Governor's annual reports as a source for the research of the urban population of Eastern Siberia in the 1850s-1880s

The aim of this article is to consider the content and significance of governor's reports on the history of the urban population of Eastern Siberia in the second half of the 19th century. In the research, the author uses governor's annual reports, which are valuable and unique historical sources on the economic, social, political and cultural history of of the 19th - early 20th centuries. They belong to the record keeping documentation and constitute a set of data registering the state of the province during the year. Reports were a kind of a summary document for the emperor. Annual reports of governors reflected facilities, demographic, industrial, cultural and other sectors of life activities of separate provinces of the country. This source is used most frequently by researchers in studying various aspects of the history of separate regions of Russia of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Annual most devoted reports were the central authority's traditional form of control over activities of the local administration. A governor's report is a multifaceted source, along with the important information it had a number of drawbacks. When analyzing this especial and valuable document, it is necessary to apply a critical approach. There were various themes in sections of data cards. Many of them supplied the information on the urban population of the region: population migration, class structure, town inhabitants, religious confession, people of different faiths, public morals, medical sphere, education, etc. The main drawback of governor's reports as a historical source is inaccuracy of some statistical data contained in reports. Provincial statistical committees received information from police offices, clergy, state chambers, directors of public training schools, judicial bodies, etc. Activities of provincial statistical committees hardly ever met the requirements of the correct statement of administrative statistics at the local level. Governors noted the interrelation between town life and trade. Towns developed intensively in the places of a vigorous trading activity. Governor's reports recorded the basic occupations of local residents. Specificity of separate regions was also shown. In reports the condition of medicine and education in towns and districts was analyzed in detail. Governors admitted that the essential problem in spreading literacy, increasing the number of medical and educational institutions and of experts in towns was shortage of funds. Poor financing thwarted the development of the region. In reports the backwardness of eastern Siberian towns, if compared with European ones, was repeatedly marked. The author comes to a conclusion that this source, despite a number of disadvantages, has information content and plays an important role in the study of the social history of Siberia.

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