1861 Census of Canada West - The Census That Keeps Giving Challenges

One of my fellow genealogy researchers sent me the following question:

"I have found the 1861 agricultural census for Huron County in Canada West.  I have searched through the pages, and the only page for Stanley Township is found on page 1274 of 1274 pages.  On the LAC webpage, I tried changing the number at the end of the sequence, as you advised, and the next image says "end of reel".  Increasing the number I find a list of Townships and eventually I get an error message.  I think that probably means there are no more images.

Sadly my Alexander Fraser, on lot 29, Concession V is not on the single page for Stanley Township, and therefore his information is lost to the angels.

Is there anywhere else I can search?  Possibly a microfilm at LAC?"

It just seems like the 1861 Census of Canada West keeps giving us challenges.

Curiously, I had experienced a very similar problem in February so I actually had knew where to start. Yet, like all adventures, I really didn't know where this journey would ultimately take me and the discoveries I'd make.

The short answer to that initial question was to look at the Census of Canada, 1861 collection on FamilySearch. Many of these microfilms in this collection aren't available for viewing from home but only at a FamilySearch Center and not a FamilySearch Affiliate. However, in this case we were lucky enough that the "ONTARIO Huron (townships of Usborne and Wawanosh, and agricultural census)" (Film 349282 / DGS 4108085) is available for viewing from home. On image 530 of 597 of that digitized microfilm we find Alexander Fraser, recorded on line 47, as residing on part of lot 29, concession 5. So that was almost easy.

"Census of Canada, 1861," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6G1Z-Q9B : accessed 25 May 2023), Agricultural Census, Huron District, Stanley Township Sub-district, Enumeration District No. 4, stamped page 146; DGS 4108085, image 530 of 597.

 

However, like much of our research, there is much more to this question than we can imagine. So let's dig into the challenges and discoveries I encountered.

My colleague mentioned that they looked for the images on the Library and Archives Canada site using the techniques I mention in blog posts "A Challenge: 1861 Census of Canada - Agricultural Schedule" and "Missing images from the 1861 Census of Canada West on Ancestry?". However, the LAC reel ended with the pages for Enumeration District No. 1 for Ward No. 1 Stanley in the County of Huron, Canada West and then the dreaded "CONTINUED-NEXT REEL" image.

"Census of 1861," images, Library and Archives Canada (https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4391938_00688 : accessed 25 May 2023), List of sub-districts for Huron District with "CONTINUED-NEXT REEL" notation; microfilm C-1037.

 

We actually find that image on FamilySearch as image 505 on the "ONTARIO Huron (townships of Usborne and Wawanosh, and agricultural census)" (Film 349282 / DGS 4108085) film. But if the digitized reel ends on the Library and Archives Canada site how can it continue on the FamilySearch digitized film? Even more importantly, where is that image for Stanley Township on the FamilySearch film to be found on the LAC site?

This is where we need to look at the "Districts and Sub-districts: Census of 1861, Canada West" page at Library and Archives Canada and look at the list of physical microfilms for the Huron district. This list doesn't include the Agricultural Census in the list of Sub district names but, based on looking on the various images on the LAC digitized reel and on FamilySearch, it would appear that the Huron County Agricultural Census is found on microfilm C-1037. If the Agricultural Census is supposedly continued on the next reel, it might be safe to assume (a dangerous word in any research endeavour) that the rest of the Agricultural Census is found on microfilm C-1038. Looking on the list of microfilms on the "Districts and Sub-districts: Census of 1861, Canada West" page we see that the Population Census for Camden and Gore sub-district of Kent County are found on microfilm C-1038.

We can use the Advanced Search Options on LAC for the Census of 1861 to go to the first page of the Population Census for Camden and Gore Townships of Kent County.

Screen capture of the Library and Archives Canada Search: Census of 1861 form with Advanced Search Options shown searching for Canada West, District Name Kent, Sub-District Name Camden, Page Number 1.

Picking the first name returned we notice that the id in the URL pointing to the image on the LAC site is 4391555_00098. For those who have used my tips of searching and wandering through the images of the Census of 1861 on the LAC site you probably will be thinking "Hmmm, we are already on image 98. What might be on those earlier images?"

