Thorold, Ontario (1851 census)
Thorold was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1851 Census of Canada with a population of 2,735. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q448120. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.063°N, 79.235°W.
Population
In 1851, Thorold had a population of 2,735: 1,451 male and 1,284 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 2,735 |
| 1861 | 2,837 |
| 1871 | 2,501 |
| 1881 | 2,456 |
| 1891 | 2,316 |
| 1901 | 2,025 |
| 1911 | 2,085 |
| 1921 | 4,739 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1851
In the 1851 census, Thorold shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1851
The 1851 census recorded 199 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories.
Population & families (1851). This community's record includes 2,735 total population, 1,451 males, Male members of the family who are present: 1,369, 1,284 females, Female members of the family who are present: 1,225, 965 single males, 780 single females, 448 married females, 446 married males, 439 families, 295 males attending school, 231 females attending school, Males present who are not members of the family: 82, Females present who are not members of the family: 59, 56 widowed females, 40 widowed males, 39 female births, 34 male births, Female members of the family who are absent: 9, Male members of the family who are present: 6, 2 blind males, 2 lunatic females, 1 blind females, 1 deaf and dumb males, 1 lunatic males. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Age structure (1851). This community's record includes 188 males aged 5 to 10, 183 single females aged 10 to 15, 174 females aged 5 to 10, 171 single males aged 10 to 15, 159 single males aged 20 to 30, 155 married males aged 30 to 40, 152 married females aged 20 to 30, 144 married females aged 30 to 40, 144 single males aged 15 to 20, 142 single females aged 15 to 20, 111 married males aged 20 to 30, 93 married males aged 40 to 50, 70 married females aged 40 to 50, 59 single females aged 20 to 30, 53 married males aged 50 to 60, 50 males aged 2 to 3, 49 males aged 1 to 2, 47 males under age 1, 46 females aged 1 to 2, 46 females under age 1, 43 males aged 3 to 4, 40 males aged 4 to 5, 36 females age 3 to 4, 36 females aged 4 to 5, 36 married females aged 50 to 60, 35 single males aged 30 to 40, 34 females aged 2 to 3, 27 married females aged 15 to 20, 22 married males aged 60 to 70, 19 males of unknown age, 17 married females aged 60 to 70, 14 single females aged 30 to 40, 14 single males aged 40 to 50, 13 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 12 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 11 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 11 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 10 married males aged 70 to 80, 8 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 7 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 6 widowed males aged 30 to 40, 5 single females aged 40 to 50, 5 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 5 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 5 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 5 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 3 single males aged 50 to 60, 3 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 3 widowed males aged 20 to 30, 2 females of unknown age, 2 married females aged 70 to 80, 2 single females aged 60 to 70, 2 single males aged 70 to 80, 2 widowed males aged 80 to 90, 1 married males aged 15 to 20, 1 married males aged 80 to 90, 1 single females aged 50 to 60, 1 single males aged 60 to 70. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
Ethnic origin (1851). This community's record includes 1,765 persons native to Canada, not of French origin, 370 persons originating in Ireland, 286 persons originating in the United States, 174 persons originating in England or Wales, 63 persons originating in Scotland, 33 French Canadians, 17 persons originating in Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, 15 persons originating in Germany or Holland, 4 male negroes or coloured persons, 4 persons originating in France, 4 persons originating in New Brunswick, 2 persons originating in the East Indies, 1 persons originating in Newfoundland. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T3.) The 1851 enumerator also recorded 1 persons originating in Jersey or other British islands — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Agriculture (1851). This community's record includes 33,490 pounds of homemade butter, 31,452 bushels of wheat, 21,495 bushels of oats, 12,780 acres of land in farms, 7,518 acres of farmland under cultivation, 5,262 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, 5,184 acres of farmland under crops, 5,079 pounds of wool produced on farms, 4,767 bushels of corn, 4,528 gallons of cider, 2,838 bushels of potatoes, 2,321 bushels of barley, 2,097 acres of farmland in pasture, 2,002 acres of wheat, 1,934 bushels of buckwheat, 1,806 sheep, 1,745 bushels of peas, 1,699 tons of hay, 1,454 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 928 swine, 900 bushels of turnips, 731 acres of oats, 592 horses, 575 milk cows, 502 barrels of pork, 386 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 358 pounds of maple sugar, 339 calves and heifers, 292 bushels of carrots, 237 acres of farmland in gardens or orchards, 193 acres of peas, 154 acres of corn, 147 bulls, oxen, or steers, 139 occupants of farms, 124 acres of barley, 123 bushels of rye, 111 acres of buckwheat, 103 barrels of beef, 68 acres of potatoes, 55 bushels of beans, 52 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 50 pounds of tobacco, 38 pounds of flax or hemp, 35 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 29 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 13 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 10 acres of rye, 10 bushels of mangel wurtzel, 5 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres, 5 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 3 acres of turnips. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V2T6.)
Manufacturing & industry (1851). This community's record includes 20,000 pounds of wool produced in carding and fulling mills, 12,000 feet of lumber produced daily by saw mills reporting daily production, $4,950 value capital returned by saw mills (pounds sterling), $4,000 value capital returned by grist mills (pounds sterling), 3,000 yards of cloth produced in carding and fulling mills, 2,242 yards of flannel, 774 yards of fulled cloth, 500 carding and fulling mills returning capital, Logs produced by saw mills reporting production by number of logs: 30, 30 yards of linen, 28 employees in saw mills, 11 employees in grist mills, 9 grist mills, 9 grist mills powered by water, 7 employees in carding and fulling mills, 7 saw mills, 7 saw mills powered by water, 6 grist mills reporting daily production, 5 grist mills returning capital, 4 saw mills returning capital, 3 carding and fulling mills, 3 carding and fulling mills reporting, 2 grist mills reporting annual production, 2 saw mills not reporting, 2 saw mills reporting annual production, 2 saw mills reporting daily production, 1 grist mills not reporting, 1 saw mills reporting production by number of logs. 4,500,000 feet of lumber produced per year by saw mills reporting annual production. 5,000 barrels of flour produced per year by grist mills reporting annual production. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V2T6; V2T7.)
Deaths & mortality (1851). This community's record includes 28 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 17, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 11, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 4, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 3, Deaths in the past year among females aged 1 to 2: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 3 to 4: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 50 to 60: 2, Deaths in the past year among males aged 15 to 20: 2, Deaths in the past year among males of unknown age: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 15 to 20: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 2 to 3: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 30 to 40: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 5 to 10: 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 of unknown age: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 30 to 40: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 4 to 5: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 5 to 10: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 60 to 70: 1. (Source: 1851 Census of Canada, V1T3.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 4 people connected to this place who were alive in 1851, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| George Keefer | 1773–1858 | died here |
| Jacob Keefer | 1800–1874 | born and died here |
| Samuel Keefer | 1811–1890 | born here |
| Thomas C. Keefer | 1821–1915 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON040002— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON151006— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q448120
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorold
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorold_(Ontario)
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1851 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). "Thorold, Ontario (1851 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/thorold-on040002-1851/.