Nelson, Ontario (1891 census)
Nelson was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1891 Census of Canada with a population of 3,269. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.407°N, 79.858°W.
Population
In 1891, Nelson had a population of 3,269: 1,747 male and 1,522 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 4,078 |
| 1861 | 4,559 |
| 1871 | 4,619 |
| 1881 | 3,340 |
| 1891 | 3,269 |
| 1901 | 2,776 |
| 1911 | 2,910 |
| 1921 | 3,356 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1891
In the 1891 census, Nelson shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1891
The 1891 census recorded 86 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 5 categories.
Population & families (1891). This community's record includes 3,269 total population, 1,747 males, 1,522 females, 1,082 married persons, 624 families, 542 married females, 540 married males, 141 widowed persons, 79 widowed females, 62 widowed males, 5.20 average size of families. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T2; V1T3.)
Age structure (1891). This community's record includes 2,046 single persons under 18, 1,145 single males under 18, 901 single females under 18. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Ethnic origin (1891). This community's record includes 3,264 persons who are not French Canadian, 5 French Canadians. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Buildings & housing (1891). This community's record includes 611 houses, 611 occupied houses, 440 houses built of wood, 385 houses of 6 to 10 rooms, 334 houses of 1 story, 276 houses of 2 stories, 119 houses built of brick, 93 houses of 11 to 15 rooms, 54 houses of 5 rooms, 52 houses built of stone, 38 houses of 4 rooms, 33 uninhabited houses, 21 houses of 3 rooms, 10 houses of 2 rooms, 8 houses of over 15 rooms, 7 houses under construction, 2 houses of 1 room, 1 houses of more than 3 stories. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T2.)
Agriculture (1891). This community's record includes 269,976 bushels of turnips, 211,117 pounds of homemade butter, 90,215 bushels of oats, 74,726 bushels of winter wheat, 59,529 bushels of barley, 46,011 bushels of peas, 45,938 acres of land in farms, 39,013 acres of improved land in farms, 31,314 acres of farmland under crops, 28,408 bushels of potatoes, 20,842 chickens, 20,279 bushels of spring wheat, 14,080 bushels of corn, 9,547 tons of hay, 9,244 pounds of coarse wool produced on farms, 6,925 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 6,174 acres of wheat, 6,021 acres of hay crops, 5,870 acres of farmland in pasture, 5,600 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 5,058 swine, 4,123 swine slaughtered or sold, 3,839 acres of oats, 2,857 acres of barley, 2,786 other cattle, 2,336 sheep, 2,158 milk cows, 1,829 acres of farmland in gardens or orchards, 1,546 horses aged over 3 years, 1,409 geese, 1,346 bushels of rye, 1,294 ducks, 1,063 turkeys, 867 sheep slaughtered or sold, 788 cattle killed or sold, 602 pounds of fine wool produced on farms, 597 horses aged 3 years and under, 545 acres of turnips, 542 occupants of farms, 507 bushels of buckwheat, 449 farm occupants who own their land, 319 acres of potatoes, 161 persons living on farms between 51 and 100 acres, 150 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 140 persons living on farms between 101 and 200 acres, 103 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 93 farm occupants who rent their land, 91 bushels of beans, 69 persons living on farms between 11 and 50 acres, 39 other fowl, 22 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 2 oxen. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V2T16; V4T2; V4T3.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 2 people connected to this place who were alive in 1891, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| JOHN GENNINGS CURTIS ADAMS | 1839–1922 | died here |
| Jean Newton McIlwraith | d. 1938 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON071007— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON117003— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: not yet grounded. This page covers a place whose persistent identity has not yet been linked to a Wikidata entity. Identification is via TCP UID and spatial polygon only.
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1891 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). "Nelson, Ontario (1891 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/nelson-on071007-1891/.