Year: 1881
| Province: Nova Scotia
| County: Guysborough
Melford, Nova Scotia (1881 census)
Melford was a census subdivision in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 1,700. The administrative centroid was at approximately 45.539°N, 61.372°W.
Population
In 1881, Melford had a population of 1,700: 871 male and 829 female residents. Population density was 20.2 people per square mile.
Population trajectory across census years
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, Melford shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 86 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories. Tables below are collapsible.
Population & families (12 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| FAM NO | 291 |
| Number of families | 291 |
| Number of females | 829 |
| Number of males | 871 |
| Number of married females | 243 |
| Number of married males | 245 |
| Number of married persons | 488 |
| Number of widowed females | 52 |
| Number of widowed males | 17 |
| Number of widowed persons | 69 |
| POP TOT | 1,700 |
| Total population | 1,700 |
Age structure (3 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Number of single females under 18 | 534 |
| Number of single males under 18 | 609 |
| Number of single persons under 18 | 1,143 |
Buildings & housing (3 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Number of inhabited houses | 290 |
| Number of occupied houses | 290 |
| Number of uninhabited houses | 11 |
Agriculture (22 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Acres of hay crops | 1,171 |
| Acres of potatoes | 195 |
| Acres of wheat | 3 |
| BAR BU | 139 |
| Bushels of barley produced in the past year | 139 |
| Bushels of buckwheat produced in the past year | 62 |
| Bushels of oats produced in the past year | 1,519 |
| Bushels of other root crops produced in the past year | 66 |
| Bushels of peas and beans produced in the past year | 21 |
| Bushels of potatoes produced in the past year | 15,630 |
| Bushels of spring wheat produced in the past year | 68 |
| Bushels of turnips produced in the past year | 1,078 |
| BWT BU | 62 |
| HAY AC | 1,171 |
| HAY TONS | 1,307 |
| OAT BU | 1,519 |
| PEA AND BEN BU | 21 |
| POT AC | 195 |
| POT BU | 15,630 |
| Tons of hay produced in the past year | 1,307 |
| WHT AC | 3 |
| WHT SP BU | 68 |
Fisheries (14 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| Barrels of eels produced in the past year | 1 |
| Barrels of gaspareaux produced in the past year | 154 |
| Barrels of herring or alewives produced in the past year | 3,359 |
| Barrels of mackerel produced in the past year | 2,794 |
| Barrels of salmon produced in the past year | 3 |
| Fathoms of fishing nets | 25,426 |
| Gallons of fish oil produced in the past year | 319 |
| Number of fishing boats | 169 |
| Number of fishing vessels | 7 |
| Number of men on fishing boats | 218 |
| Number of men on fishing vessels | 56 |
| Number of shoremen | 8 |
| Quintals of cod produced in the past year | 373 |
| Quintals of haddock, hake, or pollock produced in the past year | 325 |
Other recorded variables (32 variables)
| Variable | Value |
|---|
| BBL HERR OR ALE | 3,359 |
| BOAT MEN Q | 218 |
| BOATS FOR FISH | 169 |
| C UNMD F | 534 |
| C UNMD M | 609 |
| C UNMD TOT | 1,143 |
| CD NAME | Guysborough |
| COD DX K | 373 |
| D OCC | 290 |
| EEL XB Q | 1 |
| FEMALE | 829 |
| GAL FISH OIL | 319 |
| GSP XB Q | 154 |
| H INHAB | 290 |
| H UNINH | 11 |
| HAD DX K | 325 |
| MALE | 871 |
| MCK XB Q | 2,794 |
| MD F | 243 |
| MD M | 245 |
| MD TOT | 488 |
| NET XX F | 25,426 |
| NUMBER CD | 8 |
| OTHR ROOT BU | 66 |
| SHOREMEN XX Q | 8 |
| SLM XB Q | 3 |
| TUR BU | 1,078 |
| VESSEL MEN Q | 56 |
| VESSEL XX Q | 7 |
| WID F | 52 |
| WID M | 17 |
| WID TOT | 69 |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
NS008014 — year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file
- Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NS010022_1871 — 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). "Melford, Nova Scotia (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph.
Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/ns/melford-ns008014-1881/.