Hay, Ontario (1861 census)

Hay was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 3,054. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115261716. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.403°N, 81.608°W.

Population

In 1861, Hay had a population of 3,054: 1,581 male and 1,473 female residents.

Population trajectory across census years

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, Hay shared boundaries with:

• Stanley and Bayfield
• Stephen
• Tuckersmith
• Usborne

Full census record, 1861

The 1861 census recorded 163 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 7 categories.

Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 3,054 total population, 1,581 males, Male members of the family who are present: 1,515, 1,473 females, Female members of the family who are present: 1,429, 1,025 single males, 910 single females, 533 married females, 533 married males, 337 males attending school, 281 females attending school, 81 male births, 79 adult males unable to read or write, 77 female births, Males present who are not members of the family: 66, 62 adult females unable to read or write, Females present who are not members of the family: 44, 30 widowed females, 23 widowed males, 3 persons at sea, 2 deaf and dumb females, 1 deaf and dumb males. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)

Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 224 females aged 5 to 10, 212 males aged 5 to 10, 209 married females aged 20 to 30, 179 single males aged 10 to 15, 175 married males aged 30 to 40, 173 single females aged 10 to 15, 162 married males aged 20 to 30, 151 married females aged 30 to 40, 139 single males aged 15 to 20, 110 married males aged 40 to 50, 102 single males aged 20 to 30, 99 single females aged 15 to 20, 89 females aged 1 to 2, 88 males aged 1 to 2, 88 married females aged 40 to 50, 76 males aged 2 to 3, 74 females aged 2 to 3, 69 males aged 3 to 4, 55 married males aged 50 to 60, 54 females age 3 to 4, 51 females aged 4 to 5, 50 males aged 4 to 5, 45 single females aged 20 to 30, 35 married females aged 50 to 60, 29 married females aged 15 to 20, 22 married males aged 60 to 70, 18 married females aged 60 to 70, 18 single males aged 30 to 40, 17 single females aged 30 to 40, 10 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 9 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 6 married males aged 70 to 80, 6 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 5 single males aged 40 to 50, 5 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 5 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 4 single females aged 40 to 50, 4 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 4 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 3 single males aged 50 to 60, 3 single males aged 60 to 70, 3 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 2 married females aged 70 to 80, 2 married males aged 80 to 90, 2 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 2 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 2 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 1 married females aged 80 to 90, 1 married males aged 15 to 20, 1 single females aged 50 to 60, 1 single females aged 60 to 70, 1 single females aged 80 to 90, 1 widowed males aged 80 to 90. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)

Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 1,703 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 440 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 260 French Canadians, 219 persons originating in Scotland, 182 persons originating in Ireland, 129 persons originating in England or Wales, 49 persons originating in the United States, 37 persons originating in France, 22 persons originating in Switzerland, 8 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 1 persons originating in Italy or Greece, 1 persons originating in New Brunswick. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1.)

Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $725,958 value farms (dollars), $96,684 value all livestock, 86,954 bushels of spring wheat, 56,285 bushels of turnips, 47,824 pounds of homemade butter, 45,118 bushels of oats, 34,855 acres of land in farms, $33,010 value horses aged over 3 years, 28,850 pounds of maple sugar, $27,835 value farm implements in dollars, 26,736 bushels of potatoes, 25,605 bushels of peas, 23,976 bushels of winter wheat, 19,722 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 15,133 acres of farmland under cultivation, 10,923 acres of farmland under crops, 8,337 pounds of wool produced on farms, 4,316 acres of spring wheat, 4,070 acres of farmland in pasture, 3,596 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 3,041 bushels of barley, 2,640 sheep, 2,278 swine, 2,025 tons of hay, 1,508 acres of oats, 1,250 calves and heifers, 1,114 acres of peas, 1,114 pounds of flax or hemp, 1,044 acres of winter wheat, 1,026 milk cows, 960 bushels of carrots, 932 barrels of pork, 715 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 556 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 525 bulls, oxen, or steers, 506 horses aged over 3 years, 436 occupants of farms, 376 bushels of corn, 281 acres of turnips, 280 acres of potatoes, $274 value garden and orchard crops, 255 bushels of buckwheat, 249 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 209 horses aged 3 years and under, 199 pounds of hops, 171 barrels of beef, 140 acres of farmland in gardens, 124 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 110 bushels of rye, 107 acres of barley, 64 gallons of cider, 58 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 44 bushels of beans, 35 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 18 acres of corn, 13 acres of buckwheat, 13 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 10 acres of rye, 10 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres, 4 acres of mangel wurtzel, 2 persons living on farms over 200 acres. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)

Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes 4,281 yards of flannel, 1,996 yards of fulled cloth, $930 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 145 yards of linen, 23 carriages for pleasure. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)

Fisheries (1861). The 1861 enumerator also recorded 5 quintals of dried fish sold — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.

Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 14 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 7, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 7, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 4, Deaths in the past year among males of unknown age: 3, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 3, Deaths in the past year among females of unknown age: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 20 to 30: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 60 to 70: 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.

Identifiers

• TCP UID: ON079008 — 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 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). "Hay, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/hay-on079008-1861/.