Mersea, Ontario (1881 census)
Mersea was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 3,552. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115262309. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.083°N, 82.548°W.
Population
In 1881, Mersea had a population of 3,552: 1,928 male and 1,624 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).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Mersea shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 34 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 3,552 total population, 1,928 males, 1,624 females, 1,228 married persons, 667 families, 618 married males, 610 married females, 87 widowed persons, 52 widowed females, 35 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,237 single persons under 18, 1,275 single males under 18, 962 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 665 occupied houses, 662 inhabited houses, 16 houses under construction, 11 uninhabited houses, 3 dwellings that are temporary shanties. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 118,320 bushels of corn, 101,264 bushels of winter wheat, 56,973 bushels of oats, 23,338 bushels of potatoes, 8,466 bushels of turnips, 6,573 acres of wheat, 4,246 tons of hay, 3,273 acres of hay crops, 2,149 bushels of peas and beans, 1,757 bushels of barley, 1,461 bushels of other root crops, 862 bushels of buckwheat, 706 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 319 acres of potatoes, 227 bushels of rye, 24 bushels of spring wheat. (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 |
|---|---|---|
| William Wilson Hilborn | 1849–1921 | died here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 3,552 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:
ON181008— 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 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). "Mersea, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/mersea-on181008-1881/.