Starting at image 4391555_00001 we can step through the images until we get to something interesting. On image 10 of LAC's digitized microfilm we find an image just like what we saw at the end of the last LAC digitized microfilm, an image listing the sub-districts of the Huron District. By image 12 we start seeing the Agricultural Census for Enumeration District No. 2 of the Township of Stanley for the County of Huron. Lo and behold, a few images later on the Library and Archives Canada site, we find the same image we found on FamilySearch for Enumeration District No. 4 of Stanley Township in the County of Huron on LAC's image id 4391555_00028.

Just a moment...

FamilySearch has this Agricultural Census all together on a single digitized microfilm and Library and Archives Canada has it spread across two digitized microfilms. 

What is going on? 

Which "digitized microfilm" accurately reflects the actual microfilm? 

I'm fortunate to live in Ottawa where the main LAC public facility is located so this question warranted a trip in to check the physical microfilm(s). Unsurprisingly, the LAC digitized microfilms would appear to be a true and accurate copy of the physical microfilms. The County of Huron Agricultural Census for 1861 is spread across two physical microfilms.

It seems that, at least in this case, the FamilySearch Image Group Number (DGS) film 4108085 is not a true copy of the physical microfilm. All the details are there but they have "helped" us out by splicing together images from several physical microfilms. It's just one more thing to watch for in our research and possible citations.

What about my fellow researcher's challenge with finding the image on Ancestry?

I've noted in my own travels that Ancestry has done some strange things with the Census of 1861 and how the images have been put together on their virtual filmstrip. My colleague had found the image for the Agricultural Census of Enumeration District no. 1 for Ward No. 1 Stanley in Huron County on page 1274 of 1274. The URL that Ancestry uses to display that image is https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391938_00686. That image number in the Ancestry URL really looks like the image id from Library and Archives Canada. So plugging in the number from LAC we can create the Ancestry URL https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391555_00028. Going to that web address we find that image we found on the LAC and FamilySearch sites. 

But it is image 438 of 1274 on Ancestry's virtual filmstrip! 

Ancestry, in their creation of their virtual filmstrip, has placed the images from LAC's microfilm C-1038 for the County of Huron smack dab between the Personal Census Enumeration District No. 3 Ward of the Township of Hay in the County of Huron, stamped page 25 (image 430) and Personal Census Enumeration District No. 3 Ward of the Township of Hay in the County of Huron, stamped page 27 (image 473). Talk about confusing!

Ultimately it turns out that Ancestry had not properly indexed the entries on that Agricultural Census page since the entry for Alexander Fraser is only listed under his Given Name "Alexander" and no surname has been transcribed into the index. About a quarter of the names on that page are missing the surname. Even knowing the stamped page number didn't help me out. With not putting any names in and searching on just the exact keyword "agricultural" and the exact page number "146"  for anyone who lived in "Huron, Ontario, Canada" Ancestry returned 5774 entries and my listed started on page 137. That's why my fellow research couldn't find their Alexander Fraser in the index. Ancestry really doesn't make it easy for us at times!

Of course, another issue with the images on Ancestry is that they only imaged the first page of the two page forms so we still need to use the images available on the Library and Archives Canada site to see the whole picture of what is recorded for each person or lot. I've covered that challenge in "Missing images from the 1861 Census of Canada West on Ancestry?"

I wonder (and sort of dread) what the next challenge the Census of 1861 for Canada West will bring!

1931 Census of Canada - Are You Ready?

If everything works out, in under a month the Seventh Census of Canada which took place on June 1, 1931 will be released to the public on the Library and Archives Canada web site on June 1, 2023.

Library and Archives Canada has been keeping us up to date with what is happening through their "Preparing the 1931 Census" page. 

What Do We Know So Far?

• Statistics Canada transferred the care and control of the 1931 Census of Canada to Library and Archives Canada on 1 Jan 2023.
• The record for the archival description of the 1931 Census of Canada have been added to the Library and Archives Canada catalogue as Reference R233-179-4-E, RG31.
• There are 187 microfilm reels that have been digitized creating 234,678 images.
• Library and Archives Canada has partnered with Ancestry and FamilySearch to transcribe the key information from the 1931 Census of Canada in order to create a searchable index.
• Initially the digitized images will be available on the Library and Archives Canada site on 1 Jun 2023 and they will be grouped by districts and sub-districts.

