Robert Hamilton Coats (July 25, 1874 – February 7, 1960) was

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

's first Dominion Statistician. He was born in Clinton,

Huron County, Ontario Huron County is a county of the province of Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeast shore of its namesake, Lake Huron, in the southwest part of the province. The county seat is Goderich, also the county's largest community. The popul ...

in 1874, the son of Robert Coats, who came to Canada from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. In 1896, Coats received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from the

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. He worked as a journalist for ''

The Toronto World ''The Toronto World'' was a newspaper based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It existed between 1880 and 1921, and a Sunday edition operated from 1891 to 1924. Founded by William Findlay "Billy" Maclean, it was popular among Toronto's working class a ...

'' and then the Toronto ''

Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

'' until 1902 when, at the request of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Mackenzie King, he became editor of the Labour Gazette; King himself had been the first editor of this publication which included statistical information related to labour. Coats was named Chief Statistician for the

Department of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

in 1905. In 1915, he was appointed Dominion Statistician and Controller of the

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

. Coats helped establish the

Dominion Bureau of Statistics The Dominion Bureau of Statistics was a Canadian government organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -i ...

, now Statistics Canada. He also served on statistical committees with the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. After he retired in 1942, Coats served as statistical advisor to the government of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. He served four years as visiting professor of statistics in the Department of Political Economy at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. Coats, one of the first residents of

Rockcliffe Park Rockcliffe Park ( French: ''Parc Rockcliffe'') is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward, close to the centre of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1864, organized as a Police village in 1908, and an independent village from 1926, and ...

, died in Ottawa at the age of 85. He had been married twice, first to Marie Hollbeister, and then, after his first wife's death, to Maida Skelly. The R. H. Coats Building in Ottawa was named after him.

References

Robert Hamilton Coats fonds, Archives Canada

Herbert Marshall, ''The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue canadienne d'Economique et de Science politique'', Vol. 26, No. 3. (Aug., 1960), pp. 482-483.

John A. Stevenson, ''The American Statistician'', Vol. 14, No. 2. (Apr., 1960), pp. 28-29.

Library and Archives Canada, Census of Canada, 1891, item number 1783098

External links

* 1874 births 1960 deaths Canadian civil servants Canadian statisticians Canadian people of Scottish descent Presidents of the American Statistical Association University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto Presidents of the Canadian Political Science Association {{Canada-gov-bio-stub