Census facts:
The empire’s deputy - Population
From the turn of the 19th century, Glasgow had been known as the ‘second city of the empire’. From 1870 to the outbreak of the First World War the city had produced almost a fifth of the world’s ships. However, its prestigious status suffered along with a gradual decline in the need for merchant and navy ships. By the 1930s an economic downturn had begun. In 1931 the population of Glasgow city was 1,088,461. As heavy industry declined the population decreased. In 2001 the Census recorded a population of 577,869.
*Scotland's Census does not record industrial information.
The deadly births - Health
In 1931, 412 Scottish women die each year in childbirth. The ‘30s sees an improvement in maternal care. With the creation of the NHS in 1948, by 1950 the maternal mortality rate has dropped to a fifth of what it was in 1935.
*Scotland's Census does not record births, deaths and marriages.
A depressing era - Culture
In 1931, in the midst of the great depression, 39.2 per cent of Scottish men aged 14 and over are unemployed. By 1936, employment picked up in the heavy industries due to the British rearmament in the face of the threat from Nazi Germany.
*Scotland's Census does not ask about your occupation.
Contemporary historical facts:
29 August 1930 – The 36 remaining inhabitants of the small Atlantic island of St. Kilda are evacuated to the mainland at their own request.
30 July 1938 – The first edition of the children’s comic The Beano is published in Dundee.
3 September 1939 – Outbreak of World War II: 50 million people die in the ensuing conflict from 1939 to 1945 – almost 60 per cent of them Allied civilians. By the end of history’s largest and deadliest war, the long reign of imperialism is over and men have developed the means to destroy life on a massive scale with the atomic bomb.
10 December 1936 – King Edward VIII gives up his throne to avoid sparking a constitutional crisis following his decision to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson.