Pickering, Ontario (1891 census)
Pickering was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1891 Census of Canada with a population of 5,998. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q386626. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.901°N, 79.095°W.
Population
In 1891, Pickering had a population of 5,998: 3,042 male and 2,956 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 1891
In the 1891 census, Pickering shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1891
The 1891 census recorded 88 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 5 categories.
Population & families (1891). This community's record includes 5,998 total population, 3,042 males, 2,956 females, 2,177 married persons, 1,302 families, 1,091 married males, 1,086 married females, 260 widowed persons, 170 widowed females, 90 widowed males, 4.60 average size of families. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T2; V1T3.)
Age structure (1891). This community's record includes 3,561 single persons under 18, 1,861 single males under 18, 1,700 single females under 18. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Ethnic origin (1891). This community's record includes 5,996 persons who are not French Canadian, 2 French Canadians. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Buildings & housing (1891). This community's record includes 1,295 occupied houses, 1,287 houses, 1,013 houses built of wood, 907 houses of 1 story, 798 houses of 6 to 10 rooms, 378 houses of 2 stories, 176 houses built of brick, 168 houses of 5 rooms, 134 houses of 4 rooms, 98 houses built of stone, 93 houses of 11 to 15 rooms, 58 houses of 3 rooms, 52 uninhabited houses, 24 houses of 2 rooms, 8 dwellings that are vessels and shanties, 7 houses of over 15 rooms, 5 houses of 1 room, 2 houses of 3 stories, 2 houses under construction. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V1T2.)
Agriculture (1891). This community's record includes 1,000,109 bushels of turnips, 295,509 pounds of homemade butter, 254,581 bushels of oats, 173,527 bushels of barley, 78,228 bushels of peas, 70,455 acres of land in farms, 64,562 acres of improved land in farms, 51,406 acres of farmland under crops, 49,524 bushels of spring wheat, 41,413 bushels of potatoes, 33,864 bushels of winter wheat, 32,686 chickens, 18,755 pounds of coarse wool produced on farms, 15,451 bushels of corn, 15,246 tons of hay, 11,584 acres of farmland in pasture, 9,498 acres of hay crops, 9,191 acres of oats, 8,591 acres of barley, 7,580 swine slaughtered or sold, 6,854 swine, 6,072 pounds of fine wool produced on farms, 5,893 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 5,792 acres of wheat, 5,027 sheep, 4,644 other cattle, 3,466 bushels of rye, 3,042 milk cows, 2,672 horses aged over 3 years, 2,661 sheep slaughtered or sold, 2,563 acres of turnips, 2,367 cattle killed or sold, 1,572 acres of farmland in gardens or orchards, 1,518 horses aged 3 years and under, 1,444 bushels of buckwheat, 1,326 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 1,318 turkeys, 1,265 geese, 1,224 occupants of farms, 1,161 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 1,075 bushels of beans, 949 ducks, 730 farm occupants who own their land, 673 acres of potatoes, 605 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 492 farm occupants who rent their land, 265 persons living on farms between 51 and 100 acres, 214 other fowl, 187 persons living on farms between 101 and 200 acres, 125 persons living on farms between 11 and 50 acres, 42 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 3 oxen, 2 employees on farms. (Source: 1891 Census of Canada, V2T16; V4T2; V4T3.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 5 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 Miller | 1817–1904 | died here |
| James Ironside Davidson | 1818–1902 | died here |
| Sarah Ann Dale | 1848–1915 | born and died here |
| Robert Menzies Mitchell | 1865–1932 | born here |
| Thomas John Thomson | 1877–1917 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON103002— 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 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). "Pickering, Ontario (1891 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/pickering-on103002-1891/.