Grimsby, Ontario (1861 census)
Grimsby was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 3,005. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q424901. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.149°N, 79.588°W.
Population
In 1861, Grimsby had a population of 3,005: 1,534 male and 1,471 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 2,448 |
| 1861 | 3,005 |
| 1871 | 3,123 |
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, Grimsby shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1861
The 1861 census recorded 177 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 7 categories.
Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 3,005 total population, 1,534 males, 1,471 females, Male members of the family who are present: 1,415, Female members of the family who are present: 1,372, 994 single males, 918 single females, 513 married males, 493 married females, 332 males attending school, 292 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 119, Females present who are not members of the family: 99, 60 widowed females, 47 male births, 44 female births, 28 adult males unable to read or write, 27 widowed males, 9 adult females unable to read or write, 3 blind males, 2 lunatic males, 1 blind females, 1 persons at sea. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 189 single males aged 10 to 15, 187 single males aged 20 to 30, 184 single females aged 15 to 20, 180 single females aged 10 to 15, 166 females aged 5 to 10, 152 males aged 5 to 10, 149 married males aged 30 to 40, 148 single males aged 15 to 20, 146 married females aged 20 to 30, 136 married females aged 30 to 40, 120 married males aged 40 to 50, 110 single females aged 20 to 30, 105 married females aged 40 to 50, 93 married males aged 20 to 30, 70 married males aged 50 to 60, 67 married females aged 50 to 60, 59 married males aged 60 to 70, 58 males aged 2 to 3, 50 females aged 4 to 5, 48 males aged 1 to 2, 47 females aged 1 to 2, 45 males aged 3 to 4, 43 females aged 2 to 3, 42 males aged 4 to 5, 39 females age 3 to 4, 30 single females aged 30 to 40, 30 single males aged 30 to 40, 21 married females aged 60 to 70, 19 married males aged 70 to 80, 18 single males aged 40 to 50, 15 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 14 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 12 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 10 married females aged 70 to 80, 9 males of unknown age, 9 single females aged 40 to 50, 9 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 8 single males aged 50 to 60, 8 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 8 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 7 single males aged 60 to 70, 6 females of unknown age, 5 married females aged 15 to 20, 5 single females aged 50 to 60, 5 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 4 single males aged 70 to 80, 4 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 3 married females aged 80 to 90, 3 single females aged 70 to 80, 3 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 3 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 2 married males aged 15 to 20, 2 single females aged 60 to 70, 2 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 2 widowed males aged 90 to 100, 1 married males aged 80 to 90, 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 2,294 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 199 persons originating in Ireland, 196 persons originating in the United States, 186 persons originating in England or Wales, 81 persons originating in Scotland, 32 negroes or coloured persons, 27 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 22 male negroes or coloured persons, 11 persons originating in New Brunswick, 10 female negroes or coloured persons, 5 French Canadians, 2 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 2 persons whose origin is unknown, 1 persons originating in Sweden or Norway. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $1,305,820 value farms (dollars), $135,712 value all livestock, 75,772 bushels of oats, 66,799 pounds of homemade butter, $65,702 value horses aged over 3 years, $43,939 value farm implements in dollars, 33,685 acres of land in farms, 32,638 bushels of spring wheat, 26,378 bushels of corn, 24,881 bushels of barley, 23,280 bushels of peas, 22,814 bushels of potatoes, 22,212 gallons of cider, 18,768 acres of farmland under cultivation, 14,917 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 13,362 acres of farmland under crops, 11,843 pounds of wool produced on farms, 11,462 pounds of maple sugar, 9,573 bushels of buckwheat, 7,956 bushels of winter wheat, $7,893 value garden and orchard crops, 6,289 bushels of carrots, 6,043 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 5,023 acres of farmland in pasture, 4,332 bushels of turnips, 3,951 sheep, 2,991 tons of hay, 2,803 acres of spring wheat, 2,343 swine, 2,108 acres of oats, 2,076 bushels of rye, 1,304 acres of peas, 1,170 milk cows, 1,063 calves and heifers, 970 acres of barley, 889 acres of winter wheat, 878 horses aged over 3 years, 655 acres of corn, 630 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 609 barrels of pork, 482 acres of buckwheat, 383 acres of farmland in gardens, 376 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 317 occupants of farms, 258 pounds of flax or hemp, 230 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 230 acres of potatoes, 211 acres of rye, 207 horses aged 3 years and under, 183 bushels of beans, 133 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 131 barrels of beef, 106 bulls, oxen, or steers, 68 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 62 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 33 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 27 pounds of hops, 14 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 12 acres of turnips, 7 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes $17,779 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 2,699 yards of flannel, 725 yards of fulled cloth, 274 carriages for pleasure. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Fisheries (1861). This community's record includes 200 pounds of fresh fish sold, 1 barrels of salted fish sold. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 21 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 13, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 8, Deaths in the past year among males aged 60 to 70: 3, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 3, Deaths in the past year among females aged 20 to 30: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 30 to 40: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 50 to 60: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 1 to 2: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 3 to 4: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 5 to 10: 1, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 20 to 30: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 5 to 10: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded Deaths in the past year among males aged 90 to 100: 1 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 4 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Ward Eastman | 1778–1865 | died here |
| Abram Nelles | 1805–1884 | born here |
| Dennis Moore | 1817–1887 | born here |
| James A. Fahey | 1849–1888 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON085005— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON021006— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q424901
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimsby,_Ontario
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimsby_(Canada)
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). "Grimsby, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/grimsby-on085005-1861/.