Identifying Dwellings in the Canada Census of 1871/81

Question

I'm looking at a person who lived in Scarborough township of Ontario, Canada, in 1871 and 1881.  I can find him in the Canada Censuses for both years, but I would like to be able to figure out where he lived.  He was a farmer.  In the 1871 Census he lives in District 45 (East York), subdistrict C, division 1.  In 1881 he lives in District 135 (East York), subdistrict A, division 2.  However, I have no idea how to translate those references into actual locations.  Can anybody help me with this?  I am in the process of developing a 2nd great-granduncle's profile.

Answer 1

Do you have a link for the censuses?

It's usually not too difficult, to find the actual location, but I need a place to start.

Comments

On the profile for his brother Murison-253, there is a map of where he the brother settled. 

This map can be found here 

https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/showrecord.php?PersonID=50886

Another historical map project, has a John Morrison at 

First Name John

Last Name Morrison

County York

Township Vaughan

Concession VI

Lot 30

This map can be seen here 

https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/york.htm

Historical County Map of York County

Published by Tremaine, Year of Publication 1860.

---

Yes, I have already researched his brother William.  I have located his farm and discovered that the building still stands and is occupied today - quite possibly by his descendants.  I am trying to do the same for John, if this is possible.

In Canada, John went by Morrison.  You can find images of the originals for 1871 and 1881 here:

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-119.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=f0v3thhcgqvau3vslaruumn2a7&sqn=412&q2=26&q3=2117&tt=689

https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1881&op=img&id=e008183284

---

The map for John is at the link given above.

---

I'm not seeing it.  In Vaugan concession VI lot 30 there is Ann Morrison, no relation to John that I'm aware of.  In York SW at concession II CB lot 21there is a Morrison with no first name.  Where is the search that throws up this result?  There's something I'm not getting here :)

---

Is this him, living in Whitby (which is further east)  in 1901 married to a Betty, Betsy

"Canada Census, 1901", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHLT-QQZ : Wed Oct 04 22:57:48 UTC 2023), Entry for John Morrison and Bessie Morrison, 1901.

With this relatives as shown on a Family Search tree, the parents seem to be correct.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/MB9S-VRC

---

Yes, this is him.  I have a great deal of detail about his family relationships :)

Answer 2

Districts and Sub-districts: Census of Canada, 1871, Ontario

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/1871-ontario-districts.aspx

in 1871, C was Scarborough.

You can do the same with the 1881 census.

Comments

Yes, I get all that.  What I want to do is drill down from there to locate and identify the actual property where he lived, and understand what is on that location today.

Answer 3

The 1871 Census usually included an Agricultural Census with the Lot and Con. numbers of farms.  The regular census is on Schedule 1.  If you scroll to the last page of that schedule in which you found John, you should find additional schedules starting with Schedule 2.  These can give you a lot of details about the farm.  The 1881 Census usually did not include an Agricultural Census.  You will need the page number and line number of John's name from Schedule 1 to find his property on the additional schedules.  This usually works but some pages were lost and some census recorders did not follow the census taking instructions.

Once you have the Lot and Con. numbers you can then look at the Land Book Abstract online for that property to see changes in the title, that sometimes include the name of the wife and heirs.  The books are at onland.ca  Please let me know if you need help accessing the right book.

Comments

Fred, this is just what I needed, thank you.  I was able to find John's farm on the 1871 Census very quickly, and am now going to start on the 1881, which could be trickier ....

Thanks again :)

---

Fred, do you happen to know if there is a corresponding procedure for the pre-confederation 1861 Canada Census?

---

Census takers did not always follow the rules.  You will find some 1871 Agricultural Census records are not after the last page in that set.  This was the only census that was supposed to have an Agricultural Census but you can sometimes find a similar census in some other census years in some townships.  I have not found an index for these.  There were also township Assessments before there were census records.  These assessments were available at the Ontario Archives on microfilm and in some other collections.  A small number of these have been transcribed and I have seen some at ourontario.ca and Ontario genweb.  Local research groups sometimes know what is available in their area.  There are some first and early patent lists as well.  The McGill Historical Atlases for the 1870s and 1880s are online and also searchable by surname, but some of these do not list who was on each Lot and Concession.

---

Thank you again for the comprehensive answer .... but that last question was about the 1861 Census, and the same techniques you described for the 1871 and 1881 Censuses don't appear to be helping me here.

Richard