Townsend, Ontario (1871 census)
Townsend was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1871 Census of Canada with a population of 5,474. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115263014. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.941°N, 80.253°W.
Population
In 1871, Townsend had a population of 5,474: 2,794 male and 2,680 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 4,935 |
| 1861 | 5,742 |
| 1871 | 5,474 |
| 1881 | 4,963 |
| 1891 | 4,291 |
| 1901 | 4,017 |
| 1911 | 3,763 |
| 1921 | 3,797 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Boundary continuity (non-identical overlaps)
Spatial polygon overlaps with adjacent census years where the boundary shifted enough that the SAME_AS chain didn't merge them. These show where the territory came from and went to even when it isn't tracked as the same persistent place.
Later boundary forms
- In a later year, this CSD contained Waterford, VL, 1881 (0.9% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1871
In the 1871 census, Townsend 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 5,474 total population, 2,794 males, 2,680 females, 1,959 married persons, 1,069 families, 982 married males, 977 married females, 140 widowed persons, 104 widowed females, 36 widowed males. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1871). This community's record includes 3,375 single persons under 18, 1,776 single males under 18, 1,599 single females under 18. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1871). This community's record includes 1,038 occupied houses, 1,028 inhabited houses, 22 uninhabited houses, 10 dwellings that are temporary shanties, 2 houses under construction. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1871). This community's record includes 67,715 total area (acres). (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
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 1871, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| John Harris | 1841–1887 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON012003— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON131004— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115263014
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). "Townsend, Ontario (1871 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/townsend-on012003-1871/.