Toronto, Ontario (1881 census)
Toronto was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 5,873. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q7826543. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.604°N, 79.662°W.
Population
In 1881, Toronto had a population of 5,873: 3,007 male and 2,866 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 1881
In the 1881 census, Toronto shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 34 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 5,873 total population, 3,007 males, 2,866 females, 1,860 married persons, 1,130 families, 935 married males, 925 married females, 240 widowed persons, 162 widowed females, 78 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 3,773 single persons under 18, 1,994 single males under 18, 1,779 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 1,101 occupied houses, 1,099 inhabited houses, 45 uninhabited houses, 4 houses under construction, 2 dwellings that are temporary vessels. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 193,048 bushels of oats, 150,605 bushels of barley, 131,719 bushels of winter wheat, 99,144 bushels of potatoes, 70,020 bushels of other root crops, 61,363 bushels of turnips, 26,356 bushels of peas and beans, 16,535 bushels of spring wheat, 10,026 tons of hay, 9,877 acres of wheat, 8,302 bushels of corn, 7,618 acres of hay crops, 6,206 bushels of rye, 1,878 bushels of buckwheat, 1,042 acres of potatoes, 733 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 9 people 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 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 |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 5,873 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:
ON140001— 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 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). "Toronto, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/toronto-on140001-1881/.