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About the Canada Census, 1891

For the 1891 Canada Census, British Columbia was separated into five districts. George A. Sargison was Chief Census Officer for British Columbia and he was assisted by eight commissioners--one in Victoria, one in Yale and two each in the districts of New Westminster, Vancouver, and the Cariboo. These district commissioners were responsible for the enumerators, who were assigned to the different sub-districts. Although the date used for the census was April 6, 1891, actual enumeration progressed over several months. In fact, in some parts of the province, the inventory was not finished until June 1891.

The Commissioner for the Yale District was John S. Bennet. Enumerators included James Wardle for the Hope and Yale subdivisions; James A. Newland for the Lytton, Spences' Bridge, and Ashcroft subdivisions; Henry Nicholson for the Granite Creek (Princeton) and Osoyoos subdivisions; Arthur R. Carrington for the Nicola and Douglas Lake (Quilchena) subdivisions; G.B.W. Nelson for the Kamloops subdivision; William M. Cochrane for the Vernon (Priests Valley), Okanagan (Mission-Kelowna), and Enderby (Spallumcheen) subdivisions; W.A. Jowett and N.A. Wallinger for the Upper Kootenay subdivisions, and Andrew Fletcher and A.S. Hughes for the Lower Kootenay subdivision.

Enumerators were required to record answers to a set of questions for every household or dwelling. They were issued with manuals explaining the purpose of the questions and showing the correct manner of entering answers in the various columns. Categories ranged in each census from personal to property information.

Upon finishing their surveys, enumerators in each of the sub-districts turned over their information, containing the completed census forms, to the district commissioners. The portfolios were then sent to Ottawa where officials from the Census Branch . produced aggregated results for each of the forms, which were then published in four volumes by the Department of Agriculture.