Ancaster, Ontario (1881 census)
Ancaster was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,726. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q488909. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.204°N, 80.027°W.
Population
In 1881, Ancaster had a population of 4,726: 2,401 male and 2,325 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 4,653 |
| 1861 | 5,043 |
| 1871 | 5,005 |
| 1881 | 4,726 |
| 1891 | 4,098 |
| 1901 | 3,863 |
| 1911 | 4,136 |
| 1921 | 5,586 |
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, Ancaster 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 4,726 total population, 2,401 males, 2,325 females, 1,604 married persons, 910 families, 806 married males, 798 married females, 170 widowed persons, 121 widowed females, 49 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,952 single persons under 18, 1,546 single males under 18, 1,406 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 894 inhabited houses, 894 occupied houses, 47 uninhabited houses, 2 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 180,908 bushels of oats, 168,721 bushels of turnips, 117,124 bushels of winter wheat, 105,415 bushels of potatoes, 52,232 bushels of barley, 48,990 bushels of corn, 32,506 bushels of other root crops, 10,372 bushels of peas and beans, 8,648 tons of hay, 6,444 acres of wheat, 6,345 acres of hay crops, 3,322 bushels of buckwheat, 2,288 bushels of spring wheat, 1,558 bushels of rye, 998 acres of potatoes, 819 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
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 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Lawrason | 1803–1882 | born here |
| Edward Marion Chadwick | 1840–1921 | born here |
| W. F. (William Findlay) Maclean | 1854–1929 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,726 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:
ON147005— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON153001— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q488909
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancaster,_Ontario
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). "Ancaster, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/ancaster-on147005-1881/.