Bécancour, Quebec (1861 census)
Bécancour was a census subdivision in Quebec, recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada with a population of 3,668. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q14875509. The administrative centroid was at approximately 46.331°N, 72.411°W.
Population
In 1861, Bécancour had a population of 3,668: 1,829 male and 1,839 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 3,408 |
| 1861 | 3,668 |
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 Ste. Angèle, 1871 (23.2% of this CSD's polygon).
- In a later year, this CSD contained Bécancour, 1871 (76.8% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1861
In the 1861 census, Bécancour shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1861
The 1861 census recorded 162 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 6 categories.
Population & families (1861). This community's record includes 3,668 total population, 1,839 females, 1,829 males, Female members of the family who are present: 1,797, Male members of the family who are present: 1,786, 1,250 single males, 1,232 single females, 545 married females, 543 married males, 381 adult males unable to read or write, 360 females attending school, 338 males attending school, 250 adult females unable to read or write, 62 male births, 62 widowed females, 60 female births, Males present who are not members of the family: 43, Females present who are not members of the family: 42, 36 widowed males, 9 lunatic females, 7 lunatic males, 2 blind females, 2 blind males, 2 deaf and dumb females. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.)
Age structure (1861). This community's record includes 266 males aged 5 to 10, 266 single males aged 10 to 15, 264 females aged 5 to 10, 232 single females aged 10 to 15, 219 single males aged 15 to 20, 204 single females aged 15 to 20, 166 single females aged 20 to 30, 163 single males aged 20 to 30, 159 married females aged 30 to 40, 140 married males aged 30 to 40, 132 married females aged 20 to 30, 126 married males aged 40 to 50, 111 married females aged 40 to 50, 92 married males aged 20 to 30, 90 married males aged 50 to 60, 74 married females aged 50 to 60, 73 females aged 1 to 2, 67 males aged 2 to 3, 63 married males aged 60 to 70, 60 males aged 3 to 4, 60 males aged 4 to 5, 59 females age 3 to 4, 57 females aged 4 to 5, 49 married females aged 60 to 70, 47 males aged 1 to 2, 40 females aged 2 to 3, 35 single females aged 30 to 40, 30 married males aged 70 to 80, 22 single males aged 30 to 40, 16 single females aged 40 to 50, 15 married females aged 70 to 80, 14 single females aged 50 to 60, 12 widowed females aged 80 to 90, 12 widowed males aged 70 to 80, 11 widowed females aged 40 to 50, 11 widowed females aged 50 to 60, 11 widowed males aged 60 to 70, 10 widowed females aged 60 to 70, 8 widowed females aged 70 to 80, 5 single males aged 50 to 60, 5 single males aged 60 to 70, 5 widowed females aged 30 to 40, 5 widowed males aged 40 to 50, 5 widowed males aged 50 to 60, 4 single females aged 60 to 70, 4 single males aged 40 to 50, 3 females of unknown age, 3 males of unknown age, 3 married females aged 15 to 20, 3 single females aged 70 to 80, 3 widowed females aged 90 to 100, 3 widowed males aged 80 to 90, 2 married females aged 80 to 90, 2 widowed females aged 20 to 30, 1 married males aged 15 to 20, 1 married males aged 80 to 90. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded 1 single males aged 90 to 100 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Ethnic origin (1861). This community's record includes 3,653 French Canadians, 15 persons native to Canada, not of French origin. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1861). This community's record includes $727,232 value farms (dollars), $85,546 value all livestock, 67,443 bushels of oats, 54,255 pounds of homemade butter, 46,386 pounds of maple sugar, $35,393 value horses aged over 3 years, 27,107 acres of land in farms, 21,512 bushels of potatoes, 14,028 acres of farmland under cultivation, 13,079 acres of farmland in woodland or forest, $12,675 value farm implements in dollars, 10,355 bushels of spring wheat, 9,918 pounds of flax or hemp, 8,925 acres of farmland under crops, 8,635 pounds of wool produced on farms, 6,307 tons of hay, 5,250 bushels of buckwheat, 5,026 acres of farmland in pasture, 3,896 bushels of rye, 3,539 bushels of barley, $3,377 value garden and orchard crops, 3,225 sheep, 2,924 acres of oats, 2,768 bushels of peas, 1,438 bulls, oxen, or steers, 1,258 milk cows, 1,210 calves and heifers, 1,091 barrels of pork, 1,058 acres of spring wheat, 881 bushels of corn, 878 swine, 624 horses aged over 3 years, 357 occupants of farms, 333 acres of rye, 289 acres of buckwheat, 262 acres of peas, 250 bushels of turnips, 234 barrels of beef, 187 acres of barley, 176 acres of potatoes, 125 persons living on farms between 50 and 100 acres, 120 horses aged 3 years and under, 112 persons living on farms between 20 and 50 acres, 77 acres of farmland in gardens, 67 persons living on farms between 100 and 200 acres, 38 acres of farmland held by townspeople who are not farmers, 30 pounds of cheese produced on farms, 27 acres of corn, 20 persons living on farms over 200 acres, 17 persons living on farms under 10 acres, 16 persons living on farms between 10 and 20 acres, 5 bushels of beans, 1 acres of turnips. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Manufacturing & industry (1861). This community's record includes $12,492 value carriages for pleasure (dollars), 10,571 yards of linen, 6,028 yards of flannel, 4,146 yards of fulled cloth, 648 carriages for pleasure. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V2T11.)
Deaths & mortality (1861). This community's record includes 34 total number of deaths, Deaths in the past year among males of all ages: 20, Deaths in the past year among females of all ages: 14, Deaths in the past year among males under age 1: 7, Deaths in the past year among females under age 1: 6, Deaths in the past year among males aged 2 to 3: 3, Deaths in the past year among males aged 5 to 10: 3, Deaths in the past year among females aged 70 to 80: 2, Deaths in the past year among females aged 10 to 15: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 2 to 3: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 40 to 50: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 5 to 10: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 50 to 60: 1, Deaths in the past year among females aged 60 to 70: 1, Deaths in the past year among males age 3 to 4: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 40 to 50: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 50 to 60: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 60 to 70: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 70 to 80: 1, Deaths in the past year among males aged 80 to 90: 1. (Source: 1861 Census of Canada, V1T5.) The 1861 enumerator also recorded Deaths in the past year among males aged 90 to 100: 1 — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
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 1861, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Nicolas-Tolentin Hébert | 1810–1888 | born here |
| Luc Desilets | 1831–1888 | born here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
QC038001— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_QC038001— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q14875509
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9cancour,_Quebec_(community)
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9cancour_(village)
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1861 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). "Bécancour, Quebec (1861 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/qc/b-cancour-qc038001-1861/.