Southwold, Ontario (1881 census)
Southwold was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 5,206. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q7571481. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.746°N, 81.315°W.
Population
In 1881, Southwold had a population of 5,206: 2,682 male and 2,524 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 5,063 |
| 1861 | 5,467 |
| 1871 | 5,559 |
| 1881 | 5,206 |
| 1891 | 4,766 |
| 1901 | 4,338 |
| 1911 | 3,933 |
| 1921 | 3,642 |
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, Southwold 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 5,206 total population, 2,682 males, 2,524 females, 1,682 married persons, 998 families, 842 married males, 840 married females, 208 widowed persons, 144 widowed females, 64 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 3,316 single persons under 18, 1,776 single males under 18, 1,540 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 998 inhabited houses, 998 occupied houses, 34 uninhabited houses, 11 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 230,404 bushels of winter wheat, 196,879 bushels of oats, 103,063 bushels of corn, 36,815 bushels of potatoes, 36,732 bushels of barley, 22,414 bushels of other root crops, 12,712 bushels of peas and beans, 10,151 acres of wheat, 9,588 tons of hay, 6,847 bushels of turnips, 6,826 acres of hay crops, 618 bushels of spring wheat, 491 bushels of buckwheat, 434 acres of potatoes, 328 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 112 bushels of rye. (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 |
|---|---|---|
| William Bowman | 1820–1909 | died here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 5,206 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:
ON164003— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON109006— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q7571481
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwold,_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). "Southwold, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/southwold-on164003-1881/.