Somerville, Ontario (1881 census)
Somerville was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 1,509. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q7559988. The administrative centroid was at approximately 44.684°N, 78.711°W.
Population
In 1881, Somerville had a population of 1,509: 796 male and 713 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 611 |
| 1871 | 1,074 |
| 1881 | 1,509 |
| 1891 | 1,940 |
| 1901 | 2,105 |
| 1911 | 1,870 |
| 1921 | 1,630 |
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, Somerville 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 1,509 total population, 796 males, 713 females, 461 married persons, 252 families, 232 married females, 229 married males, 45 widowed persons, 26 widowed females, 19 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 1,003 single persons under 18, 548 single males under 18, 455 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 252 inhabited houses, 252 occupied houses, 23 uninhabited houses, 3 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 30,409 bushels of oats, 27,169 bushels of turnips, 16,003 bushels of potatoes, 12,905 bushels of peas and beans, 7,665 bushels of spring wheat, 5,720 bushels of barley, 2,273 bushels of other root crops, 1,911 acres of hay crops, 1,345 tons of hay, 1,185 bushels of rye, 939 acres of wheat, 397 bushels of corn, 225 bushels of buckwheat, 164 acres of potatoes, 77 bushels of winter wheat, 50 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 1 person 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 |
|---|---|---|
| George Laidlaw | 1828–1889 | died here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 1,509 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:
ON130007— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON149011— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q7559988
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerville_Township
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). "Somerville, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/somerville-on130007-1881/.