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Using the 1891
Canadian Census
By Jean Nudd,
Archivist
The Friends
of the Silvio O. Conte National Archives recently purchased the microfilm
for the 1891 Canadian census. Records are organized by province, then by
county, and then by township or parish. Small towns and villages are
enumerated within their respective townships while larger towns and cities
are listed separately. It’s helpful to know the ward people lived in when
searching larger cities.1
The 1891 Canadian census was taken April 6,
1891. There are two types of returns, nominal and heads of family only.
Both types were used in 1891 but most provinces used the nominal returns
listing every member of the household. Victoria City in British Columbia,
however, lists only heads of household. Institutions were enumerated
separately and are on the last roll of microfilm.2
While Pittsfield doesn’t have indexes to the
1891 Canadian census, indexes for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Assiniboia are
available through the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society. An index to Prince
Edward Island is available online through a joint effort of the Public
Archives and Records Office and the Prince Edward Island Genealogical
Society <www.edu.pe.ca/paro/census/default.asp>.3
There are also indexes to Canadian census records available online for most
provinces for some years at <www.census-online.com/links/Canada/>.4
I checked Nova Scotia and found Antigonish and Inverness counties listed for
1891.
To locate the province and county for a
specific town, use the web site of National Resources Canada at <http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/english/cgndb.html>.
This searchable database has options for regions (Nova Scotia, Alberta,
Nunavut, etc.), as well as locality type (city, town, village, etc.). You
can also search current or former names as well as geographical names,
feature type or region. If you are searching for a village and need to know
the township or parish, consult a provincial gazetteer, or maps and
geographical information are available on-line; check with the Canada GenWeb
Project for links to specific sites.5
Just as when using the 1930 U.S. census, if you
are looking in a large city and don’t have an exact address, the best place
to look is a city directory. Unfortunately, most U.S. libraries don’t hold
Canadian city directories. The volunteers and researchers who have used our
1891 Canadian census films so far are doing the only thing possible at this
time, reading the schedules to find someone.
Here is a short list of the
films:
T-6290 to T-6292: British Columbia
T-6293 to T-6297: Manitoba
T-6298 to T-6308: New Brunswick
T-6309 to T-6322: Nova Scotia
T-6323 to T-6381: Ontario (6369 to 6373
Toronto)
T-6382 to T-6384: Prince Edward Island
T-6385 to T-6425: Quebec
T-6426: Northwest Territories
T-6427: Institutions
The films are arranged alphabetically first by
province, then by county, and then township or parish and last by city, town
or village within each township or parish. For example, on roll T-6292,
first is the province of British Columbia, then the county of Vancouver, and
the township of Victoria with the communities of Esquimalt, Victoria and
Victoria City. Next on the roll is the county of Yale with the communities
of Cache Creek, Douglas Lake, Grand Prairie, Hope, Kamloops, Kootenay,
Lytton, Merritt, Metchosin, Nicola, Okanagan Mission, Osoyoos, Priest
Valley, Princeton, Spallumcheen, Spences Bridge and Yale.
It’s not always possible from the brief
descriptions on the finding aid to determine if the place is a township or a
village within a township. Pay attention to the punctuation on the film
labels and in the roll list in the finding aid (located on the census
table). Here is an example:
T-6314: Nova Scotia: Halifax – Indian Harbor,
Polling District Nos. 7-15, Prospect; Halifax (City)-Wards 3, 4, and 6;
Halifax (County) – Bedford, Fergusons Cove, French Village, Hacketts Cove,
Northwest Arm, Portuguese Cove, Sambro, Spryfield
T-6314 is the roll number. Nova Scotia is the
province. Halifax is the county. Townships, cities and towns are Indian
Harbor, Polling District Nos. 7-15, Prospect; Halifax (City)-Wards 3, 4, and
6. Then again in Halifax County are the communities of Bedford, Fergusons
Cove, French Village, Hacketts Cove, Northwest Arm, Portuguese Cove, Sambro
and Spryfield. When roll labels and finding aid descriptions are longer, it
becomes even more complicated.
I looked at roll
T-6426, Northwest Territories. Some of the pages were difficult to read and
contained limited information while others were very legible and filled out
completely. The Territories schedules list mostly Native Americans, listing
district, date of enumeration, enumerator, names of persons living, sex,
age, marital status, relation to head of household, country or province of
birth, place of birth of father and mother, religion, occupation and
employer, type of worker, literacy, and infirmities. For more populated
areas, the first 3 columns also give street, house and dwelling numbers
similar to the U.S. census.6
So, if you’re planning on looking at the 1891
Canadian census, be sure to know where the person was living! Use on-line
resources where available, such as the Canada GenWeb project, but be
prepared to spend time reading the schedules.
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1.
<www.archives.ca/02/02020205_e.html>, “How and where to consult census
records,” accessed
September 24, 2002, p. 2.
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