Guelph, Ontario (1881 census)
Guelph was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 2,793. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q504114. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.559°N, 80.285°W.
Population
In 1881, Guelph had a population of 2,793: 1,437 male and 1,356 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 2,879 |
| 1861 | 3,088 |
| 1871 | 2,955 |
| 1881 | 2,793 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Boundary continuity (non-identical overlaps)
Spatial polygon overlaps with adjacent census years where the boundary shifted enough that the SAME_AS chain didn't merge them. These show where the territory came from and went to even when it isn't tracked as the same persistent place.
Later boundary forms
- In a later year, this CSD became part of Guelph, 1891 (94.6% share).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Guelph shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 33 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 2,793 total population, 1,437 males, 1,356 females, 779 married persons, 459 families, 390 married males, 389 married females, 117 widowed persons, 63 widowed females, 54 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 1,897 single persons under 18, 993 single males under 18, 904 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 459 inhabited houses, 459 occupied houses, 52 uninhabited houses, 1 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 651,720 bushels of turnips, 134,160 bushels of oats, 55,345 bushels of barley, 41,648 bushels of peas and beans, 38,576 bushels of winter wheat, 37,002 bushels of potatoes, 32,320 bushels of other root crops, 17,560 bushels of spring wheat, 7,969 tons of hay, 5,213 acres of hay crops, 3,855 acres of wheat, 2,810 bushels of rye, 406 acres of potatoes, 240 bushels of corn, 141 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 46 bushels of buckwheat. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 2,794 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:
ON151002— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON151002— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q504114
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guelph
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guelph
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). "Guelph, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/guelph-on151002-1881/.