Scarborough, Ontario (1881 census)
Scarborough was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,208. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q1025401. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.778°N, 79.240°W.
Population
In 1881, Scarborough had a population of 4,208: 2,203 male and 2,005 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 4,244 |
| 1861 | 4,854 |
| 1871 | 4,615 |
| 1881 | 4,208 |
| 1891 | 4,028 |
| 1901 | 3,845 |
| 1911 | 4,713 |
| 1921 | 11,746 |
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, Scarborough shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 33 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 4,208 total population, 2,203 males, 2,005 females, 1,322 married persons, 825 families, 662 married females, 660 married males, 195 widowed persons, 121 widowed females, 74 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,691 single persons under 18, 1,469 single males under 18, 1,222 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 823 inhabited houses, 823 occupied houses, 49 uninhabited houses, 2 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 283,670 bushels of turnips, 160,474 bushels of oats, 132,870 bushels of barley, 125,839 bushels of other root crops, 114,838 bushels of potatoes, 60,994 bushels of winter wheat, 35,280 bushels of peas and beans, 24,601 bushels of spring wheat, 10,510 tons of hay, 7,003 acres of hay crops, 5,321 acres of wheat, 2,942 bushels of corn, 1,852 bushels of rye, 1,125 acres of potatoes, 381 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 310 bushels of buckwheat. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
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 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| William Patrick | 1810–1883 | born here |
| William Rennie | 1835–1910 | born here |
| Frank (Canadian architect Darling | 1850–1923 | born here |
| Fergus Patrick McEvay | 1852–1911 | died here |
| T. Glen (Thomas Glendenning) Hamilton | 1873–1935 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,208 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:
ON135001— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON154007— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q1025401
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough,_Ontario
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_(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). "Scarborough, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/scarborough-on135001-1881/.