Dereham, Ontario (1861 census)
Dereham was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 5,476. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115261273. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.927°N, 80.812°W.
Population
In 1861, Dereham had a population of 5,476: 2,850 male and 2,626 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 3,644 |
| 1861 | 5,476 |
| 1871 | 5,838 |
| 1881 | 4,486 |
| 1891 | 4,025 |
| 1901 | 3,979 |
| 1911 | 3,836 |
| 1921 | 3,552 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1861
In the 1861 census, Dereham shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1861
The 1861 census recorded 178 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories.
Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 5,476 total population, 2,850 males, 2,626 females, Male members of the family who are present: 2,584, Female members of the family who are present: 2,445, 1,934 single males, 1,732 single females, 875 married males, 827 married females, 512 females attending school, 497 males attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 266, Females present who are not members of the family: 181, 102 male births, 90 female births, 67 widowed females, 41 widowed males, 28 adult males unable to read or write, 26 adult females unable to read or write, 4 lunatic males, 2 persons at sea, 1 blind females, 1 blind males, 1 deaf and dumb males. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 353 single males aged 10 to 15, 324 females aged 5 to 10, 324 single females aged 10 to 15, 317 single males aged 20 to 30, 308 males aged 5 to 10, 285 single females aged 15 to 20, 283 married females aged 20 to 30, 277 single males aged 15 to 20, 275 married males aged 30 to 40, 234 married females aged 30 to 40, 197 married males aged 40 to 50, 190 single females aged 20 to 30, 186 married males aged 20 to 30, 156 married females aged 40 to 50, 139 females aged 1 to 2, 120 married males aged 50 to 60, 117 males aged 1 to 2, 111 males aged 3 to 4, 101 females aged 2 to 3, 100 females age 3 to 4, 98 males aged 2 to 3, 95 single males aged 30 to 40, 85 males aged 4 to 5, 84 married females aged 50 to 60, 76 females aged 4 to 5, 71 married males aged 60 to 70, 46 single females aged 30 to 40, 43 married females aged 60 to 70, 30 single females aged 40 to 50, 28 single males aged 40 to 50, 22 married males aged 70 to 80, 22 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 19 males of unknown age, 14 single males aged 50 to 60, 13 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 12 married females aged 70 to 80, 12 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 12 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 11 married females aged 15 to 20, 11 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 10 single females aged 50 to 60, 10 single females aged 60 to 70, 8 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 8 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 8 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 7 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 5 single males aged 60 to 70, 5 single males aged 70 to 80, 5 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 3 females of unknown age, 3 married females aged 80 to 90, 3 married males aged 80 to 90, 2 single females aged 70 to 80, 2 single females aged 80 to 90, 1 married females aged 90 to 100, 1 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 1 widowed males aged 80 to 90. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 1 married males over 100 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 3,613 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 712 persons originating in England or Wales, 457 persons originating in the United States, 417 persons originating in Ireland, 181 persons originating in Scotland, 53 persons originating in New Brunswick, 23 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 10 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 1 persons originating in France, 1 persons originating in Sweden or Norway, 1 persons originating in the West Indies. 5 persons originating in Guernsey, Jersey, or other British islands. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $1,639,595 value farms (dollars), $224,141 value all livestock, 194,700 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 190,375 bushels of turnips, 129,802 pounds of homemade butter, 124,812 bushels of oats, 96,033 bushels of peas, $92,473 value horses aged over 3 years, 91,334 bushels of spring wheat, 80,248 pounds of maple sugar, $61,916 value farm implements in dollars, 56,151 bushels of potatoes, 55,082 acres of land in farms, 33,806 bushels of winter wheat, 28,817 acres of farmland under cultivation, 26,265 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 19,431 acres of farmland under crops, 19,052 pounds of wool produced on farms, 17,496 bushels of barley, 15,003 bushels of carrots, 12,714 bushels of corn, 9,060 acres of farmland in pasture, 6,005 sheep, 5,301 tons of hay, 5,122 bushels of mangel wurtzel, $4,796 value garden and orchard crops, 4,490 acres of spring wheat, 3,922 swine, 3,449 acres of peas, 3,193 acres of oats, 2,585 milk cows, 2,476 calves and heifers, 2,278 barrels of pork, 2,218 acres of winter wheat, 2,140 bushels of buckwheat, 1,287 horses aged over 3 years, 1,022 gallons of cider, 568 acres of barley, 553 bushels of beans, 546 occupants of farms, 520 pounds of flax or hemp, 466 bushels of rye, 449 horses aged 3 years and under, 446 acres of corn, 446 acres of turnips, 439 acres of potatoes, 384 barrels of beef, 326 acres of farmland in gardens, 268 bulls, oxen, or steers, 244 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 182 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 166 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 122 acres of buckwheat, 87 pounds of hops, 86 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 21 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 19 acres of rye, 19 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 9 acres of mangel wurtzel, 8 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 5 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes $13,740 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 9,677 yards of flannel, 2,940 yards of fulled cloth, $550 value carriages for hire (dollars), 211 carriages for pleasure, 10 carriages for hire. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 25 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 16, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 9, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 7, Deaths in the past year among females aged 1 to 2: 2, Deaths in the past year among females of unknown age: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 1 to 2: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 70 to 80: 2, Deaths in the past year among males of unknown age: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 2 to 3: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 4 to 5: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 40 to 50: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 50 to 60: 1, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 15 to 20: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 50 to 60: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
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 1861, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| George Tillson | 1782–1864 | died here |
| Joseph Van Norman | 1796–1888 | died here |
| Edwin Delevan Tillson | 1825–1902 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON090003— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON134003_1891— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115261273
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1861 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). "Dereham, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/dereham-on090003-1861/.