Essa, Ontario (1861 census)
Essa was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 2,904. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115261414. The administrative centroid was at approximately 44.257°N, 79.812°W.
Population
In 1861, Essa had a population of 2,904: 2,025 male and 1,832 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 1,507 |
| 1861 | 2,904 |
| 1871 | 4,221 |
| 1881 | 4,666 |
| 1891 | 3,592 |
| 1901 | 3,438 |
| 1911 | 3,084 |
| 1921 | 2,910 |
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, Essa shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1861
The 1861 census recorded 167 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories.
Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 2,904 total population, 2,025 males, Male members of the family who are present: 1,941, 1,832 females, Female members of the family who are present: 1,779, 1,486 single males, 1,243 single females, 558 married females, 517 married males, 155 males attending school, 137 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 84, 77 male births, 71 female births, Females present who are not members of the family: 53, 31 widowed females, 30 adult females unable to read or write, 23 adult males unable to read or write, 22 widowed males, 3 persons at sea, 2 deaf and dumb females, 2 deaf and dumb males, 2 lunatic males. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 284 males aged 5 to 10, 279 females aged 5 to 10, 278 single males aged 10 to 15, 269 single females aged 10 to 15, 259 single males aged 15 to 20, 241 single males aged 20 to 30, 225 single females aged 15 to 20, 168 married females aged 30 to 40, 164 married females aged 20 to 30, 156 married males aged 30 to 40, 116 married females aged 40 to 50, 116 married males aged 20 to 30, 113 single females aged 20 to 30, 111 married males aged 40 to 50, 99 married males aged 50 to 60, 70 males aged 2 to 3, 69 males aged 1 to 2, 69 males aged 3 to 4, 68 females aged 2 to 3, 65 females aged 1 to 2, 61 males aged 4 to 5, 58 married females aged 50 to 60, 57 females aged 4 to 5, 53 females age 3 to 4, 50 single males aged 30 to 40, 29 married females aged 60 to 70, 25 married males aged 60 to 70, 25 single females aged 30 to 40, 15 single males aged 40 to 50, 11 married females aged 70 to 80, 10 single females aged 40 to 50, 8 married males aged 70 to 80, 8 single males aged 50 to 60, 7 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 6 single females aged 50 to 60, 6 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 5 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 5 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 5 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 4 married females aged 15 to 20, 4 single males aged 60 to 70, 4 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 4 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 4 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 4 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 3 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 3 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 2 married females aged 80 to 90, 2 single females aged 60 to 70, 1 married females aged 90 to 100, 1 married males aged 80 to 90, 1 married males aged 90 to 100, 1 single males aged 70 to 80, 1 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 1 widowed males aged 80 to 90. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 1,761 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 848 persons originating in Ireland, 124 persons originating in England or Wales, 96 persons originating in Scotland, 58 persons originating in the United States, 10 French Canadians, 9 Indigenous males, 5 Indigenous females, 2 negroes or coloured persons, 2 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 1 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 1 persons originating in Spain or Portugal. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $715,840 value farms (dollars), $116,370 value all livestock, 86,946 bushels of spring wheat, 83,830 bushels of turnips, 64,447 bushels of oats, 59,537 pounds of homemade butter, $58,270 value horses aged over 3 years, 57,370 bushels of winter wheat, 50,930 bushels of potatoes, $42,008 value farm implements in dollars, 39,188 acres of land in farms, 34,679 bushels of peas, 20,430 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 18,758 acres of farmland under cultivation, 15,669 pounds of maple sugar, 14,462 acres of farmland under crops, 7,573 pounds of wool produced on farms, 4,492 acres of spring wheat, 4,197 acres of farmland in pasture, 3,992 swine, 2,521 sheep, 2,046 acres of winter wheat, 1,940 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 1,933 acres of oats, 1,605 tons of hay, 1,468 acres of peas, 1,411 barrels of pork, $1,217 value garden and orchard crops, 1,191 calves and heifers, 1,092 bushels of barley, 966 milk cows, 768 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 705 horses aged over 3 years, 565 bushels of carrots, 377 acres of potatoes, 353 occupants of farms, 336 bulls, oxen, or steers, 275 acres of turnips, 251 horses aged 3 years and under, 212 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 172 barrels of beef, 100 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 99 acres of farmland in gardens, 53 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 53 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 39 acres of barley, 36 pounds of hops, 21 bushels of buckwheat, 14 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 12 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 9 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres, 6 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 3 acres of buckwheat, 1 acres of mangel wurtzel. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes 6,308 yards of flannel, $3,847 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 1,241 yards of fulled cloth, 66 carriages for pleasure. (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: 14, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 11, Deaths in the past year among males of unknown age: 6, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 4, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 4, Deaths in the past year among females aged 10 to 15: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 1 to 2: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 2 to 3: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 20 to 30: 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 60 to 70: 1, Deaths in the past year among males age 3 to 4: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 2 to 3: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 40 to 50: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 60 to 70: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 70 to 80: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON098005— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON144002— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115261414
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). "Essa, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/essa-on098005-1861/.