Dorchester, Ontario (1851 census)

Dorchester was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1851 Census of Canada with a population of 1,477. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.861°N, 80.984°W.

Population

In 1851, Dorchester had a population of 1,477: 767 male and 710 female residents.

Population trajectory across census years

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, Dorchester shared boundaries with:

• Dereham
• Dorchester, North
• Malahide
• Westminster
• Yarmouth

Full census record, 1851

The 1851 census recorded 146 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories.

Population & families (1851). This community's record includes 1,477 total population, 767 males, Male members of the family who are present: 718, 710 females, Female members of the family who are present: 661, 521 single males, 461 single females, 238 families, 236 married males, 233 married females, 154 males attending school, 134 females attending school, Females present who are not members of the family: 49, Males present who are not members of the family: 49, 32 male births, 20 female births, 16 widowed females, Male members of the family who are present: 15, 10 widowed males, 4 lunatic females, 3 lunatic males, Female members of the family who are absent: 2, 1 persons at sea. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T3.)

Age structure (1851). This community's record includes 120 males aged 5 to 10, 119 females aged 5 to 10, 110 married females aged 20 to 30, 91 single females aged 10 to 15, 84 married males aged 30 to 40, 83 single males aged 10 to 15, 72 single males aged 15 to 20, 72 single males aged 20 to 30, 66 married males aged 20 to 30, 65 single females aged 15 to 20, 50 married females aged 30 to 40, 46 females aged 1 to 2, 46 married males aged 40 to 50, 40 males aged 2 to 3, 35 males aged 1 to 2, 35 married females aged 40 to 50, 33 females age 3 to 4, 32 females aged 4 to 5, 32 males under age 1, 28 married males aged 50 to 60, 25 males aged 3 to 4, 22 married females aged 50 to 60, 22 single females aged 20 to 30, 21 males aged 4 to 5, 20 females aged 2 to 3, 19 females under age 1, 13 married males aged 60 to 70, 13 single males aged 30 to 40, 9 married females aged 15 to 20, 7 married females aged 60 to 70, 7 single males aged 40 to 50, 6 single females aged 30 to 40, 5 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 4 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 4 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 3 single females aged 40 to 50, 3 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 3 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 2 married males aged 70 to 80, 2 single females aged 50 to 60, 2 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 2 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 2 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 1 single females aged 60 to 70, 1 single males aged 50 to 60, 1 widowed females aged 20 to 30. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)

Ethnic origin (1851). This community's record includes 1,101 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 141 persons originating in Scotland, 91 persons originating in the United States, 76 persons originating in Ireland, 51 persons originating in England or Wales, 10 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 6 persons originating in New Brunswick. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T1.)

Agriculture (1851). This community's record includes 40,171 bushels of wheat, 39,285 pounds of homemade butter, 27,661 pounds of maple sugar, 19,441 acres of land in farms, 19,034 bushels of oats, 11,840 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 10,020 bushels of peas, 7,601 acres of farmland under cultivation, 6,651 pounds of wool produced on farms, 5,646 acres of farmland under crops, 3,209 bushels of potatoes, 2,439 sheep, 2,415 acres of wheat, 2,290 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 1,919 acres of farmland in pasture, 1,508 tons of hay, 1,354 swine, 1,262 bushels of corn, 786 bushels of turnips, 639 milk cows, 618 barrels of pork, 601 acres of oats, 549 acres of peas, 502 bulls, oxen, or steers, 455 calves and heifers, 369 horses, 227 occupants of farms, 210 bushels of barley, 180 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 170 bushels of rye, 129 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 118 pounds of flax or hemp, 101 bushels of buckwheat, 66 barrels of beef, 60 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 46 bushels of beans, 43 acres of potatoes, 40 acres of corn, 36 acres of farmland in gardens or orchards, 24 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 16 acres of rye, 11 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 8 acres of barley, 7 acres of turnips, 6 acres of buckwheat, 3 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V2T6.)

Manufacturing & industry (1851). This community's record includes 3,899 yards of flannel, 1,392 yards of fulled cloth, $125 value capital returned by saw mills (pounds sterling), $60 value annual production or rent from saw mills (pounds sterling), 2 employees in grist mills, 1 employees in saw mills, 1 grist mills, 1 grist mills not reporting, 1 grist mills powered by water, 1 saw mills, 1 saw mills powered by water, 1 saw mills reporting value of annual production or rent, 1 saw mills returning capital. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V2T6; V2T7.)

Deaths & mortality (1851). This community's record includes 8 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 6, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 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 40 to 50: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 70 to 80: 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 under age 1: 1. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)

Identifiers

• TCP UID: ON007004 — year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file
• Persistent place ID: PLACE_ON070003 — 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). "Dorchester, Ontario (1851 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/dorchester-on007004-1851/.