Vancouver Island Historical Census Data

The 1881 census of Vancouver Island is based on information recorded by enumerators during the 2nd decennial Census of Canada. The Dominion census of 1881 was the first national census to include the province of British Columbia.

The province was divided into five census districts, which corresponded broadly with federal electoral districts. Two of the five census districts -- District No. 190 (Victoria) and District No. 191 (Vancouver) -- cover the geographical area of Vancouver Island and the principal Gulf Islands of British Columbia. The northern end of Vancouver Island, which corresponded with the Kwawkewlth (Indian) Agency, was included in District No. 187 (New Westminster).

The target date for the 1881 census was April 4th. That is, although the enumeration process took several months to complete, enumerators were instructed to record the population as it existed on 4 April 1881.

Information was recorded on eight separate “schedules” pertaining to the condition of the people and to the nation’s economic activities. Of the eight schedules, only Schedule 1 (Nominal Return of the Living) survived in manuscript form. For details on the information recorded on Schedule 1, refer to the Notes on Enumeration Categories.

Summary of Census Enumerators' Instructions, 1881

Nanaimo VI British Columbia, Saturday, April 2, 1881

The Census

In view of the approaching of the census throughout the Dominion, a glance at the extent and nature of the work, with the mode of carrying it out, will be found interesting. The particulars as they are given have been gleaned from the list of instructions and schedule of subjects, which are made out for the guidance of the Commissioners and Enumerators, respectively. The instructions are minute and relate to every subject in such a manner that it is next to impossible that mistakes can be made.

All persons will be registered in the Province and locality in which their home and family reside, whether they may be absent, such as fishermen, or lumbermen, or those who are travelling abroad. The names of such persons temporarily absent will be taken as being present. Therefore, names of seamen at sea, college students and children at schools, sick in hospitals, charitable or penal institutions, are to be taken as if they were at home. And an enumerator finding any person whose home or dwelling is in any other will not make any entry of that name, as it will be taken in the Province where his home is.

Servants come under the three categories following:

1. Those having, or belonging to, families or homes of their own in the Dominion are to be taken with their own families.
2. Those not having homes as above are to be taken with the families with whom they are living.
3. Those in settled employment and resident with any family are to be taken as not having a home or their own.

Persons having no family abode, and no fixed domicile, will be taken wherever they are found, whether on board ships, in schools, in shanties, private houses, or elsewhere. Orphans in public institutions, and persons in asylums, and prisoners without family abode, or sentenced for life, will be taken where they happen to be.

A family, as understood for the purpose of the census, may consist of one person living alone or any number of persons living together under one roof, and having their food provided together.

The census returns of Population and Property are to consist of facts as they exist on the 4th day of April, 1881. Returns, which are to embrace a yearly period, such as the number of births and deaths, the enumeration of products, etc., are to be counted for the twelve months immediately preceding the 4th of April. Therefore, any person who was alive on the 4th of April, 1881, although he may have died between that date and the date of the enumerator’s visit, is to be recorded as if living; and for the same reason infants who may have been born after the 4th of April, 1881, are not to be recorded, whether dead or alive.

The enumerator will himself write the answers given to the questions arising out of the headings in the most scrupulous manner. The information must be the definite answer of the person to whom the question is to be put; and the enumerator is never to take upon himself to insert anything which is not stated or distinctly acknowledged by the person giving the information. But an enumerator may assist the person giving the information so far as to point out an apparent error, or indicate a fact omitted. In every case he must read over the facts he has taken to the person from whom he has obtained them, for checking the correctness of his entries.

In case or refusal of any person to answer questions put, which are necessary to obtain information required for filing the schedules, or of the enumerator receiving any information which is apparently untrue, it is the duty of [of the enumerator] to warn the person against the consequences of such criminal course; and if it is persisted in, it is his duty then to bring the offender to justice, as provided by the Act.

The enumerator must endeavor, taking for his guide the spirit of the law:

1. Not to omit anything of importance.
2. Not to record the same thing twice.
3. Not to exxagerate anything.
4. Not to underrate anything.

