Dorchester, New Brunswick (1881 census)
Dorchester was a census subdivision in New Brunswick, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 6,582. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q3365806. The administrative centroid was at approximately 45.982°N, 64.570°W.
Population
In 1881, Dorchester had a population of 6,582: 3,405 male and 3,177 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 5,617 |
| 1881 | 6,582 |
| 1891 | 6,357 |
| 1901 | 6,068 |
| 1911 | 4,498 |
| 1921 | 5,793 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Dorchester shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 38 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 5 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 6,582 total population, 3,405 males, 3,177 females, 2,059 married persons, 1,114 families, 1,036 married males, 1,023 married females, 185 widowed persons, 121 widowed females, 64 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 4,338 single persons under 18, 2,305 single males under 18, 2,033 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 1,003 occupied houses, 991 inhabited houses, 49 uninhabited houses, 26 houses under construction, 8 dwellings that are temporary shanties, 4 dwellings that are temporary vessels. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 163,315 bushels of potatoes, 51,051 bushels of oats, 24,882 bushels of turnips, 18,977 bushels of buckwheat, 11,953 tons of hay, 9,275 bushels of spring wheat, 7,489 acres of hay crops, 4,951 bushels of barley, 4,719 bushels of other root crops, 1,157 acres of potatoes, 631 acres of wheat, 318 bushels of peas and beans, 196 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 129 bushels of corn. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
Fisheries (1881). This community's record includes 7,181 fathoms of fishing nets, 58 men on fishing boats, 30 fishing boats, 11 gallons of fish oil. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T27.) The 1881 enumerator also recorded 652 barrels of shad — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 8 people connected to this place who were alive in 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Albert Smith | 1822–1883 | died here |
| Camille Lefebvre | 1831–1895 | died here |
| Henry O'Leary | 1832–1897 | died here |
| Sir William Wilfred Sullivan | 1839–1920 | died here |
| Pierre-Amand Landry | 1846–1916 | died here |
| Henry Robert Emmerson | 1853–1914 | died here |
| André-T. Bourque | 1854–1914 | died here |
| Ph.-F. (Philéas-Frédéric) Bourgeois | 1855–1913 | died here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 6,583 individuals enumerated here, with name, age, sex, religion, ethnic origin, birthplace, and occupation. Source: TCP/Dillon 1881 Canadian Census deposit at Borealis.
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
NB033001— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NB035002_1921— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q3365806
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorchester_Parish
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paroisse_de_Dorchester
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1881 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). "Dorchester, New Brunswick (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/nb/dorchester-nb033001-1881/.