Dereham, Ontario (1881 census)
Dereham was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,486. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115261273. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.928°N, 80.813°W.
Population
In 1881, Dereham had a population of 4,486: 2,322 male and 2,164 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 1881
In the 1881 census, Dereham shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 34 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 4,486 total population, 2,322 males, 2,164 females, 1,568 married persons, 858 families, 785 married males, 783 married females, 136 widowed persons, 93 widowed females, 43 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,782 single persons under 18, 1,494 single males under 18, 1,288 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 858 occupied houses, 855 inhabited houses, 31 uninhabited houses, 7 houses under construction, 3 dwellings that are temporary shanties. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 212,301 bushels of oats, 96,101 bushels of winter wheat, 73,543 bushels of corn, 62,785 bushels of other root crops, 32,865 bushels of turnips, 32,829 bushels of potatoes, 28,267 bushels of barley, 23,116 bushels of peas and beans, 10,967 tons of hay, 7,368 acres of hay crops, 5,943 acres of wheat, 1,104 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 998 bushels of spring wheat, 904 bushels of buckwheat, 516 bushels of rye, 358 acres of potatoes. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
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 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph Van Norman | 1796–1888 | died here |
| Edwin Delevan Tillson | 1825–1902 | died here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,486 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:
ON165001— 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 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). "Dereham, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/dereham-on165001-1881/.