From the archival reference we also learn the following details:

• The original paper census returns were microfilmed in the 1950s by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.
• The original paper census returns were destroyed.
• In 2005-2006, Statistics Canada copied the microfilms created in the 1950s to make a new master since there were concerns about potential degradation of the older microfilms.
• Forms 1A and 1B, along with the special form for the North West Territories, which contain the the population schedule forms may be all that we get. The other schedules may not have been microfilmed in the 1950s. However, we likely won't know what made it to be microfilmed until this census is released to the public.

So what will these forms look like? Here is a sample of Form 1A from the Canadian Century Research Infrastructure site. 

Sample of Form 1A for the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931 retrieved from the Canadian Century Research Infrastructure Census Schedules page.

We can also see the various columns for the questions asked for Form 1 (Population schedule) for the 1931 Census of Canada on page 1445 in Volume 1 of the Report of the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931. In that same report in Appendix II we can see a few of the other forms that were used. How many of those other forms were microfilmed in the 1950s and later digitized is unknown as I write this blog post.

What About the Questions Asked? 

For that we can refer to the "Seventh census of Canada 1931, instructions to commissioners and enumerators" available to us from the Government of Canada Publications web site for free. 

 

Canada. Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Seventh census of Canada 1931, instructions to commissioners and enumerators. Ottawa, 1931. https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832323/publication.html.

We find important details such as the "Date for recording population" described in detail:

"The date selected for recording the population in the present Census is Monday, the first day of June, 1931. The decisive hour of reckoning is 12 o'clock or midnight on the night of 31st of May to 1st June; everyone born before that hour and everyone dying after it are to be counted in the population."

Of course, as we have seen in the previous enumerations, sometimes folks got the instructions wrong so caveat lector. We also learn that Canada is still using the "de jure" system for enumeration. Quoting from the instructions, they write, "Briefly, this means that the home of usual place of abode is the place where the majority of persons should be counted." There are several pages throughout the instructions just explaining this in detail for the enumerator. This is an important difference when compared to other countries and I've discussed it in my post "Annie Leontine Chipman and a Census Mystery".

Our Preparations

If you know that someone was alive on 1 Jun 1931 and resided in Canada then you will probably want to look for them in the 1931 Census of Canada. But how do you figure that out?

Some of the genealogy programs actually provide tools to suggest likely candidates:

RootsMagic has their "Who Was There List" where you can ask it to give its best guess on who was in Canada on 1 Jun 1931.

Screen capture from RootsMagic v7 "Who Was There List" Report Settings screen.

Legacy Family Tree has their Census List Search tool where, like RootsMagic, you can provide information about the place and time. What I like about the Legacy Family Tree tool is that I can ask for it to be filtered by the odds of them still being in Canada on a specific date.

Screen capture from Legacy Family Tree v9 "Search Census List" search settings screen.

For those using Family Tree Maker (FTM) it requires a bit of work on our part to create a list. With FTM you need to use various filters. The Genealogical Forum of Oregon has instructions for the 1950 Federal Census of the United States for "Creating a 'People Alive in 1950' List" that can be adapted for the 1931 Census of Canada by substituting the applicable dates.

• Filter Out Birth before 1821 [those with known births older than 110 years]
• Filter Out Death before 1 Jun 1931
• Filter Out Birth after 1 Jun 1931

I have 16162 individuals in my cousin bait tree on Ancestry and linked to FTM on my computer. Depending on who you include from the start in your filter the numbers left will great vary. For example:

• If I start with "Include all", after I apply the date filters I have 13307 individuals. Yikes!
• Starting with "Ancestors of me [including all parents, all spouses, and ancestors' descendants for 10 generations]" I end up with 5353 individuals. Better but still yikes! 
• However, if I start my filter with "Filter In Any Fact Places Contains Canada" then I end up with 4307 individuals. Still a lot of folks but this one might work for me if I was using Family Tree Maker.

For other genealogy programs try an Internet search to see how you can use filters or searches to create a list of people who may have been alive in 1931 and could possibly appear in the 1931 Census of Canada.

Other Tips

Dave Obee also has an excellent write-up on his CanGenealogy site on 1931 census research tips that may help you in looking through this census before the name searchable indexes are available. One of his links points you to the Scholars GeoPortal site with the Boundary Files, 1931 Census of Canada which allows you to possibly figure out the district and sub-district where your kin resided in the census, assuming you know where they were in Canada.

Also pay attention to the various genealogy society announcements for presentations and webinars providing more tips.

So have fun when the images are released on the Library and Archives Canada site!