Sarnia, Ontario (1861 census)
Sarnia was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 1,560. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115262762. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.965°N, 82.323°W.
Population
In 1861, Sarnia had a population of 1,560: 813 male and 747 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1,560 |
| 1871 | 3,438 |
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, Sarnia shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1861
The 1861 census recorded 158 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 7 categories.
Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 1,560 total population, 813 males, 747 females, Male members of the family who are present: 730, Female members of the family who are present: 720, 541 single males, 426 single females, 302 married females, 258 married males, 152 males attending school, 132 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 83, 37 female births, 29 male births, Females present who are not members of the family: 27, 26 adult males unable to read or write, 19 adult females unable to read or write, 19 widowed females, 14 widowed males, 1 persons at sea. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 99 married females aged 40 to 50, 93 single males aged 10 to 15, 93 single males aged 20 to 30, 92 males aged 5 to 10, 91 single females aged 10 to 15, 90 females aged 5 to 10, 81 married males aged 30 to 40, 80 married females aged 20 to 30, 79 single males aged 15 to 20, 75 married females aged 30 to 40, 75 married males aged 40 to 50, 68 single females aged 15 to 20, 43 married males aged 20 to 30, 36 males aged 3 to 4, 35 males aged 1 to 2, 34 males aged 2 to 3, 29 females aged 1 to 2, 28 married males aged 50 to 60, 28 single females aged 20 to 30, 27 females age 3 to 4, 27 females aged 4 to 5, 24 married males aged 60 to 70, 24 single males aged 30 to 40, 23 married females aged 50 to 60, 22 females aged 2 to 3, 17 married females aged 60 to 70, 15 males aged 4 to 5, 9 single males aged 40 to 50, 6 married males aged 70 to 80, 6 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 6 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 5 married females aged 70 to 80, 5 single females aged 30 to 40, 4 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 4 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 3 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 2 married females aged 15 to 20, 2 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 2 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 2 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 2 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 1 married females aged 80 to 90, 1 married males aged 15 to 20, 1 single females aged 40 to 50, 1 single females aged 70 to 80, 1 single males aged 50 to 60, 1 single males aged 60 to 70, 1 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 1 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 1 widowed males aged 20 to 30. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 889 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 215 persons originating in Ireland, 210 persons originating in Scotland, 166 persons originating in England or Wales, 41 persons originating in the United States, 17 persons originating in New Brunswick, 13 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 4 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 3 French Canadians, 2 female negroes or coloured persons, 2 male negroes or coloured persons, 2 negroes or coloured persons, 1 Indigenous males, 1 Indigenous persons. 1 persons originating in Guernsey, Jersey, or other British islands. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $365,470 value farms (dollars), $50,280 value all livestock, 45,411 pounds of homemade butter, 25,357 bushels of oats, 25,315 bushels of potatoes, 19,133 acres of land in farms, $16,585 value horses aged over 3 years, 15,522 bushels of turnips, 12,997 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 12,247 bushels of spring wheat, $11,649 value farm implements in dollars, 10,493 bushels of peas, 6,136 acres of farmland under cultivation, 4,701 acres of farmland under crops, 3,789 pounds of wool produced on farms, 2,189 bushels of corn, 1,992 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 1,916 tons of hay, 1,690 pounds of maple sugar, 1,282 acres of farmland in pasture, 1,265 bushels of carrots, 1,225 sheep, 959 bushels of barley, 914 calves and heifers, 825 bushels of buckwheat, $781 value garden and orchard crops, 772 acres of oats, 760 swine, 698 acres of spring wheat, 615 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 536 milk cows, 489 barrels of pork, 442 acres of peas, 246 horses aged over 3 years, 208 bushels of winter wheat, 193 acres of potatoes, 193 occupants of farms, 184 bushels of rye, 153 acres of farmland in gardens, 128 acres of corn, 126 bulls, oxen, or steers, 108 horses aged 3 years and under, 104 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 103 barrels of beef, 71 acres of turnips, 53 acres of buckwheat, 51 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 47 bushels of beans, 39 acres of barley, 31 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 20 acres of rye, 18 acres of winter wheat, 12 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 4 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 2 acres of mangel wurtzel, 2 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 1 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes 1,697 yards of flannel, $505 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 276 yards of fulled cloth, 15 carriages for pleasure. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Fisheries (1861). This community's record includes 525 barrels of salted fish sold. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 321 quintals of dried fish sold — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 11 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 7, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 4, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 3, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 10 to 15: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 15 to 20: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 20 to 30: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 15 to 20: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON081008— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON004006— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115262762
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). "Sarnia, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/sarnia-on081008-1861/.