Cavan, Ontario (1851 census)
Cavan was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1851 Census of Canada with a population of 4,438. The administrative centroid was at approximately 44.186°N, 78.467°W.
Population
In 1851, Cavan had a population of 4,438: 2,323 male and 2,115 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 4,438 |
| 1861 | 4,901 |
| 1871 | 4,761 |
| 1881 | 3,479 |
| 1891 | 3,106 |
| 1901 | 2,729 |
| 1911 | 2,499 |
| 1921 | 2,188 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1851
In the 1851 census, Cavan shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1851
The 1851 census recorded 206 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories.
Population & families (1851). This community's record includes 4,438 total population, 2,323 males, 2,115 females, Male members of the family who are present: 2,091, Female members of the family who are present: 1,954, 1,633 single males, 1,304 single females, 714 married females, 639 married males, 636 families, 532 males attending school, 408 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 232, Females present who are not members of the family: 161, 97 widowed females, 96 male births, 79 female births, Male members of the family who are present: 69, Female members of the family who are absent: 65, 51 widowed males, 3 lunatic males, 2 deaf and dumb females, 2 deaf and dumb males, 2 lunatic females, 2 persons at sea, 1 blind males. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T3.)
Age structure (1851). This community's record includes 333 males aged 5 to 10, 310 single males aged 10 to 15, 297 single males aged 15 to 20, 293 single females aged 15 to 20, 271 single females aged 10 to 15, 261 females aged 5 to 10, 249 single males aged 20 to 30, 201 married females aged 20 to 30, 184 married females aged 30 to 40, 161 married males aged 30 to 40, 159 married males aged 20 to 30, 133 married males aged 40 to 50, 127 married females aged 40 to 50, 104 married males aged 50 to 60, 100 single females aged 20 to 30, 95 males under age 1, 78 females aged 4 to 5, 78 females under age 1, 77 females aged 2 to 3, 75 males aged 1 to 2, 74 males aged 3 to 4, 72 males aged 4 to 5, 69 married females aged 50 to 60, 68 females aged 1 to 2, 67 males aged 2 to 3, 63 females age 3 to 4, 55 married males aged 60 to 70, 44 married females aged 15 to 20, 43 married females aged 60 to 70, 38 single males aged 30 to 40, 20 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 19 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 18 married males aged 70 to 80, 18 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 16 single males aged 40 to 50, 16 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 13 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 12 married females aged 70 to 80, 10 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 10 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 9 single females aged 30 to 40, 8 widowed males aged 80 to 90, 7 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 6 married males aged 80 to 90, 6 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 6 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 6 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 5 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 3 married males aged 15 to 20, 3 single females aged 40 to 50, 3 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 2 married females aged 80 to 90, 2 single females aged 70 to 80, 2 single males aged 70 to 80, 1 single females aged 50 to 60, 1 single males aged 50 to 60, 1 single males aged 60 to 70, 1 widowed females aged 90 to 100. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.) The 1851 enumerator also recorded 2 married females aged 10 to 15 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Ethnic origin (1851). This community's record includes 2,509 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 1,362 persons originating in Ireland, 444 persons originating in England or Wales, 69 persons originating in Scotland, 46 persons originating in the United States, 2 male negroes or coloured persons, 1 persons originating in all other places, 1 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 1 persons originating in the East Indies, 1 persons whose origin is unknown. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T3.) The 1851 enumerator also recorded 2 persons originating in Jersey or other British islands — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Agriculture (1851). This community's record includes 108,319 bushels of wheat, 92,309 pounds of homemade butter, 83,612 bushels of oats, 51,021 acres of land in farms, 26,056 acres of farmland under cultivation, 24,965 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 23,522 bushels of turnips, 22,720 pounds of wool produced on farms, 19,427 bushels of potatoes, 17,216 pounds of maple sugar, 16,078 bushels of peas, 14,681 acres of farmland under crops, 11,090 acres of farmland in pasture, 9,576 bushels of buckwheat, 8,628 acres of wheat, 8,162 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 6,070 sheep, 4,025 bushels of carrots, 3,374 swine, 3,069 tons of hay, 2,872 acres of oats, 2,010 barrels of pork, 1,670 bushels of corn, 1,627 calves and heifers, 1,516 milk cows, 1,465 horses, 1,062 acres of peas, 982 bushels of barley, 826 bulls, oxen, or steers, 712 acres of buckwheat, 651 pounds of flax or hemp, 555 barrels of beef, 477 acres of potatoes, 472 occupants of farms, 433 gallons of cider, 285 acres of farmland in gardens or orchards, 265 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 208 pounds of hops, 136 bushels of rye, 111 acres of turnips, 89 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 82 acres of corn, 76 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 76 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 57 bushels of beans, 48 acres of barley, 36 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 17 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 16 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 7 acres of rye, 2 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V2T6.)
Manufacturing & industry (1851). This community's record includes 5,000 pounds of wool produced in carding and fulling mills, 4,352 yards of fulled cloth, $3,800 value capital returned by grist mills (pounds sterling), $2,200 value capital returned by saw mills (pounds sterling), 1,725 yards of flannel, 1,220 yards of cloth produced in carding and fulling mills, 900 woollen factories returning capital, 300 carding and fulling mills returning capital, 275 tanneries returning capital, $190 value annual production or rent from grist mills (pounds sterling), 97 yards of linen, 14 employees in saw mills, 9 saw mills, 8 saw mills powered by water, 8 saw mills returning capital, 5 saw mills not reporting, 4 grist mills, 4 grist mills powered by water, 4 saw mills reporting annual production, 3 tanneries, 2 employees in carding and fulling mills, 2 employees in grist mills, 2 employees in tanneries, 2 tanneries reporting, 2 woollen factories, 2 woollen factories reporting, 1 carding and fulling mills, 1 carding and fulling mills reporting, 1 employees in woollen factories, 1 grist mills not reporting, 1 grist mills reporting annual production, 1 grist mills returning capital, 1 saw mills powered by steam, 1 tanneries not reporting. 680,000 feet of lumber produced per year by saw mills reporting annual production. 4,000 barrels of flour produced per year by grist mills reporting annual production. $200 value cloth produced in woollen factories in the past year (pounds sterling). $110 value leather produced in tanneries in the past year (pounds sterling). (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V2T6; V2T7.)
Deaths & mortality (1851). This community's record includes 33 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 19, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 14, Deaths in the past year among females aged 20 to 30: 4, Deaths in the past year among males aged 70 to 80: 4, Deaths in the past year among males aged 5 to 10: 3, Deaths in the past year among males of unknown age: 3, Deaths in the past year among females aged 40 to 50: 2, Deaths in the past year among females of unknown age: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 15 to 20: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 20 to 30: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 1 to 2: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 15 to 20: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 30 to 40: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 50 to 60: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 60 to 70: 1, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 10 to 15: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 2 to 3: 1, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 1. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 2 people connected to this place who were alive in 1851, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Birdsall | 1799–1852 | died here |
| Robert McLaughlin | 1836–1921 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON006002— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON108002_1881— 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 1851 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). "Cavan, Ontario (1851 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/cavan-on006002-1851/.