Sydney, Town—Ville, Nova Scotia (1891 census)
Sydney, Town—Ville was a town in Nova Scotia, recorded in the 1891 Census of Canada with a population of 2,427. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q932261. The administrative centroid was at approximately 46.135°N, 60.181°W.
Population
In 1891, Sydney, Town—Ville had a population of 2,427: 1,197 male and 1,230 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 2,900 |
| 1881 | 3,667 |
| 1891 | 2,427 |
| 1901 | 9,909 |
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.
Earlier boundary forms
- In an earlier year, this CSD was contained in Sydney, Town—Ville, 1881 (12.7% share).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1891
In the 1891 census, Sydney, Town—Ville shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1891
The 1891 census recorded 81 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 5 categories.
Population & families (1891). This community's record includes 2,427 total population, 1,230 females, 1,197 males, 615 married persons, 426 families, 308 married males, 307 married females, 120 widowed persons, 96 widowed females, 24 widowed males, 5.70 average size of families. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T2; V1T3.)
Age structure (1891). This community's record includes 1,692 single persons under 18, 865 single males under 18, 827 single females under 18. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Ethnic origin (1891). This community's record includes 2,403 persons who are not French Canadian, 24 French Canadians. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Buildings & housing (1891). This community's record includes 424 occupied houses, 412 houses, 412 houses built of wood, 234 houses of 1 story, 187 houses of 6 to 10 rooms, 159 houses of 2 stories, 75 houses of 4 rooms, 51 houses of 11 to 15 rooms, 48 houses of 5 rooms, 27 houses of 3 rooms, 20 uninhabited houses, 19 houses of 3 stories, 13 houses of over 15 rooms, 12 dwellings that are vessels and shanties, 11 houses of 2 rooms, 11 houses under construction. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T2.)
Agriculture (1891). This community's record includes 33,443 pounds of homemade butter, 14,006 bushels of potatoes, 9,200 acres of land in farms, 6,289 chickens, 5,922 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 3,278 acres of improved land in farms, 2,871 bushels of turnips, 1,905 acres of farmland under crops, 1,625 bushels of oats, 1,550 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 1,336 acres of farmland in pasture, 1,129 tons of hay, 1,036 pounds of fine wool produced on farms, 559 acres of hay crops, 519 ducks, 371 occupants of farms, 288 farm occupants who own their land, 275 milk cows, 274 bushels of barley, 271 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 256 sheep, 240 horses aged over 3 years, 239 turkeys, 232 geese, 211 other fowl, 153 acres of potatoes, 132 bushels of beans, 117 bushels of peas, 89 sheep slaughtered or sold, 84 other cattle, 78 farm occupants who rent their land, 70 bushels of buckwheat, 67 swine, 61 acres of oats, 52 pounds of coarse wool produced on farms, 48 persons living on farms between 11 and 50 acres, 44 acres of turnips, 40 swine slaughtered or sold, 37 acres of farmland in gardens or orchards, 35 bushels of corn, 35 cattle killed or sold, 34 persons living on farms between 51 and 100 acres, 17 horses aged 3 years and under, 15 acres of barley, 13 persons living on farms between 101 and 200 acres, 8 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 5 employees on farms, 5 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 4 oxen. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V2T16; V4T2; V4T3.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 3 people connected to this place who were alive in 1891, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| James Innes | 1833–1903 | died here |
| Sir John George Bourinot | 1836–1902 | born here |
| Archibald Russell | 1874–1901 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
NS028021— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NS028026— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q932261
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney,_Nova_Scotia
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_(Nouvelle-%C3%89cosse)
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1891 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). "Sydney, Town—Ville, Nova Scotia (1891 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/ns/sydney-town-ville-ns028021-1891/.