Guelph, Town—Ville, Ontario (1881 census)
Guelph, Town—Ville was a town in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 9,890. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q504114. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.547°N, 80.250°W.
Population
In 1881, Guelph, Town—Ville had a population of 9,890: 4,669 male and 5,221 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 6,878 |
| 1881 | 9,890 |
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 contained Guelph, City—Cité, 1891 (21.3% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Guelph, Town—Ville shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 32 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 9,890 total population, 5,221 females, 4,669 males, 3,250 married persons, 1,937 families, 1,629 married females, 1,621 married males, 427 widowed persons, 332 widowed females, 95 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 6,213 single persons under 18, 3,260 single females under 18, 2,953 single males under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 1,883 inhabited houses, 1,883 occupied houses, 97 uninhabited houses, 11 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 49,670 bushels of turnips, 18,312 bushels of potatoes, 10,180 bushels of other root crops, 5,980 bushels of oats, 1,973 bushels of peas and beans, 1,910 bushels of barley, 1,611 bushels of spring wheat, 1,255 bushels of winter wheat, 393 tons of hay, 356 bushels of corn, 250 bushels of rye, 243 acres of hay crops, 154 acres of wheat, 143 acres of potatoes, 12 bushels of buckwheat. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 3 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Gow | 1818–1886 | died here |
| William Johnston | 1848–1885 | died here |
| John McCrae | 1872–1918 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 9,890 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:
ON151003— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON151003— 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, Town—Ville, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/guelph-town-ville-on151003-1881/.