Sombra and Indian Reserve, Ontario (1861 census)

Name: Sombra and Indian Reserve (1861)
Address: Ontario, CA

Note on Indian Reserves in the Census of Canada. The 1851–1921 censuses enumerated First Nations populations on reserves inconsistently across years and regions, sometimes naming individual reserves and sometimes aggregating them under a generic "Indian Reserves" bundle per Census District. This page reflects the historical census record as published; it is not an authoritative description of any specific First Nation, band, or reserve. For accurate information, consult the annual reports of the Department of Indian Affairs (1864–present, available through Library and Archives Canada), the Indigenous Services Canada First Nation Profiles, and First Nations communities directly.

Sombra and Indian Reserve was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 3,116. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.640°N, 82.417°W.

Population

In 1861, Sombra and Indian Reserve had a population of 3,116: 1,698 male and 1,418 female residents.

Boundary continuity (non-identical overlaps)

Spatial polygon overlaps with adjacent census years where the boundary shifted enough that the SAME_AS chain didn't merge them. These show where the territory came from and went to even when it isn't tracked as the same persistent place.

Earlier boundary forms

In an earlier year, this CSD contained Sombra, 1851 (68.1% share).
In an earlier year, this CSD contained Islands, 1851 (31.9% share).

Later boundary forms

In a later year, this CSD contained NO DATA, 1871 (31.9% of this CSD's polygon).
In a later year, this CSD contained Sombra, 1871 (59.4% of this CSD's polygon).

Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1861

In the 1861 census, Sombra and Indian Reserve shared boundaries with:

Full census record, 1861

The 1861 census recorded 180 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 7 categories.

Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 3,116 total population, 1,698 males, Male members of the family who are present: 1,582, 1,418 females, Female members of the family who are present: 1,401, 1,129 single males, 845 single females, 513 married males, 502 married females, 273 adult females unable to read or write, 268 females attending school, 252 males attending school, 248 adult males unable to read or write, Males present who are not members of the family: 116, 71 male births, 71 widowed females, 66 female births, 56 widowed males, Females present who are not members of the family: 17. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)

Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 226 married females aged 20 to 30, 226 single males aged 20 to 30, 191 single females aged 10 to 15, 183 males aged 5 to 10, 182 females aged 5 to 10, 176 married males aged 30 to 40, 167 single males aged 15 to 20, 163 single males aged 10 to 15, 129 single females aged 15 to 20, 125 married males aged 20 to 30, 115 married females aged 30 to 40, 104 married males aged 40 to 50, 83 married females aged 40 to 50, 76 males aged 1 to 2, 67 females aged 1 to 2, 65 males aged 4 to 5, 61 married males aged 50 to 60, 61 single females aged 20 to 30, 54 males aged 3 to 4, 49 females aged 2 to 3, 48 married females aged 50 to 60, 45 males aged 2 to 3, 44 females aged 4 to 5, 44 single males aged 30 to 40, 43 females age 3 to 4, 28 married males aged 60 to 70, 27 married females aged 15 to 20, 26 single males aged 40 to 50, 20 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 17 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 16 married females aged 60 to 70, 14 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 13 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 12 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 9 married males aged 70 to 80, 9 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 8 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 7 married males aged 80 to 90, 7 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 7 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 6 single females aged 30 to 40, 6 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 5 married females aged 70 to 80, 5 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 5 widowed males aged 80 to 90, 4 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 3 single males aged 50 to 60, 3 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 2 married females aged 80 to 90, 2 married males aged 15 to 20, 2 single females aged 40 to 50, 2 single females aged 50 to 60, 2 single females aged 60 to 70, 2 single males aged 60 to 70, 2 single males aged 70 to 80, 1 single males aged 80 to 90, 1 widowed females aged 90 to 100, 1 widowed males aged 90 to 100. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 1 single males aged 90 to 100, 1 single females aged 90 to 100, 1 married males over 100, 2 widowed males over 100, 2 widowed females over 100 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.

Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 2,299 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 1,305 Indigenous persons, 667 Indigenous males, 638 Indigenous females, 436 persons originating in the United States, 174 persons originating in Ireland, 114 persons originating in England or Wales, 80 persons originating in Scotland, 8 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 4 male negroes or coloured persons, 2 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 1 persons originating in all other places, 1 persons originating in Newfoundland, 1 persons originating in the West Indies. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)

Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $261,850 value farms (dollars), $58,618 value all livestock, 41,075 pounds of homemade butter, 26,002 acres of land in farms, 24,363 bushels of oats, 23,513 bushels of potatoes, $21,815 value horses aged over 3 years, 17,815 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 16,277 bushels of corn, $11,636 value farm implements in dollars, 9,973 bushels of spring wheat, 9,257 bushels of peas, 8,187 acres of farmland under cultivation, 5,560 pounds of maple sugar, 5,079 bushels of winter wheat, 4,601 acres of farmland under crops, 4,139 pounds of wool produced on farms, 3,433 acres of farmland in pasture, $3,209 value garden and orchard crops, 2,779 bushels of turnips, 2,304 swine, 2,213 bushels of buckwheat, 1,830 bushels of barley, 1,627 tons of hay, 1,384 sheep, 1,345 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 1,144 calves and heifers, 725 milk cows, 658 acres of oats, 655 bushels of beans, 569 acres of spring wheat, 569 horses aged over 3 years, 516 bushels of rye, 471 barrels of pork, 451 gallons of cider, 426 acres of peas, 347 bulls, oxen, or steers, 345 horses aged 3 years and under, 320 acres of corn, 246 acres of winter wheat, 225 occupants of farms, 216 acres of potatoes, 209 bushels of carrots, 153 acres of farmland in gardens, 106 barrels of beef, 104 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 92 acres of buckwheat, 88 acres of barley, 74 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 32 acres of rye, 30 acres of turnips, 27 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 21 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 10 pounds of flax or hemp, 9 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 8 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 4 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 3 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres, 3 pounds of hops. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)

Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes $1,300 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 782 yards of flannel, 274 yards of fulled cloth, $80 value carriages for hire (dollars), 36 carriages for pleasure, 4 carriages for hire, 2 yards of linen. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)

Fisheries (1861). This community's record includes 7 barrels of salted fish sold. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 501 quintals of dried fish sold — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.

Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 42 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 22, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 20, Deaths in the past year among males aged 20 to 30: 8, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 6, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 6, Deaths in the past year among females aged 1 to 2: 4, Deaths in the past year among females aged 20 to 30: 4, Deaths in the past year among males aged 1 to 2: 4, Deaths in the past year among females aged 15 to 20: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 30 to 40: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 4 to 5: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 60 to 70: 1, Deaths in the past year among males age 3 to 4: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 50 to 60: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded Deaths in the past year among males aged 90 to 100: 2 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.

Identifiers

TCP UID: ON081010 — year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file
Persistent place ID: PLACE_ON081010 — computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years
External authority links suppressed for Indian Reserve entries. See methodological note above.

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). "Sombra and Indian Reserve, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/sombra-and-indian-reserve-on081010-1861/.