Windham, Ontario (1881 census)
Windham was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,913. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115263166. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.915°N, 80.425°W.
Population
In 1881, Windham had a population of 4,913: 2,560 male and 2,353 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 2,900 |
| 1861 | 4,095 |
| 1871 | 4,799 |
| 1881 | 4,913 |
| 1891 | 4,252 |
| 1901 | 3,884 |
| 1911 | 3,453 |
| 1921 | 3,259 |
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, Windham 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 4,913 total population, 2,560 males, 2,353 females, 1,836 married persons, 996 families, 922 married males, 914 married females, 151 widowed persons, 100 widowed females, 51 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,926 single persons under 18, 1,587 single males under 18, 1,339 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 988 occupied houses, 987 inhabited houses, 61 uninhabited houses, 10 houses under construction, 1 dwellings that are temporary shanties. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 130,913 bushels of corn, 122,600 bushels of oats, 81,553 bushels of winter wheat, 72,243 bushels of potatoes, 34,149 bushels of turnips, 20,989 bushels of peas and beans, 20,279 bushels of buckwheat, 7,932 bushels of barley, 7,654 bushels of other root crops, 7,174 acres of wheat, 5,811 tons of hay, 5,772 bushels of rye, 5,542 acres of hay crops, 2,064 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 728 acres of potatoes, 206 bushels of spring wheat. (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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jacob R Beamer | b. 1810 | born here |
| Israel Wood Powell | 1836–1915 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,914 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:
ON158003— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON131007_1891— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115263166
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). "Windham, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/windham-on158003-1881/.