Hay, Ontario (1871 census)
Hay was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1871 Census of Canada with a population of 3,897. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115261716. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.403°N, 81.608°W.
Population
In 1871, Hay had a population of 3,897: 1,935 male and 1,962 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 985 |
| 1861 | 3,054 |
| 1871 | 3,897 |
| 1881 | 4,421 |
| 1891 | 4,244 |
| 1901 | 3,627 |
| 1911 | 3,014 |
| 1921 | 2,724 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1871
In the 1871 census, Hay shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1871
The 1871 census recorded 18 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1871). This community's record includes 3,897 total population, 1,962 females, 1,935 males, 1,170 married persons, 634 families, 587 married males, 583 married females, 84 widowed persons, 53 widowed females, 31 widowed males. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1871). This community's record includes 2,643 single persons under 18, 1,326 single females under 18, 1,317 single males under 18. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1871). This community's record includes 631 inhabited houses, 631 occupied houses, 5 houses under construction, 4 uninhabited houses. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1871). This community's record includes 54,527 total area (acres). (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
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 1871, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| John Willison | 1856–1927 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON025002— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON119005— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115261716
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1871 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). "Hay, Ontario (1871 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/hay-on025002-1871/.