Whitchurch, Ontario (1881 census)
Whitchurch was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,529. The administrative centroid was at approximately 44.014°N, 79.356°W.
Population
In 1881, Whitchurch had a population of 4,529: 2,380 male and 2,149 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 4,758 |
| 1861 | 6,795 |
| 1871 | 5,014 |
| 1881 | 4,529 |
| 1891 | 4,019 |
| 1901 | 3,619 |
| 1911 | 3,479 |
| 1921 | 3,529 |
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, Whitchurch 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 4,529 total population, 2,380 males, 2,149 females, 1,626 married persons, 891 families, 816 married males, 810 married females, 150 widowed persons, 100 widowed females, 50 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,753 single persons under 18, 1,514 single males under 18, 1,239 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 890 occupied houses, 869 inhabited houses, 21 dwellings that are temporary shanties, 20 uninhabited houses, 3 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 200,323 bushels of oats, 104,482 bushels of turnips, 93,562 bushels of barley, 69,687 bushels of potatoes, 63,120 bushels of peas and beans, 46,463 bushels of winter wheat, 44,950 bushels of other root crops, 32,080 bushels of spring wheat, 6,729 acres of wheat, 5,825 tons of hay, 4,852 acres of hay crops, 4,554 bushels of rye, 3,398 bushels of corn, 2,455 bushels of buckwheat, 640 acres of potatoes, 585 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 2 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Playter | 1834–1909 | born here |
| William Wilfred Campbell | 1860–1918 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,529 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:
ON137003— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON154009— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: not yet grounded. This page covers a place whose persistent identity has not yet been linked to a Wikidata entity. Identification is via TCP UID and spatial polygon only.
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). "Whitchurch, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/whitchurch-on137003-1881/.