Sydney, Ontario (1861 census)
Sydney was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 5,082. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q136480718. The administrative centroid was at approximately 44.208°N, 77.521°W.
Population
In 1861, Sydney had a population of 5,082: 2,601 male and 2,481 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 5,082 |
| 1901 | 4,438 |
| 1911 | 4,335 |
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, Sydney shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1861
The 1861 census recorded 186 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 7 categories.
Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 5,082 total population, 2,601 males, 2,481 females, Male members of the family who are present: 2,415, Female members of the family who are present: 2,340, 1,765 single males, 1,637 single females, 788 married males, 767 married females, 540 males attending school, 470 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 186, Females present who are not members of the family: 141, 92 female births, 77 male births, 77 widowed females, 60 adult males unable to read or write, 54 adult females unable to read or write, 48 widowed males, 1 blind females, 1 lunatic females, 1 lunatic males. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 395 females aged 5 to 10, 386 males aged 5 to 10, 377 single females aged 10 to 15, 375 single males aged 10 to 15, 322 single males aged 15 to 20, 286 single females aged 15 to 20, 262 single males aged 20 to 30, 216 married females aged 30 to 40, 208 married females aged 20 to 30, 206 married males aged 30 to 40, 191 married males aged 40 to 50, 164 married females aged 40 to 50, 163 married males aged 50 to 60, 149 single females aged 20 to 30, 140 married males aged 20 to 30, 120 married females aged 50 to 60, 93 females aged 2 to 3, 79 males aged 1 to 2, 78 males aged 4 to 5, 75 females aged 4 to 5, 70 males aged 3 to 4, 69 males aged 2 to 3, 68 females age 3 to 4, 66 females aged 1 to 2, 66 married males aged 60 to 70, 32 married females aged 60 to 70, 23 single males aged 30 to 40, 20 married males aged 70 to 80, 18 married females aged 15 to 20, 18 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 17 single females aged 30 to 40, 16 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 14 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 13 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 10 single males aged 40 to 50, 10 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 9 single females aged 40 to 50, 9 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 9 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 8 married females aged 70 to 80, 8 single males aged 50 to 60, 8 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 6 single females aged 50 to 60, 6 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 5 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 5 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 4 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 3 single males aged 60 to 70, 3 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 3 widowed males aged 80 to 90, 2 married males aged 80 to 90, 2 single females aged 60 to 70, 2 single females aged 70 to 80, 2 single males aged 70 to 80, 2 widowed males aged 90 to 100, 1 married females aged 80 to 90, 1 single males aged 80 to 90. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 4,083 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 409 persons originating in Ireland, 233 persons originating in England or Wales, 223 persons originating in the United States, 59 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 46 persons originating in Scotland, 7 negroes or coloured persons, 7 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 5 persons originating in all other places, 4 male negroes or coloured persons, 3 female negroes or coloured persons, 3 persons originating in New Brunswick, 3 persons originating in Switzerland, 1 persons originating in France, 1 persons originating in Newfoundland, 1 persons originating in the East Indies, 1 persons originating in the West Indies. 7 persons originating in Guernsey, Jersey, or other British islands. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T5.)
Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $1,402,172 value farms (dollars), $227,187 value all livestock, 140,686 pounds of homemade butter, 106,633 bushels of peas, 105,818 bushels of oats, $99,553 value horses aged over 3 years, 76,268 bushels of potatoes, 59,584 acres of land in farms, $54,440 value farm implements in dollars, 48,383 bushels of spring wheat, 44,303 pounds of maple sugar, 40,813 bushels of rye, 34,095 acres of farmland under cultivation, 29,930 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 29,377 bushels of barley, 25,489 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 23,216 bushels of buckwheat, 22,605 acres of farmland under crops, 21,899 bushels of turnips, 20,274 gallons of cider, 19,222 bushels of corn, 17,356 pounds of wool produced on farms, $15,446 value garden and orchard crops, 13,393 bushels of carrots, 10,616 acres of farmland in pasture, 5,533 sheep, 4,989 acres of peas, 4,664 bushels of winter wheat, 4,339 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 4,220 tons of hay, 3,758 swine, 3,161 acres of rye, 2,998 acres of oats, 2,521 acres of spring wheat, 2,499 milk cows, 2,105 calves and heifers, 1,736 barrels of pork, 1,419 horses aged over 3 years, 1,150 acres of buckwheat, 995 acres of barley, 874 acres of farmland in gardens, 773 acres of corn, 740 acres of potatoes, 630 acres of winter wheat, 500 occupants of farms, 478 horses aged 3 years and under, 460 bulls, oxen, or steers, 427 barrels of beef, 389 bushels of beans, 334 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 226 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 163 pounds of hops, 159 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 118 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 78 acres of turnips, 74 pounds of flax or hemp, 65 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 32 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 13 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 7 acres of mangel wurtzel, 5 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes $34,135 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 8,036 yards of flannel, 3,455 yards of fulled cloth, 769 carriages for pleasure, 2 yards of linen. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Fisheries (1861). This community's record includes 1,000 pounds of fresh fish sold, 100 barrels of salted fish sold. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 30 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 16, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 14, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 3, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 3, Deaths in the past year among females aged 10 to 15: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 20 to 30: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 50 to 60: 2, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 20 to 30: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 40 to 50: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 50 to 60: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 70 to 80: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 30 to 40: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 40 to 50: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 70 to 80: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 80 to 90: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 90 to 100: 1, Deaths in the past year among females of unknown age: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 15 to 20: 1, Deaths in the past year among males of unknown age: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
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 1861, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| George Frederick Playter | 1809–1866 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON078010— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON080007_1911— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q136480718
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Township,_Ontario
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). "Sydney, Ontario (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/sydney-on078010-1861/.