Harwich, Ontario (1861 census)
Harwich was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 4,556. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.373°N, 82.015°W.
Population
In 1861, Harwich had a population of 4,556: 2,376 male and 2,180 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 2,627 |
| 1861 | 4,556 |
| 1871 | 5,974 |
| 1881 | 6,410 |
| 1891 | 6,017 |
| 1901 | 5,494 |
| 1921 | 4,952 |
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, Harwich shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1861
The 1861 census recorded 182 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 7 categories.
Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 4,556 total population, 2,376 males, 2,180 females, Male members of the family who are present: 2,167, Female members of the family who are present: 2,000, 1,586 single males, 1,407 single females, 754 married males, 703 married females, 476 males attending school, 432 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 209, Females present who are not members of the family: 180, 80 female births, 78 male births, 70 widowed females, 42 adult males unable to read or write, 38 adult females unable to read or write, 36 widowed males, 2 blind females, 2 lunatic females, 1 lunatic males. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 315 males aged 5 to 10, 298 single males aged 10 to 15, 294 females aged 5 to 10, 287 single females aged 10 to 15, 270 single females aged 15 to 20, 262 single males aged 15 to 20, 256 single males aged 20 to 30, 232 married males aged 30 to 40, 214 married males aged 40 to 50, 213 married females aged 30 to 40, 191 married females aged 20 to 30, 162 single females aged 20 to 30, 146 married females aged 40 to 50, 121 married males aged 50 to 60, 116 married males aged 20 to 30, 90 married females aged 50 to 60, 80 males aged 1 to 2, 79 females aged 1 to 2, 77 males aged 2 to 3, 72 males aged 4 to 5, 71 females aged 4 to 5, 70 females age 3 to 4, 70 females aged 2 to 3, 70 males aged 3 to 4, 60 married males aged 60 to 70, 46 married females aged 60 to 70, 36 single males aged 30 to 40, 22 single males aged 40 to 50, 16 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 14 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 12 single females aged 30 to 40, 11 married females aged 15 to 20, 11 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 10 married males aged 70 to 80, 10 single males aged 50 to 60, 10 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 9 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 8 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 8 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 6 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 5 married females aged 70 to 80, 5 single females aged 40 to 50, 5 single males aged 60 to 70, 5 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 5 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 5 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 5 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 4 single males aged 70 to 80, 4 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 3 single females aged 50 to 60, 2 single females aged 60 to 70, 2 single females aged 70 to 80, 1 married females aged 80 to 90, 1 single males aged 80 to 90, 1 widowed females aged 90 to 100. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 1 married males over 100 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 3,040 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 512 persons originating in the United States, 508 negroes or coloured persons, 326 persons originating in Scotland, 278 persons originating in England or Wales, 253 persons originating in Ireland, 250 male negroes or coloured persons, 196 female negroes or coloured persons, 72 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 46 persons whose origin is unknown, 14 persons originating in New Brunswick, 7 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 3 persons originating in France, 2 French Canadians, 1 persons originating in all other places, 1 persons originating in Switzerland, 1 persons originating in the West Indies. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $963,592 value farms (dollars), $175,139 value all livestock, 99,554 pounds of homemade butter, 79,774 bushels of oats, $67,514 value horses aged over 3 years, 67,229 bushels of corn, 63,752 bushels of potatoes, 50,328 acres of land in farms, 48,073 bushels of peas, $46,344 value farm implements in dollars, 37,316 bushels of winter wheat, 28,627 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 25,781 pounds of maple sugar, 24,938 bushels of turnips, 21,701 acres of farmland under cultivation, 17,779 bushels of spring wheat, 17,518 pounds of wool produced on farms, 13,881 acres of farmland under crops, 11,555 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 9,828 gallons of cider, 8,513 bushels of barley, 7,214 acres of farmland in pasture, 5,956 swine, 5,761 bushels of buckwheat, 5,593 sheep, 4,686 bushels of beans, $4,360 value garden and orchard crops, 3,944 tons of hay, 3,866 bushels of carrots, 3,064 bushels of rye, 2,333 calves and heifers, 2,096 acres of oats, 2,063 acres of peas, 2,016 acres of corn, 1,811 milk cows, 1,718 acres of winter wheat, 1,310 barrels of pork, 1,210 acres of spring wheat, 1,131 horses aged over 3 years, 610 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 606 acres of farmland in gardens, 525 acres of potatoes, 522 occupants of farms, 442 horses aged 3 years and under, 333 acres of barley, 306 bulls, oxen, or steers, 280 acres of buckwheat, 272 barrels of beef, 249 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 191 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 186 acres of rye, 138 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 131 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 100 pounds of flax or hemp, 86 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 75 pounds of hops, 68 acres of turnips, 20 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 17 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 12 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres, 3 acres of mangel wurtzel. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes 8,561 yards of flannel, $5,768 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 2,028 yards of fulled cloth, $620 value carriages for hire (dollars), 144 yards of linen, 102 carriages for pleasure, 18 carriages for hire. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Fisheries (1861). This community's record includes 135 pounds of fresh fish sold, 1 barrels of salted fish sold. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 20 quintals of dried fish sold — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 22 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: 8, Deaths in the past year among males aged 40 to 50: 3, Deaths in the past year among males aged 5 to 10: 3, Deaths in the past year among females of unknown age: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 1 to 2: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 10 to 15: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 20 to 30: 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 80 to 90: 1, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 1, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 1 person 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Clark | 1818–1898 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON080005— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON121004_1921— 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 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). "Harwich, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/harwich-on080005-1861/.