Skeena, British Columbia (1911 census)
Skeena was a census subdivision in British Columbia, recorded in the 1911 Census of Canada with a population of 18,120. The administrative centroid was at approximately 54.363°N, 127.418°W.
Population
In 1911, Skeena had a population of 18,120: 13,147 male and 4,973 female residents. Population density was 0.2 people per square mile.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1911 | 18,120 |
| 1921 | 12,588 |
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 Cassiar (Skeena), 1901 (80.2% share).
Later boundary forms
- In a later year, this CSD contained Skeena, 1921 (85.8% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1911
In the 1911 census, Skeena shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1911
The 1911 census recorded 63 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1911). This community's record includes 48,600,074 area in acres, 75,937.61 area in square miles, 18,120 total population, 13,147 males in the population, 8,871 single (never-married) males, 4,973 females in the population, 4,039 families, 3,802 married males, 2,259 single (never-married) females, 2,190 married females, 365 widowed females, 323 widowed males, 149 females with marital status not given, 147 males with marital status not given, 7 legally separated females, 3 divorced females, 2 divorced males, 2 legally separated males, 0.24 population per square mile. 10,971 population in the previous census (1901 reference column included in 1911 V1T1). (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T2.)
Ethnic origin (1911). This community's record includes 1,598 persons of British origin (English), 1,341 persons of British origin (Scotch / Scottish), 1,050 persons of Chinese origin, 992 persons of Scandinavian origin, 751 persons of British origin (Irish), 410 persons of Italian origin, 358 persons of Austro-Hungarian origin, 322 persons of German origin, 322 persons of Russian origin, 249 persons of French origin, 90 persons of Greek origin, 85 persons of British origin (other), 46 persons of Bulgarian or Romanian origin, 30 persons of Dutch origin, 14 persons of Belgian origin, 14 persons of Swiss origin, 11 persons of Polish origin. 7,899 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). 13 persons recorded under the 1911 official census category "Jewish" (origin/ethnicity, distinct from the V2T2 religion category "Jews"). 6 persons recorded under the 1911/1921 official census category "Negro"; refers to people of African descent. Term is now considered offensive and is preserved here only as the historical source label. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V2T7.) The 1911 enumerator also recorded 50 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., 1,352 persons of Japanese origin — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Religion (1911). This community's record includes 3,756 Anglicans (Church of England), 3,313 Methodists, 2,741 adherents of various sects (residual category in 1911), 2,695 Roman Catholics, 1,646 Presbyterians, 1,117 persons whose religion or origin is unspecified, 1,112 Lutherans, 858 Greek (Orthodox) Church adherents, 312 Salvation Army adherents, 190 Baptists, 52 Adventists, 37 Congregationalists, 13 Jews, 11 Protestants (general / no denomination specified), 7 Christians (general / no denomination specified), 6 Friends (Quakers), 1 Brethren, 1 Mennonites, 1 Mormons (Latter-day Saints). (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V2T2; V2T7.) The 1911 enumerator also recorded 822 persons recorded under the 1911 official census category "Pagans"; primarily applied to Indigenous adherents of traditional spiritual practices. The label reflects period Christian-normative framing and is preserved as the historical source category. — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Buildings & housing (1911). This community's record includes 3,395 dwellings. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V1T2.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 5 people 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arthur Wellington Clah | 1831–1916 | died here |
| Charles Edenshaw | 1839–1920 | died here |
| Daniel Houstie | 1880–1912 | died here |
| Henry W. Tate | d. 1914 | died here |
| Jean Caux | d. 1922 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
BC008005— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_BC214002— 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). "Skeena, British Columbia (1911 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/bc/skeena-bc008005-1911/.