Cowichan, British Columbia (1911 census)
Cowichan was a census subdivision in British Columbia, recorded in the 1911 Census of Canada with a population of 3,864. The administrative centroid was at approximately 48.801°N, 124.146°W.
Population
In 1911, Cowichan had a population of 3,864: 2,459 male and 1,405 female residents. Population density was 3.8 people per square mile.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1901 | 3,613 |
| 1911 | 3,864 |
| 1921 | 4,973 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Boundary continuity (non-identical overlaps)
Spatial polygon overlaps with adjacent census years where the boundary shifted enough that the SAME_AS chain didn't merge them. These show where the territory came from and went to even when it isn't tracked as the same persistent place.
Earlier boundary forms
- In an earlier year, this CSD was contained in Cowichan, 1901 (66.2% share).
Later boundary forms
- In a later year, this CSD contained Duncan, C, 1921 (0.1% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1911
In the 1911 census, Cowichan shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1911
The 1911 census recorded 54 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1911). This community's record includes 652,800 area in acres, 3,864 total population, 2,459 males in the population, 1,405 females in the population, 1,340 single (never-married) males, 1,020 area in square miles, 949 married males, 929 families, 732 single (never-married) females, 605 married females, 130 males with marital status not given, 60 widowed females, 37 widowed males, 6 females with marital status not given, 3.79 population per square mile, 3 legally separated males, 2 legally separated females. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T2.)
Ethnic origin (1911). This community's record includes 1,772 persons of British origin (English), 605 persons of British origin (Scotch / Scottish), 532 persons of Chinese origin, 378 persons of British origin (Irish), 84 persons of German origin, 77 persons of British origin (other), 77 persons of French origin, 49 persons of Scandinavian origin, 37 persons of Italian origin, 15 persons of Swiss origin, 14 persons of Austro-Hungarian origin, 13 persons of Dutch origin, 10 persons of Russian origin, 1 persons of Belgian origin, 1 persons of Greek origin. 3 persons recorded under the official census category "Indian"; corresponds to what is now described as Indigenous (First Nations; in northern enumerations also Inuit) origin. "Indian" was simultaneously a census category and the legal/administrative term under the Indian Act (1876). (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V2T7.) The 1911 enumerator also recorded 8 persons recorded under the 1911 official census category "Hindu"; in 1911 this label denoted South Asian origin (not religious identification). Reflects period British-colonial conflation of religion and ethnicity; modern usage of "Hindu" is religious., 86 persons of Japanese origin — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Religion (1911). This community's record includes 1,565 Anglicans (Church of England), 645 adherents of various sects (residual category in 1911), 456 Presbyterians, 408 Methodists, 332 Roman Catholics, 128 Baptists, 102 persons whose religion or origin is unspecified, 83 Protestants (general / no denomination specified), 50 Lutherans, 18 Adventists, 14 Congregationalists, 14 Friends (Quakers), 9 Mormons (Latter-day Saints), 7 Brethren, 5 Christians (general / no denomination specified), 2 Greek (Orthodox) Church adherents, 2 Salvation Army adherents, 1 Disciples of Christ. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V2T2; V2T7.)
Buildings & housing (1911). This community's record includes 921 dwellings. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V1T2.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 1 person connected to this place who were alive in 1911, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| James Dunsmuir | 1851–1920 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
BC010001— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_BC212001— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: not yet grounded. This page covers a place whose persistent identity has not yet been linked to a Wikidata entity. Identification is via TCP UID and spatial polygon only.
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1911 Census of Canada, transcribed and georeferenced by the Canadian Peoples / TCP project, hosted at the HGIS Lab, University of Saskatchewan. Persistent place identity computed from spatial-overlap chains across all available census years (1851–1921). Identity grounding to Wikidata performed via the HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph project's MCP-assisted disambiguation pipeline. See the About / Methodology page for the full data pipeline.
Cite this page
Clifford, J. (2026). "Cowichan, British Columbia (1911 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/bc/cowichan-bc010001-1911/.