Pelham, Ontario (1881 census)
Pelham was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 2,623. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q448041. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.040°N, 79.336°W.
Population
In 1881, Pelham had a population of 2,623: 1,365 male and 1,258 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 2,400 |
| 1861 | 2,646 |
| 1871 | 2,515 |
| 1881 | 2,623 |
| 1891 | 2,554 |
| 1911 | 2,815 |
| 1921 | 2,936 |
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, Pelham shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 35 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 2,623 total population, 1,365 males, 1,258 females, 1,008 married persons, 571 families, 510 married males, 498 married females, 108 widowed persons, 67 widowed females, 41 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 1,507 single persons under 18, 814 single males under 18, 693 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 555 occupied houses, 552 inhabited houses, 30 uninhabited houses, 8 houses under construction, 2 dwellings that are temporary shanties, 1 dwellings that are temporary vessels. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 86,787 bushels of winter wheat, 63,779 bushels of oats, 47,110 bushels of potatoes, 44,285 bushels of corn, 6,552 bushels of turnips, 4,544 acres of hay crops, 4,362 acres of wheat, 4,247 tons of hay, 3,405 bushels of barley, 3,399 bushels of peas and beans, 2,556 bushels of buckwheat, 2,339 bushels of other root crops, 518 acres of potatoes, 511 bushels of rye, 495 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 163 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 |
|---|---|---|
| George Nicholas Oille | 1817–1883 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 2,623 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:
ON144007— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON151004— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q448041
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelham,_Ontario
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelham_(Ontario)
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). "Pelham, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/pelham-on144007-1881/.