Pickering, Ontario (1861 census)
Pickering was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 8,002. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q386626. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.901°N, 79.095°W.
Population
In 1861, Pickering had a population of 8,002: 4,043 male and 3,959 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 6,737 |
| 1861 | 8,002 |
| 1871 | 7,375 |
| 1881 | 6,883 |
| 1891 | 5,998 |
| 1901 | 5,225 |
| 1911 | 4,763 |
| 1921 | 4,910 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1861
In the 1861 census, Pickering shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1861
The 1861 census recorded 188 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 7 categories.
Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 8,002 total population, 4,043 males, 3,959 females, Male members of the family who are present: 3,687, Female members of the family who are present: 3,644, 2,580 single males, 2,455 single females, 1,364 married females, 1,355 married males, 962 males attending school, 808 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 356, Females present who are not members of the family: 315, 220 male births, 204 female births, 140 widowed females, 108 widowed males, 97 adult males unable to read or write, 96 adult females unable to read or write, 1 blind females, 1 deaf and dumb males, 1 lunatic males, 1 persons at sea. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 520 single males aged 20 to 30, 436 married females aged 20 to 30, 432 single males aged 15 to 20, 424 single females aged 15 to 20, 416 married males aged 30 to 40, 411 females aged 5 to 10, 411 single females aged 20 to 30, 395 married females aged 30 to 40, 387 single males aged 10 to 15, 359 single females aged 10 to 15, 348 married males aged 20 to 30, 344 males aged 5 to 10, 332 married males aged 40 to 50, 261 married females aged 40 to 50, 166 females aged 2 to 3, 163 married females aged 50 to 60, 156 males aged 1 to 2, 152 females aged 1 to 2, 147 married males aged 50 to 60, 144 males aged 2 to 3, 128 males aged 3 to 4, 124 females age 3 to 4, 117 males aged 4 to 5, 100 females aged 4 to 5, 77 married males aged 60 to 70, 68 married females aged 60 to 70, 68 single males aged 30 to 40, 45 single females aged 30 to 40, 43 single females aged 40 to 50, 32 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 31 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 25 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 24 married females aged 70 to 80, 24 married males aged 70 to 80, 24 single males aged 60 to 70, 24 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 21 single males aged 40 to 50, 20 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 18 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 17 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 15 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 15 widowed males aged 80 to 90, 13 single females aged 50 to 60, 13 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 12 married females aged 15 to 20, 12 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 11 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 11 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 7 single males aged 50 to 60, 5 married females aged 80 to 90, 5 single males aged 70 to 80, 4 married males aged 15 to 20, 4 married males aged 80 to 90, 4 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 3 females of unknown age, 3 males of unknown age, 3 married males aged 90 to 100, 3 single males aged 80 to 90. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 1 single males aged 90 to 100 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 5,094 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 1,172 persons originating in England or Wales, 872 persons originating in Ireland, 524 persons originating in Scotland, 211 persons originating in the United States, 94 persons originating in New Brunswick, 27 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 25 negroes or coloured persons, 13 male negroes or coloured persons, 12 female negroes or coloured persons, 2 persons originating in France, 2 persons originating in Switzerland, 1 French Canadians, 1 Indigenous males, 1 Indigenous persons, 1 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 1 persons originating in the West Indies. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $3,126,974 value farms (dollars), 401,546 bushels of turnips, $367,463 value all livestock, 222,555 bushels of oats, 202,813 pounds of homemade butter, $175,382 value horses aged over 3 years, 129,257 bushels of spring wheat, 113,164 bushels of peas, $107,029 value farm implements in dollars, 87,830 bushels of potatoes, 73,255 bushels of winter wheat, 64,889 acres of land in farms, 58,820 bushels of carrots, 47,298 acres of farmland under cultivation, 34,658 acres of farmland under crops, 34,195 bushels of barley, 32,129 pounds of wool produced on farms, 25,049 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 20,956 pounds of maple sugar, 17,892 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 17,591 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 17,551 sheep, 14,938 gallons of cider, 11,764 acres of farmland in pasture, $11,298 value garden and orchard crops, 9,398 pounds of flax or hemp, 6,792 acres of spring wheat, 5,577 tons of hay, 5,477 bushels of corn, 5,208 swine, 5,139 acres of oats, 4,611 acres of winter wheat, 4,603 acres of peas, 3,300 milk cows, 3,242 calves and heifers, 2,439 horses aged over 3 years, 2,081 barrels of pork, 1,657 bushels of rye, 1,375 bushels of buckwheat, 1,123 acres of barley, 1,046 acres of turnips, 1,018 acres of potatoes, 876 acres of farmland in gardens, 790 horses aged 3 years and under, 721 occupants of farms, 477 barrels of beef, 449 bulls, oxen, or steers, 329 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 325 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 278 pounds of hops, 229 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 183 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 172 acres of corn, 110 acres of rye, 100 bushels of beans, 54 acres of buckwheat, 52 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 44 acres of mangel wurtzel, 7 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 4 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres, 4 persons living on farms over 200 acres. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes $48,980 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 10,909 yards of flannel, 3,304 yards of fulled cloth, $1,980 value carriages for hire (dollars), 552 carriages for pleasure, 41 carriages for hire, 28 yards of linen. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Fisheries (1861). This community's record includes 301 barrels of salted fish sold. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 100 quintals of dried fish sold — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 60 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 32, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 28, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 10, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 9, Deaths in the past year among females of unknown age: 8, Deaths in the past year among males of unknown age: 8, Deaths in the past year among males aged 40 to 50: 4, Deaths in the past year among females aged 40 to 50: 3, Deaths in the past year among males aged 1 to 2: 3, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 3, Deaths in the past year among females aged 5 to 10: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 50 to 60: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 70 to 80: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 50 to 60: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 1 to 2: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 2 to 3: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 10 to 15: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 70 to 80: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 3 people connected to this place who were alive in 1861, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| John Miller | 1817–1904 | died here |
| James Ironside Davidson | 1818–1902 | died here |
| Sarah Ann Dale | 1848–1915 | born and died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON089004— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON133003— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q386626
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickering,_Ontario
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickering
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1861 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). "Pickering, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/pickering-on089004-1861/.