The intercourse of the enumerators with the public is required to be marked with discretion and forbearance. Persons are to be assumed that nothing taken down can by possibility injure or affect their standing or business; as the enumerator is sworn not to make known any circumstances whatever to any person, except to sworn officers of the Department, who are also sworn to secrecy. The commissioners and enumerators are forbidden to give any synopsis of the result of the census, or any part thereof, to anyone. The result will be given by the Department at the earliest possible period.

The enumerator must himself, in every case, go to every dwelling or industrial establishment in each district or division at which enquiry is to be made.

The information sought for in this census relates solely (with the exception of the returns of population and deaths) to the amount of property held at the time of taking the census, and to the total amount of products of the last 12 months before such taking. For example, a farmer reports having grown 500 bushels of wheat, of which he has consumed 100 bushels, sold 200 bushels and has still on hand 200 bushels. The whole 500 bushels must be set down in the census, because the farmer appears simply as a producer. On the other hand, the storekeeper or merchant who has purchased the wheat has nothing to enter in the census for this. So with a manufacturer who has manufactured 10,000 yards of cloth during the last 12 months. He is to enter the whole 10,000 yards, no matter what portion he has sold, or what he still has in stock.

The instructions to the enumerators are very explicit throughout the part of the work which is to be performed by them, to be careful in every matter that us to be entered to avoid mistakes, to be respectful to their bearing, and to ensure correct information on the points they have under enquiry.

Subjects

There are eight schedules, which are as follows:

1. Nominal return of the living.
2. Return of deaths.
3. Real estate, public institutions, and industrial establishments.
4. Occupied lands, field products, plants, fruits, and other products.
5. Live stock, animal products, home-made fabrics, and furs.
6. Products of the forest.
7. Shipping and fisheries.
8. Mineral products.

Every person will be registered by name, [and] by family, taken from house to house. There is a column for vessels, with persons on board; one for temporary buildings, one for houses in construction or uninhabited. In entering a the religion, the enumerator must be careful to enter the information given by the person questioned. The profession, trade, or occupation must be entered in fall, as given.

The registry of deaths is required to be made with extreme care and attention. The causes of death are to be ascertained as nearly as possible without losing time.

Real estate, public institutions, and industrial establishments will include the total number of acres of land in the Dominion; and all the intitutions of a religious, scholastic, charitable, penal character; and an industrial establishment is to be known as any place where manufacturing, altering, making up, or changing from one shape into another materials for sale, use or consumption is carried on.

The schedule for occupied lands, field products, etc., will refer to lands in actual occupation.

Schedule No. 5, relating to livestock, animal products, etc., does not require to be further mentioned.

The products of the forest are to be considered as those articles being in the state in which they are got out simply, and not confounded with returns from saw mills. The census standard for registering logs is made equal to 100 superficial feet of sawed lumber; in other words, one log will be counted for every 100 feet of lumber, which may be got from a given quantity of legs.

Shipping and fisheries will set out the number of vessel owners, the tonnage, number of vessels, number of fishermen, and the quantities of fish caught.

Mineral products will relate exclusively to the extraction of mineral prducts, and do not in any way refer to the quantity manufactured into the article of use or consumption.

Source: Nanaimo Free Press (2 April 1881], p.1

Sub Districts

In the 1881 census of Canada, Vancouver Island and adjacent Gulf Islands were enumerated in three large census districts: New Westminster (District 187), Victoria (District 190) and Vancouver (District 191). The districts covered the following regions.

You can also view census districts on an interactive page.

