Victoria City, British Columbia (1911 census)
Victoria City was a city in British Columbia, recorded in the 1911 Census of Canada with a population of 31,660. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q2132. The administrative centroid was at approximately 48.428°N, 123.356°W.
Population
In 1911, Victoria City had a population of 31,660: 19,089 male and 12,571 female residents. Population density was 10696.0 people per square mile.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1911 | 31,660 |
| 1921 | 38,727 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1911
In the 1911 census, Victoria City 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 31,660 total population, 19,089 males in the population, 13,104 single (never-married) males, 12,571 females in the population, 10,695.95 population per square mile, 6,545 single (never-married) females, 5,815 families, 5,657 married males, 5,262 married females, 1,894 area in acres, 721 widowed females, 239 widowed males, 79 males with marital status not given, 32 females with marital status not given, 8 divorced females, 6 legally separated males, 4 divorced males, 3 legally separated females, 2.96 area in square miles. 20,919 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 15,858 persons of British origin (English), 5,313 persons of British origin (Scotch / Scottish), 3,458 persons of Chinese origin, 2,240 persons of British origin (Irish), 619 persons of German origin, 510 persons of Scandinavian origin, 340 persons of French origin, 264 persons of British origin (other), 250 persons of Italian origin, 77 persons of Greek origin, 47 persons of Russian origin, 38 persons of Swiss origin, 31 persons of Dutch origin, 20 persons of Austro-Hungarian origin, 5 persons of Polish origin, 4 persons of Bulgarian or Romanian origin, 1 persons of Belgian origin. 139 persons recorded under the 1911 official census category "Jewish" (origin/ethnicity, distinct from the V2T2 religion category "Jews"). 50 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. 23 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 85 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., 182 persons of Japanese origin — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Religion (1911). This community's record includes 11,290 Anglicans (Church of England), 5,397 Presbyterians, 4,729 adherents of various sects (residual category in 1911), 4,188 Methodists, 2,174 Roman Catholics, 2,106 persons whose religion or origin is unspecified, 1,681 Baptists, 537 Lutherans, 411 Congregationalists, 262 Protestants (general / no denomination specified), 154 Christians (general / no denomination specified), 145 Salvation Army adherents, 139 Jews, 112 Greek (Orthodox) Church adherents, 55 Brethren, 47 Friends (Quakers), 41 Adventists, 3 Disciples of Christ, 1 Mennonites. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V2T2; V2T7.) The 1911 enumerator also recorded 7 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 5,684 dwellings. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V1T2.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 49 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 |
|---|---|---|
| John Sebastian Helmcken | 1824–1920 | died here |
| Sarah Lindley Crease | 1826–1922 | died here |
| Jane Lavinia Musgrave | 1830–1916 | died here |
| David Williams Higgins | 1834–1917 | died here |
| Gilbert Malcolm Sproat | 1834–1913 | died here |
| Edgar Dewdney | 1835–1916 | died here |
| Israel Wood Powell | 1836–1915 | died here |
| Robert Beaven | 1836–1920 | died here |
| David W. Spencer | 1837–1920 | died here |
| James Douglas Warren | 1837–1917 | died here |
| Charles Mair | 1838–1927 | died here |
| Noah Shakespeare Canadian politician | 1839–1921 | died here |
| Edward Ludlow Wetmore | 1841–1922 | died here |
| Caroline Sarah Knott | 1842–1930 | died here |
| Margaret Townsend | 1843–1923 | died here |
| Edward Francis Wilson | 1844–1915 | died here |
| Robert Paterson Rithet | 1844–1919 | died here |
| Nellie Cashman | 1845–1925 | died here |
| Elias Friedlander | 1846–1927 | died here |
| John Thomas Walbran | 1848–1913 | died here |
| Charles Frederic Newcombe | 1851–1924 | died here |
| Maria Heathfield Pollard | 1854–1937 | died here |
| James William Troup | 1855–1931 | died here |
| John Pease Babcock | 1855–1936 | died here |
| John Oliver | 1856–1927 | died here |
| John Stoughton Dennis | 1856–1938 | died here |
| Sir Frank Stillman Barnard | 1856–1936 | died here |
| William L. Walsh | 1857–1938 | died here |
| James Alexander MacDonald | 1858–1939 | died here |
| Ralph Smith | 1858–1917 | died here |
| Anne Cecilia McNaughton | 1859–1938 | died here |
| A. E. (Albert Edward) McPhillips | 1861–1938 | died here |
| Edward Alexander Partridge | 1861–1931 | died here |
| George Exton Lloyd | 1861–1940 | died here |
| James Andrew Joseph McKenna | 1862–1919 | died here |
| Mary Agnes Bernard | 1862–1933 | died here |
| William Ernest Ditchburn | 1862–1932 | died here |
| Agnes Deans Cameron | 1863–1912 | born and died here |
| Sir James Outram | 1864–1925 | died here |
| Walter Cameron Nichol | 1866–1928 | died here |
| James Hurst Hawthornthwaite | 1869–1926 | died here |
| Emily Carr | 1871–1945 | born and died here |
| Helen Letitia Mooney | 1873–1951 | died here |
| Milton Robbins Jennings | 1874–1921 | died here |
| Albert E. Todd | 1878–1928 | born here |
| Henry Joseph O'Leary | 1879–1938 | died here |
| Wenonah Marlatt | 1883–1930 | died here |
| Robert James Cromie | 1887–1936 | died here |
| Samuel Maclure | d. 1929 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
BC013001— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_BC217001— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q2132
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria,_British_Columbia
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(Colombie-Britannique)
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). "Victoria City, British Columbia (1911 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/bc/victoria-city-bc013001-1911/.