More Ways to Find an Ancestor in the 1851 Agricultural Census

Previously I talked about the 1851 Agricultural Census and using the online Library and Archives Canada Search Engine to find an ancestor.

You can also search on Ancestry.com in their online Canadian Census records. Unfortunately you cannot narrow your search to just bring up results for the Agricultural Census. However when you enter an ancestor's name, IF that person is found in the existing Agricultural portion of the 1851 census, and IF they are found in a surviving 1851 Personal Census, you will see two results. One will be the personal census, the other the Agricultural.

Search Results 1851 Census for Charles Black - 2 entries, Agricultural & Personal

If the person is found in one census and not the other, how do you tell which you have? It's simple. The result for the Agricultural census will not display an age. 

Search Result for Agricultural Census - no age is shown

The database you want to search is called 1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Don't enter the individual's age or year of birth. Just search by first and last name, and location.

It would make life easier if Ancestry had entered the word "Agricultural" into their database fields so we could narrow the search but they have not done so. However with a little patience you can find your ancestor providing that census has survived for the area the ancestor lived in.

Don't overlook this resource as it has great genealogical value to researchers. 

Finding Ancestors on 1851 Agricultural Census Canada

Previously I talked about the 1861 Agricultural Census for Ontario and the goof that Ancestry.com made when bringing it online.
Why search for ancestors in an Agricultural Census? These records provide details of exact location of land, type of farming, house lived in, livestock and more.
 Ancestry.com doesn't appear to have the 1851 or 1871 Agricultural Census schedules (at least they are not easily found!) but there's good news!
In 2011 I talked about how to go directly to the Agricultural census on Collections Canada. That was a great database and search engine, much better than the new one on Library and Archives Canada. But it no longer exists. You must now search for ancestors in the 1851 Agricultural census at Library and Archives Canada. 

1. Select Canada West (Ontario) from the drop down list for Province/Colony.

2. To narrow your search by township or county (or both) simply add them as keywords. 

 

Be very careful using this search engine! It is unforgiving. For example if your ancestor's name was recorded as "Thos." (for Thomas) on the original census page, searching for "Thomas" will give you ZERO hits. 

 

It is best to use wildcards, for example "Tho*" allows for abbreviations and full name. 

 

I had ancestors in Flamboro Township in Wentworth County in 1851 so I entered keywords "flamboro wentworth" and got 3 hits. Each hit has a list of available images. All I needed to do was start at the first image and begin looking.

Here's an example of what one page of the 1851 Agricultural Census looks like. The graphic used here is blurry but the original is crystal clear.
So don't be afraid to give this a try in your search for more details of an Ontario ancestor.

Finding Ancestors on 1851 Agricultural Census Canada

Recently I talked about the 1861 Agricultural Census for Ontario and the goof that  Ancestry.com made when bringing it online.

Why search for ancestors in an Agricultural Census? These records provide details of exact location of land, type of farming, house lived in, livestock and more.

 Ancestry.com doesn't appear to have the 1851 or 1871 Agricultural Census schedules(at least they are not easily found!) but there's good news!

You can search for ancestors in the 1851 Agricultural census at Collections Canada. Caveat: This search engine can NOT be searched by name.

It can only be searched by location but I have an Olive Tree Genealogy Tip to get you right to the first page of Schedule B (the Agricultural portion of the census)

First go to 1851 Agricultural census at Collections Canada.

1. Select Canada West (Ontario) from the drop down list for Province/Colony.

2. Tick the radio button beside "B" for Schedule

3. Tick the radio button for "Descriptions with a digitized image" This limits the search to the surviving digitized Agricultural Census returns. To give you an example if you search without ticking this box, you will see 618 results. But many are not online, it is a list only. If you tick the box you see 302 results, and all have images

4. To narrow your search by township or county (or both) simply add them as keywords. I had ancestors in Flamboro Township in Wentworth County in 1851 so I entered keywords "flamboro wentworth" and got 3 hits. Each hit has a list of available images. All I needed to do was start at the first image and begin looking.

Here's an example of what one page of the 1851 Agricultural Census looks like. The graphic used here is blurry but the original is crystal clear.

So don't be afraid to give this a try in your search for more details of an Ontario ancestor.

Ancestry Goof with 1861 Canadian Census

Agricultural Census returns are often overlooked by genealogists. Agricultural returns provide information such as lot and concession number, acreage, livestock and agricultural products.

In the Canadian 1851 and 1861 Census, the agricultural returns are listed by the name of the head-of-household. The agricultural returns for 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 were not kept.

Ancestry.com has the 1861 Agricultural portion of the census online. That's the good news! You can search for an ancestor in it by including the keyword "AGRICULTURAL" in the search fields.

The bad news is that only half of each page has been scanned. The 1861 Agricultural return consists of 69 columns ranging in data from Lot and Concession Number to number of acres cultivated, planted, woods etc to how many acres and bushels of various crops (wheat, barley, rye, potatoes and so on) your ancestor planted and harvested to questions about his livestock - what he has, how old they are worth.

These columns are listed on two pages in a ledger book - so we have a left side and a right side (two facing pages in the book). But Ancestry has only scanned and put online the questions and answers from the left side! So the questions (and answers) end at #38.

This is  aggravating as the agricultural census allows researchers to add so much interesting detail to an ancestor. You can build a really good image of your ancestor working his farm and tending his crops and animals. I found out that my ancestor Levi Peer, had many hives of bees. I presume he obtained honey for cooking and for his children - perhaps even to sell to neighbours.

Here is the complete list of questions on the 1861 Agricultural Census. Wouldn't it be great to see both pages on Ancestry.com? If we all report this oversight to Ancestry perhaps they will add the missing pages.