Chatham, Ontario (1891 census)
Chatham was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1891 Census of Canada with a population of 6,150. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q5087616. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.538°N, 82.257°W.
Population
In 1891, Chatham had a population of 6,150: 3,275 male and 2,875 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 6,150 |
| 1901 | 6,049 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1891
In the 1891 census, Chatham shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1891
The 1891 census recorded 88 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 5 categories.
Population & families (1891). This community's record includes 6,150 total population, 3,275 males, 2,875 females, 2,111 married persons, 1,199 families, 1,058 married males, 1,053 married females, 214 widowed persons, 140 widowed females, 74 widowed males, 5.10 average size of families. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T2; V1T3.)
Age structure (1891). This community's record includes 3,825 single persons under 18, 2,143 single males under 18, 1,682 single females under 18. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Ethnic origin (1891). This community's record includes 6,005 persons who are not French Canadian, 145 French Canadians. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Buildings & housing (1891). This community's record includes 1,188 occupied houses, 1,141 houses, 1,092 houses built of wood, 579 houses of 2 stories, 560 houses of 1 story, 480 houses of 6 to 10 rooms, 180 houses of 4 rooms, 156 houses of 3 rooms, 141 houses of 5 rooms, 87 houses of 2 rooms, 68 houses of 11 to 15 rooms, 66 uninhabited houses, 49 houses built of brick, 47 dwellings that are vessels and shanties, 24 houses of 1 room, 7 houses under construction, 5 houses of over 15 rooms, 2 houses of 3 stories. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T2.)
Agriculture (1891). This community's record includes 243,522 pounds of homemade butter, 203,796 bushels of corn, 175,927 bushels of oats, 143,460 bushels of winter wheat, 75,716 acres of land in farms, 72,191 bushels of potatoes, 58,693 acres of improved land in farms, 40,434 acres of farmland under crops, 39,732 bushels of barley, 38,851 bushels of peas, 37,882 bushels of turnips, 37,009 chickens, 34,309 bushels of beans, 18,970 bushels of spring wheat, 17,023 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 16,449 acres of farmland in pasture, 11,642 sheep slaughtered or sold, 11,540 pounds of coarse wool produced on farms, 11,243 tons of hay, 10,548 swine slaughtered or sold, 10,045 acres of wheat, 9,617 swine, 6,970 acres of hay crops, 6,955 bushels of buckwheat, 6,769 acres of oats, 5,042 other cattle, 3,807 milk cows, 3,345 sheep, 3,341 pounds of fine wool produced on farms, 2,713 horses aged over 3 years, 2,583 cattle killed or sold, 2,531 bushels of rye, 2,233 acres of barley, 1,810 acres of farmland in gardens or orchards, 1,318 geese, 1,239 horses aged 3 years and under, 1,198 ducks, 1,095 occupants of farms, 1,058 turkeys, 796 farm occupants who own their land, 790 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 735 acres of potatoes, 690 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 406 persons living on farms between 11 and 50 acres, 346 persons living on farms between 51 and 100 acres, 285 farm occupants who rent their land, 194 other fowl, 191 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 130 persons living on farms between 101 and 200 acres, 125 acres of turnips, 42 oxen, Capacity of silos (tons): 25, 22 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 14 employees on farms. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V2T16; V4T2; V4T3.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 1 person 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 |
|---|---|---|
| William King | 1812–1895 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON047003— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON045003— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q5087616
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatham,_Ontario
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). "Chatham, Ontario (1891 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/chatham-on047003-1891/.