Otonabee, Ontario (1851 census)
Otonabee was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1851 Census of Canada with a population of 3,872. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115262520. The administrative centroid was at approximately 44.263°N, 78.205°W.
Population
In 1851, Otonabee had a population of 3,872: 2,040 male and 1,832 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 3,872 |
| 1861 | 4,261 |
| 1871 | 3,992 |
| 1881 | 4,013 |
| 1891 | 3,652 |
| 1901 | 3,456 |
| 1911 | 3,287 |
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 Ashburton, 1861 (0.8% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1851
In the 1851 census, Otonabee shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1851
The 1851 census recorded 197 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories.
Population & families (1851). This community's record includes 3,872 total population, 2,040 males, Male members of the family who are present: 1,872, 1,832 females, Female members of the family who are present: 1,754, 1,442 single males, 1,184 single females, 627 families, 567 married males, 555 married females, 302 males attending school, 276 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 168, 93 widowed females, Females present who are not members of the family: 78, 72 female births, Male members of the family who are present: 66, 57 male births, Female members of the family who are absent: 38, 31 widowed males, 1 blind females, 1 blind males, 1 deaf and dumb females, 1 deaf and dumb males, 1 lunatic females, 1 lunatic males. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Age structure (1851). This community's record includes 294 males aged 5 to 10, 280 females aged 5 to 10, 263 single males aged 10 to 15, 245 single males aged 15 to 20, 242 single females aged 10 to 15, 219 single males aged 20 to 30, 193 married males aged 30 to 40, 190 married females aged 20 to 30, 189 single females aged 15 to 20, 175 married females aged 30 to 40, 140 married males aged 40 to 50, 116 married males aged 20 to 30, 101 married females aged 40 to 50, 97 females aged 1 to 2, 87 females under age 1, 78 males aged 1 to 2, 77 single females aged 20 to 30, 72 females age 3 to 4, 72 males under age 1, 69 males aged 2 to 3, 69 married males aged 50 to 60, 65 males aged 4 to 5, 64 females aged 2 to 3, 63 males aged 3 to 4, 59 females aged 4 to 5, 45 married females aged 50 to 60, 39 single males aged 30 to 40, 36 married males aged 60 to 70, 27 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 26 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 22 married females aged 15 to 20, 19 single males aged 40 to 50, 16 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 15 married females aged 60 to 70, 11 married males aged 70 to 80, 11 single males aged 50 to 60, 9 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 7 single females aged 30 to 40, 7 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 7 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 6 married females aged 70 to 80, 6 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 6 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 5 single females aged 40 to 50, 5 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 5 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 4 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 3 males of unknown age, 3 single females aged 50 to 60, 3 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 2 single males aged 80 to 90, 2 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 1 married females aged 80 to 90, 1 married males aged 15 to 20, 1 married males aged 80 to 90, 1 single females aged 60 to 70, 1 single females aged 70 to 80, 1 widowed males aged 80 to 90. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Ethnic origin (1851). This community's record includes 2,117 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 989 persons originating in Ireland, 382 persons originating in Scotland, 253 persons originating in England or Wales, 80 French Canadians, 41 persons originating in the United States, 27 Indigenous females, 22 Indigenous males, 4 persons originating in the West Indies, 1 persons originating in all other places, 1 persons originating in France, 1 persons originating in New Brunswick, 1 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T3.) The 1851 enumerator also recorded 2 persons originating in Jersey or other British islands — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Agriculture (1851). This community's record includes 76,219 bushels of wheat, 75,841 pounds of homemade butter, 53,469 bushels of oats, 51,324 acres of land in farms, 30,961 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 20,363 acres of farmland under cultivation, 19,789 bushels of potatoes, 18,812 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 15,949 bushels of peas, 15,005 pounds of wool produced on farms, 14,664 acres of farmland under crops, 14,111 bushels of turnips, 9,486 pounds of maple sugar, 5,482 acres of farmland in pasture, 4,895 sheep, 4,448 acres of wheat, 3,125 tons of hay, 2,969 swine, 1,867 acres of oats, 1,541 barrels of pork, 1,495 milk cows, 1,352 bushels of corn, 1,323 bulls, oxen, or steers, 1,022 acres of peas, 958 calves and heifers, 912 bushels of barley, 748 acres of potatoes, 714 horses, 622 bushels of carrots, 449 occupants of farms, 422 barrels of beef, 217 acres of farmland in gardens or orchards, 213 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 197 pounds of hops, 181 bushels of rye, 137 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 105 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 89 acres of turnips, 88 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 74 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 73 bushels of beans, 60 acres of corn, 43 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 42 bushels of buckwheat, 32 acres of barley, 27 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 12 acres of rye, 6 acres of buckwheat, 4 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V2T6.)
Manufacturing & industry (1851). This community's record includes 203,000 saw mill plants, 46,200 yards of cloth produced in carding and fulling mills, 13,300 pounds of wool produced in carding and fulling mills, $8,500 value capital returned by grist mills (pounds sterling), 7,178 yards of flannel, 2,805 yards of fulled cloth, $1,500 value iron produced in foundries in the past year (pounds sterling), 1,000 foundries returning capital, $900 value capital returned by saw mills (pounds sterling), 200 carding and fulling mills returning capital, 7 employees in foundries, 5 employees in grist mills, 4 employees in saw mills, 4 saw mills, 4 saw mills powered by water, 3 grist mills, 3 grist mills powered by water, 3 grist mills reporting annual production, 3 grist mills returning capital, 3 saw mills reporting annual production, 3 saw mills returning capital, 2 carding and fulling mills, 2 carding and fulling mills reporting, 1 breweries, 1 breweries not reporting, 1 foundries, 1 foundries reporting. 800,000 feet of lumber produced per year by saw mills reporting annual production. 26,550 barrels of flour produced per year by grist mills reporting annual production. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V2T6; V2T7.)
Deaths & mortality (1851). This community's record includes 36 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 20, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 16, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 6, Deaths in the past year among females aged 15 to 20: 3, Deaths in the past year among females aged 20 to 30: 3, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 3, Deaths in the past year among females aged 30 to 40: 2, Deaths in the past year among males age 3 to 4: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 1 to 2: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 1 to 2: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 5 to 10: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 80 to 90: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 10 to 15: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 15 to 20: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 4 to 5: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 40 to 50: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 50 to 60: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 70 to 80: 1, Deaths in the past year among males of unknown age: 1. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 6 people connected to this place who were alive in 1851, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander McDonell | 1786–1861 | died here |
| Frances Browne | 1794–1872 | died here |
| Wilson Seymour Conger | 1804–1864 | died here |
| Samuel Dickson | 1810–1870 | died here |
| Charles Pedley | 1820–1872 | died here |
| Eliza Jane Creighton | 1840–1929 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON030008— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON112007_1911— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115262520
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1851 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). "Otonabee, Ontario (1851 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/otonabee-on030008-1851/.