Welcome to the 1871 Census Project

In the spring of 1871 every household in Britain and in Canada was visited by a census enumerator who collected personal information about all inhabitants. This information provides a richly detailed snapshot of people and society in two different but related environments. The Historical Data Research Unit is assembling a digitized sample of the two censuses with support from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, private sector partners such as MES Hybrid Document Systems and Guelph's College of Arts and College of Management and Economics.

The project directors Professor Kris Inwood and Professor Graeme Morton welcome enquiries from qualified candidates interested in work, study and/or research opportunities involving these and related historical data.