the organisation of the 1921 and 1931 censuses, both of which saw significant innovations in the questions asked. His preparations for the 1941 census came to be bound up with the planning of a national registration system for the purposes of conscription, which began at least as early as 1935. In that year Vivian was chairing a sub-committee of the Committee on Imperial Defence on the subject, and a draft National Service Bill had been drawn up. Vivian reasoned that the enumeration system required could be used both for national registration on the outbreak of war, or for the decennial census, whichever came first. With the outbreak of war in 1939 the enumeration machinery was activated to compile the national register. The population figures produced were seen by the GRO as the nearest thing to a census likely to be taken in war conditions, and as such they were first circulated for official use and then published in 1944 The register was used for rationing purposes, and for the deployment of labour in the military and other essential services, and also for the issue of identity cards (Higgs, 209–10; General Register Office, National registration). During the war, Vivian was also chairman of the Electoral Machinery Committee (appointed in 1942), and he was a member of the Boundary Commission (Re-distribution of Parliamentary Seats) in 1944. He was knighted in 1937 and retired in 1945. He died in 1958 (The Times).
Vivian was a man of wide culture, although his interests were plainly not statistical or medical. His contribution to literature included an edition of the works of Thomas Campion, and contributions to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Cambridge History of English Literature, and to the Dictionary of Literary Terms (The Times). His last published work, in 1953, was on the manor of Etchingham
Etchingham
Etchingham is a village and civil parish in the Rother District in East Sussex, southern England. The village is approximately twelve miles north-west of Hastings, on the A265, half a mile west of its junction with the A21....
cum Salehurst for the Sussex Record Society.