North Island (District 187)

The northern end of the Island was enumerated as sub-district D4 in Census District 187 (New Westminster). This sub-district formed part of the Kwawkewlth Indian Agency. The sub-district extended from Quatsino Sound on the northwest coast of the Island, up to Cape Scott and down along the northeast coast to the entrance of Johnstone Strait. The Kwakwakwakawakw people — also known as Kwawkewelth and Kwakiutl — were enumerated here by George Blenkinsop, the federal government official responsible for the Kwawkewlth Agency. Blenkinsop identified 14 separate “tribes” and nearly 400 households or families. He also recorded half a dozen non-native households, including his own, at Fort Rupert and at Alert Bay on Cormoront Island. More information about this sub-district is provided on the First Nations page.

In the 1881 census, the population of this sub-district was 1,215.

Victoria (District 190)

The city of Victoria constituted Census District 190. The city was divided into 3 sub-districts, which corresponded to the city's 3 wards — Yates Street Ward (190A), Johnson Street Ward (190B), and James Bay Ward (190C). The outlying areas were enumerated as Victoria District (190E) and Esquimalt & Methchosin (190D). For more information on sub-districts in the capital region, see the Victoria District page.

The city of Victoria was divided into three sub-districts, which corresponded to the city's three wards — Yates Street Ward (190A), Johnson Street Ward (190B), and James Bay Ward (190C).

The outlying areas were enumerated as Victoria District (190E) and Esquimalt & Methchosin (190D).

The descriptions of Victoria's wards are taken from the city's by-laws.

Subdistricts

190A: Yates Street Ward

The Yates Street Ward shall include all that tract of land lying between the southern boundary line of Johnson Street Ward and a line commencing at the western extremity of Fort Street and running thence easterly along the centre of Fort Street and the Cadboro Bay Road to the City boundary stone at Mitchell's Nursery. [Mitchell's Nursery was located near the corner of Fort Street &St Charles Street.]

190B: Johnson Street Ward

The Johnson Street Ward shall include all that tract of land lying between the northern boundary line of the Corporation and a line running along the centre of Johnson Street from the ferry easterly, and a straight continuation of such line to the eastern boundary line of the Corporation, district number 74 and thence in a straight line to the City boundary stone on the Cadboro Bay Road at Mitchell's Nursery. [The northern boundary of the City ran from Rock Bay to Cedar Hill Road.]

190C: James Bay Ward

The James Bay Ward shall include all that tract of land lying between the southern boundary line of Yates Street Ward on the one hand and the southern boundary line of the Corporation on the other side.

190D: Victoria District

Victoria District took in the neighbourhoods of Fairfield and Fernwood and outlying areas located within the present-day municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich.

190E: Esquimalt &Metchosin

Esquimalt included the naval base and Metchosin extended out to Witty's Lagoon.

In the 1881 census, the population of Victoria (District 190) was 7,295.

Vancouver (District 191)

This district covered nearly all of Vancouver Island beyond the city and district of Victoria. It included the Saanich peninsula and the Gulf Islands, farming communities in the Cowichan and Comox Valleys, and the city of Nanaimo. For a more detailed description of the sub-districts, please see the notes on Vancouver District. Census District 191 also included major sub-districts in the West Coast Indian Agency and the Cowichan Indian Agency. Information on how the aboriginal people in these agencies were enumerated is provided on the First Nations page.

This district covered nearly all of Vancouver Island beyond the city and district of Victoria. It included the Saanich peninsula and the Gulf Islands, farming communities in the Cowichan and Comox Valleys, and the city of Nanaimo. Census District 191 also included major sub-districts in the West Coast Indian Agency and the Cowichan Indian Agency.

Subdistricts

191 A: Nanaimo &Nanoose Bay

Includes Gabriola and Texada Islands.

191 B

Mainly settlers in the Comox valley; also Denman and Hornby Islands.

191 C

Cowichan valley; Salt Spring, Galiano, Mayne, and Pender Islands.

191 D

Saanich peninsula.

191 E

Sooke; Lake District &Highlands District beyond Victoria.

191 F1: West Coast

This sub-district consists of a dozen households (mainly traders and missionaries) along the western coast of Vancouver Island from Barclay Sound to Kyuquot Sound.

