Year: 1881
| Province: Nova Scotia
| County: Shelburne
Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia (1881 census)
Cape Sable Island was a census subdivision in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 1,991. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.466°N, 65.605°W.
Population
In 1881, Cape Sable Island had a population of 1,991: 1,000 male and 991 female residents. Population density was 104.2 people per square mile.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|
| 1871 | 1,636 |
| 1881 | 1,991 |
| 1891 | 1,029 |
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
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 88 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories. Tables below are collapsible.
Population & families (12 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| FAM NO | 395 |
| Number of families | 395 |
| Number of females | 991 |
| Number of males | 1,000 |
| Number of married females | 361 |
| Number of married males | 363 |
| Number of married persons | 724 |
| Number of widowed females | 53 |
| Number of widowed males | 18 |
| Number of widowed persons | 71 |
| POP TOT | 1,991 |
| Total population | 1,991 |
Age structure (3 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Number of single females under 18 | 577 |
| Number of single males under 18 | 619 |
| Number of single persons under 18 | 1,196 |
Buildings & housing (4 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Number of houses under construction | 7 |
| Number of inhabited houses | 370 |
| Number of occupied houses | 370 |
| Number of uninhabited houses | 15 |
Agriculture (19 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Acres of hay crops | 387 |
| Acres of potatoes | 76 |
| BAR BU | 2 |
| Bushels of barley produced in the past year | 2 |
| Bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed produced in the past year | 5 |
| Bushels of corn produced in the past year | 1 |
| Bushels of oats produced in the past year | 150 |
| Bushels of other root crops produced in the past year | 182 |
| Bushels of peas and beans produced in the past year | 27 |
| Bushels of potatoes produced in the past year | 10,391 |
| Bushels of turnips produced in the past year | 442 |
| CRN BU | 1 |
| HAY AC | 387 |
| HAY TONS | 670 |
| OAT BU | 150 |
| PEA AND BEN BU | 27 |
| POT AC | 76 |
| POT BU | 10,391 |
| Tons of hay produced in the past year | 670 |
Fisheries (15 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Barrels of gaspareaux produced in the past year | 44 |
| Barrels of herring or alewives produced in the past year | 1,223 |
| Barrels of mackerel produced in the past year | 6,005 |
| Barrels of other fish produced in the past year | 480 |
| Barrels of shad produced in the past year | 1 |
| Fathoms of fishing nets | 10,277 |
| Gallons of fish oil produced in the past year | 3,730 |
| Number of fishing boats | 185 |
| Number of fishing vessels | 16 |
| Number of men on fishing boats | 217 |
| Number of men on fishing vessels | 231 |
| Number of shoremen | 2 |
| Quintals of cod produced in the past year | 13,951 |
| Quintals of fascines fish produced in the past year | 9 |
| Quintals of haddock, hake, or pollock produced in the past year | 2,355 |
Other recorded variables (35 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| BBL HERR OR ALE | 1,223 |
| BOAT MEN Q | 217 |
| BOATS FOR FISH | 185 |
| C UNMD F | 577 |
| C UNMD M | 619 |
| C UNMD TOT | 1,196 |
| CD NAME | Shelburne |
| COD DX K | 13,951 |
| D OCC | 370 |
| FASCINE FISH Q | 9 |
| FEMALE | 991 |
| GAL FISH OIL | 3,730 |
| GRA BU | 5 |
| GSP XB Q | 44 |
| H CON | 7 |
| H INHAB | 370 |
| H UNINH | 15 |
| HAD DX K | 2,355 |
| MALE | 1,000 |
| MCK XB Q | 6,005 |
| MD F | 361 |
| MD M | 363 |
| MD TOT | 724 |
| NET XX F | 10,277 |
| NUMBER CD | 13 |
| OTHFISH XB Q | 480 |
| OTHR ROOT BU | 182 |
| SHD XB Q | 1 |
| SHOREMEN XX Q | 2 |
| TUR BU | 442 |
| VESSEL MEN Q | 231 |
| VESSEL XX Q | 16 |
| WID F | 53 |
| WID M | 18 |
| WID TOT | 71 |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
NS013009 — year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file
- Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NS042003 — 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 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). "Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph.
Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/ns/cape-sable-island-ns013009-1881/.