Year: 1881
| Province: Nova Scotia
| County: Lunenburg
Chester, Nova Scotia (1881 census)
Chester was a census subdivision in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 2,974. The administrative centroid was at approximately 44.635°N, 64.320°W.
Population
In 1881, Chester had a population of 2,974: 1,490 male and 1,484 female residents. Population density was 11.6 people per square mile.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|
| 1871 | 2,846 |
| 1881 | 2,974 |
| 1891 | 3,050 |
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, Chester shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 96 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories. Tables below are collapsible.
Population & families (12 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| FAM NO | 540 |
| Number of families | 540 |
| Number of females | 1,484 |
| Number of males | 1,490 |
| Number of married females | 470 |
| Number of married males | 474 |
| Number of married persons | 944 |
| Number of widowed females | 78 |
| Number of widowed males | 25 |
| Number of widowed persons | 103 |
| POP TOT | 2,974 |
| Total population | 2,974 |
Age structure (3 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Number of single females under 18 | 936 |
| Number of single males under 18 | 991 |
| Number of single persons under 18 | 1,927 |
Buildings & housing (5 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Number of dwellings that are temporary shanties | 2 |
| Number of houses under construction | 6 |
| Number of inhabited houses | 469 |
| Number of occupied houses | 471 |
| Number of uninhabited houses | 11 |
Agriculture (27 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Acres of hay crops | 2,373 |
| Acres of potatoes | 343 |
| Acres of wheat | 108 |
| BAR BU | 7,342 |
| Bushels of barley produced in the past year | 7,342 |
| Bushels of buckwheat produced in the past year | 242 |
| Bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed produced in the past year | 1 |
| Bushels of corn produced in the past year | 1 |
| Bushels of oats produced in the past year | 1,458 |
| Bushels of other root crops produced in the past year | 3,585 |
| Bushels of peas and beans produced in the past year | 179 |
| Bushels of potatoes produced in the past year | 26,262 |
| Bushels of rye produced in the past year | 52 |
| Bushels of spring wheat produced in the past year | 733 |
| Bushels of turnips produced in the past year | 4,751 |
| BWT BU | 242 |
| CRN BU | 1 |
| HAY AC | 2,373 |
| HAY TONS | 2,138 |
| OAT BU | 1,458 |
| PEA AND BEN BU | 179 |
| POT AC | 343 |
| POT BU | 26,262 |
| RYE BU | 52 |
| Tons of hay produced in the past year | 2,138 |
| WHT AC | 108 |
| WHT SP BU | 733 |
Fisheries (14 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Barrels of eels produced in the past year | 4 |
| Barrels of gaspareaux produced in the past year | 19 |
| Barrels of herring or alewives produced in the past year | 820 |
| Barrels of mackerel produced in the past year | 2,457 |
| Fathoms of fishing nets | 12,606 |
| Gallons of fish oil produced in the past year | 505 |
| Number of fishing boats | 135 |
| Number of fishing vessels | 1 |
| Number of men on fishing boats | 174 |
| Number of men on fishing vessels | 15 |
| Number of shoremen | 2 |
| Pounds of lobster canned in the past year | 125,000 |
| Quintals of cod produced in the past year | 1,407 |
| Quintals of haddock, hake, or pollock produced in the past year | 1 |
Other recorded variables (35 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| BBL HERR OR ALE | 820 |
| BOAT MEN Q | 174 |
| BOATS FOR FISH | 135 |
| C UNMD F | 936 |
| C UNMD M | 991 |
| C UNMD TOT | 1,927 |
| CD NAME | Lunenburg |
| COD DX K | 1,407 |
| D OCC | 471 |
| EEL XB Q | 4 |
| FEMALE | 1,484 |
| GAL FISH OIL | 505 |
| GRA BU | 1 |
| GSP XB Q | 19 |
| H CON | 6 |
| H INHAB | 469 |
| H UNINH | 11 |
| HAD DX K | 1 |
| LOB XC P | 125,000 |
| MALE | 1,490 |
| MCK XB Q | 2,457 |
| MD F | 470 |
| MD M | 474 |
| MD TOT | 944 |
| NET XX F | 12,606 |
| NUMBER CD | 11 |
| OTHR ROOT BU | 3,585 |
| SHAN | 2 |
| SHOREMEN XX Q | 2 |
| TUR BU | 4,751 |
| VESSEL MEN Q | 15 |
| VESSEL XX Q | 1 |
| WID F | 78 |
| WID M | 25 |
| WID TOT | 103 |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
NS011006 — year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file
- Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NS038004 — 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). "Chester, Nova Scotia (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph.
Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/ns/chester-ns011006-1881/.