191 F2: Eastern Coast

This sub-district embraces the Hul'qumi'num-speaking people on the south-east portion of Vancouver Island. This portion of the Cowichan Agency extends from the Cowichan River north to Comox. Indian Agent W. H. Lomas enumerated 20 “sub-tribes” here. The “sub-tribes” are identified in the viHistory database as “bands."

191 F3

This sub district number was not used in the census.

191 F4: Southern Straits

This sub-district was part of the Cowichan Indian Agency and was enumerated by W. H. Lomas. It includes 10 separate “sub-tribes” or bands located at Sooke, at Beecher Bay, and on the Saanich peninsula. It also includes Lekwammen people (recorded here as Songhees) at Esquimalt and Victoria.

191 F5: Western Coast

Extending from Otter Point to Cape Cook on the west coast of Vancouver Island, this district embraced 20 Nuu-chah-nulth tribes, from the Pacheena at the south to the Chekleset at the northern end of the agency. The Nuu-chah-nulth were enumerated by Indian Agent Harry Guillod.

In the 1881 census, the population of District 191 (Vancouver) was 10,113.

Notes on Enumeration Categories

Schedule 1 (Nominal Return of the Living) of the 1881 Dominion census consisted of the following categories or fields:

Dwelling

Whether “a house, a shanty, or a house under construction; or a vessel.” [Enumerators' Instructions, 1881]. The term “shanty” was not formally defined, but it generally referred to a temporary or unconventional shelter. On the Western Coast, the term was used to identify the communal “long houses” or “big houses” of aboriginal people.

Family

Entered as a number for each census family. “A family, as understood for the purposes of the census, may consist of one person living alone or of any number of persons living together under one roof and having their food provided together.” [Enumerators' Instructions, 1881].

Names

including surname, first name and initials

Sex

i.e. gender

Age

Infants less than a year old were supposed to be entered as a fraction of 12 - e.g. 2/12 for a two month old baby. In this database, infants less than a year old are entered as “0” and their age, if it was recorded as a fraction, is displayed in the Comments field.

Country or Province of Birth

Over fifty nations, British colonies, and Canadian provinces were recorded.

Religion

Thirty-three different denominations and creeds were mentioned, as well as non-religious terms such as infidel, pagan, and heathen. Enumerators were rather arbitrary in recording the religions of aboriginal and Chinese people.

Origin

A problematical term, relating to ethnicity, one that usually referred to the birthplace of a person's parents. In many cases, a child's “origin” was determined by the father's “origin.” The origins of a child whose father was “English” and whose mother was “native Indian” will likely appear as “English.” Some enumerators used the term “Half Breed” in this category. The term “Jewish” was occasionally used by to signify “origin,” although most enumerators used the term with reference to religion.

Profession, occupation or trade

Job titles and descriptions are presented as they were originally entered on the census schedules. We have, however, used codes that are consistent with modern International Standard Classification of Occupations. Nearly 300 distinct occupations were recorded in the 1881 census of Vancouver Island.

Marital status

married or widowed; assumed to be unmarried otherwise

Instruction

Indicated whether a person was attending school

Infirmities

Officially, the categories were “deaf & dumb, blind, or of unsound mind.” However, several enumerators also used the term “helpless” and it has been included here.

Comments

Schedule 1 included a column headed “Dates of operations and remarks.” Occasionally enumerators used this field to record additional information about persons they had met or places they had visited. We have noted the enumerators' remarks, whenever they were recorded, in this database.

First Nations

In 1881, the aboriginal population of Vancouver Island was administered in three federal government Indian Agencies and Native people were enumerated by government Indian Agents. The agencies and agents were as follows:

Western Coast

Harry Guillod, Indian Agent

Extending from Otter Point to Cape Cook on the west coast of Vancouver Island, this district embraced 20 Nuu-chah-nulth tribes, from the Pacheena at the south to the Chekleset at the northern end of the agency.

