Hay, Ontario (1881 census)
Hay was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,421. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115261716. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.403°N, 81.608°W.
Population
In 1881, Hay had a population of 4,421: 2,227 male and 2,194 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 1881
In the 1881 census, Hay 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 4,421 total population, 2,227 males, 2,194 females, 1,414 married persons, 778 families, 710 married males, 704 married females, 138 widowed persons, 81 widowed females, 57 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,869 single persons under 18, 1,460 single males under 18, 1,409 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 773 inhabited houses, 773 occupied houses, 23 uninhabited houses, 7 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 133,982 bushels of winter wheat, 132,295 bushels of oats, 54,158 bushels of turnips, 46,301 bushels of barley, 44,588 bushels of potatoes, 17,804 bushels of other root crops, 16,349 bushels of corn, 11,337 bushels of spring wheat, 7,778 acres of wheat, 6,978 bushels of peas and beans, 4,859 tons of hay, 3,928 acres of hay crops, 723 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 444 acres of potatoes, 231 bushels of rye, 229 bushels of buckwheat. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
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 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| John Willison | 1856–1927 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,422 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:
ON173002— 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 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). "Hay, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/hay-on173002-1881/.