Mersea, Ontario (1871 census)
Mersea was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1871 Census of Canada with a population of 3,248. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115262309. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.082°N, 82.549°W.
Population
In 1871, Mersea had a population of 3,248: 1,728 male and 1,520 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 1,193 |
| 1861 | 2,143 |
| 1871 | 3,248 |
| 1881 | 3,552 |
| 1891 | 3,788 |
| 1901 | 4,172 |
| 1911 | 4,081 |
| 1921 | 4,448 |
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 Leamington, T-V, 1881 (0.9% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1871
In the 1871 census, Mersea shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1871
The 1871 census recorded 19 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1871). This community's record includes 3,248 total population, 1,728 males, 1,520 females, 1,107 married persons, 596 families, 556 married females, 551 married males, 64 widowed persons, 41 widowed females, 23 widowed males. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1871). This community's record includes 2,077 single persons under 18, 1,154 single males under 18, 923 single females under 18. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1871). This community's record includes 590 occupied houses, 589 inhabited houses, 8 houses under construction, 7 uninhabited houses, 1 dwellings that are temporary shanties. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1871). This community's record includes 60,580 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 |
|---|---|---|
| William Wilson Hilborn | 1849–1921 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON001006— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON110008_1881— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115262309
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). "Mersea, Ontario (1871 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/mersea-on001006-1871/.