Kwawkewlth Agency

George Blenkinsop, Indian Agent

The Kwakwakwakawakw people (also referred to as Kwawkewlth or Kwakiutl people) are enumerated here. The agency extended from Quatsino Sound on the northwest coast to Cape Scott and along the northeast coast down to the entrance of Johnstone Strait. In the original census, Blenkinsop identified 25 separate “tribes"; however, many of the tribes were situated on the mainland and nominal cenus records for them have not yet been transcribed. In this database, 14 separate “tribes” or bands, comprising about 400 households or families, are represented.

Cowichan Agency

W. H. Lomas, Indian Agent

The Cowichan agency embraces the Hul'qumi'num-speaking people on the eastern side and southern end of Vancouver Island. It extended from Comox on the Gulf of Georgia down to Otter Point on the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Lomas used “Cowichan tribes” as the collective term for the native people here. He enumerated them in two areas or sub-districts — Eastern Coast and Southern Straits.

A note on spelling

We've spelled the names of sub-tribes and bands — Kyuquot, Tsartlip, etc. — and the names of individual band members as they were recorded by the Indian agents in 1881. Lomas, Guillod and Blenkinsop were fluent in the dialects spoken in their agencies and the evidence suggests they took care to record traditional names as accurately as possible. In the viHistory database, we've reproduced the diacritical marks, phonetic symbols and syllable breaks they used to represent aboriginal names on the nominal census schedules.

First Nations Search

You can also search for more information on First Nations bands.

This database was built on Vancouver Island, by faculty and students at Vancouver Island University and the University of Victoria - with the assistance of talented and knowledgeable people outside the academy!

Our dataset is derived from the nominal returns of the 1881 Census of Canada. Manuscript copies of the returns (known as Schedule 1) were preserved by the National Archives of Canada and made available on microfilm.

In 1990, information from the microfilm was transcribed by faculty and students in the Public History Group at the University of Victoria. The data was used as the foundation for a database constructed at Vancouver Island University a few years later. The database was subsequently refined and in 2001 a searchable, on-line interface was created. Both the database and the interface were developed further in 2002 to create the application presented here.

The Public History Group at UVic was led by Dr. Peter Baskerville and Dr. Eric Sager. The initial database was compiled by Raymond Frogner and designed by George Young. The UVic project was financed with assistance from the government of British Columbia, through the British Columbia Heritage Trust and British Columbia Lotteries. Seed funding was provided by the Office of the Vice-President, Academic, University of Victoria.

Dr. Patrick A. Dunae directed the Vancouver Island census project at Vancouver Island University. The database was reconstructed with the assistance of former History students Mike Barker, Rebecca Coyle, and Christine Meutzner, and with the help of Ron Apland in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The project was facilitated by the Joint Scholarly Research Committee at VIU and more recently by the Malaspina Research Fund.

The process of reconstruction involved moving data into a MS Assess database and re-transcribing many of the records. When the database was first constructed in 1990, coders used the International Standard Classification of Occupations (1968 edition) to enter data. However, ISCO codes were problematical for us because they did not reflect many of the unique occupations recorded by enumerators on Vancouver Island. After considering a range of options, in 2006 we re-coded our data to conform with broader and more flexible standards known as the Historical International Classification of Occupations [HISCO].

Alex Dunae created the original search engine and designed the query forms that allow us to return data as it was originally recorded. He wrote an innovative application that retains the integrity of census households. He helped design the maps and wrote the Syntax Notes and the Technical Notes provided here.

In the fall of 2005 the site was rebuilt at the Humanities Computing and Media Center (University of Victoria) by David Badke, with an all new database and search engine that allows the census data to be searched in several ways across all available years.

Archivists at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa and the British Columbia Archives in Victoria helped with this project. Staff at the City of Victoria Archives provided information about the boundaries of the city and enumeration sub-districts as these existed in 1881. Daphne Patterson of the Nanaimo Community Archives scrutinized transcriptions of the nominal schedules, to ensure that every name for the Nanaimo area was accurately entered. Genealogists and family historians have also provided on-going assistance by informing us of errors and inconsistencies with the data.