Toronto, Ontario (1871 census)
Toronto was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1871 Census of Canada with a population of 5,974. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q7826543. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.604°N, 79.662°W.
Population
In 1871, Toronto had a population of 5,974: 3,039 male and 2,935 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 7,539 |
| 1861 | 6,592 |
| 1871 | 5,974 |
| 1881 | 5,873 |
| 1891 | 5,528 |
| 1901 | 5,208 |
| 1911 | 6,208 |
| 1921 | 6,981 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1871
In the 1871 census, Toronto shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1871
The 1871 census recorded 19 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1871). This community's record includes 5,974 total population, 3,039 males, 2,935 females, 1,829 married persons, 1,131 families, 917 married males, 912 married females, 220 widowed persons, 163 widowed females, 57 widowed males. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1871). This community's record includes 3,925 single persons under 18, 2,065 single males under 18, 1,860 single females under 18. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1871). This community's record includes 1,109 occupied houses, 1,107 inhabited houses, 32 uninhabited houses, 5 houses under construction, 2 dwellings that are temporary shanties. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1871). This community's record includes 68,540 total area (acres). (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 9 people connected to this place who were alive in 1871, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| William Thomas Aikins | 1827–1897 | born here |
| Uzziel Ogden | 1828–1910 | born here |
| Kenneth Chisholm | 1829–1906 | born here |
| Sir John Morison Gibson | 1842–1929 | born here |
| Joseph Featherston | 1843–1913 | died here |
| William James Gage | 1849–1921 | born here |
| Albert Durrant Watson | 1859–1926 | born here |
| François-Louis Lessard | 1860–1927 | died here |
| Caroline Sophia Brown | 1862–1936 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON039001— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON136004— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q7826543
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Township,_Ontario
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1871 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). "Toronto, Ontario (1871 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/toronto-on039001-1871/.