Amherst, Nova Scotia (1881 census)
Amherst was a census subdivision in Nova Scotia, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,457. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q470594. The administrative centroid was at approximately 45.812°N, 64.173°W.
Population
In 1881, Amherst had a population of 4,457: 2,216 male and 2,241 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 3,606 |
| 1881 | 4,457 |
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.
Later boundary forms
- In a later year, this CSD contained Amherst, Town—Ville, 1891 (4.3% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Amherst shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 33 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 4,457 total population, 2,241 females, 2,216 males, 1,468 married persons, 832 families, 735 married males, 733 married females, 196 widowed persons, 135 widowed females, 61 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,793 single persons under 18, 1,420 single males under 18, 1,373 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 761 occupied houses, 755 inhabited houses, 34 uninhabited houses, 6 dwellings that are temporary shanties, 5 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 136,995 bushels of potatoes, 34,946 bushels of oats, 17,721 bushels of turnips, 15,256 tons of hay, 13,065 bushels of buckwheat, 11,447 bushels of spring wheat, 10,291 acres of hay crops, 5,178 bushels of other root crops, 2,139 bushels of barley, 723 acres of potatoes, 686 acres of wheat, 214 bushels of peas and beans, 130 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 45 bushels of rye, 4 bushels of corn. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
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 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Charles James Townshend Stewart | 1874–1918 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,457 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:
NS022001— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NS022001— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q470594
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amherst,_Nova_Scotia
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amherst_(Nouvelle-%C3%89cosse)
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). "Amherst, Nova Scotia (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/ns/amherst-ns022001-1881/.