Source Information
About Essex District, Ontario, Canada Census, 1881 (Kingsville, Colchester, Sandwich, Pelee, Gosfield)
Kingsville is located 12 km west of Leamington. Kingsville was named in 1843 for Col James King. King accepted the offer of developer Andrew Stewart to name the town after the first person to build a house there. Kings was later the customs collector and the division court clerk.This database has over 850 entries. Each entry has the full names, age, birthplace, religion, and occupation of each resident in the census subdistrict of Kingsville (G) in the census district of Essex (#181). Colchester Township was named in 1792 after the city of Colchester in Essex, England. The township was divided into the municipal townships of Colchester North and Colchester South in 1880. This database has over 2000 entries. Each entry has the full names, age, birthplace, religion, and occupation of each resident in the census subdistrict of Colchester North (D) in the census district of Essex (#181). Pelee Island's name comes from the French word for "bald" or "bare" because of the lack of trees on the east side which made it appear bare. In some references the place was known as "Bald Point", "South Foreland" and "Isle aux Serpents". Except for the tine Middle Island, Pelee Island is the southernmost point of Canada. The island was leased from the Native Americans in 1788 by Thomas McKee. In 1823 William McCormick purchased the island for $500. In 1865 the island's climate was discovered to be conductive to the growing of grapes and a winery named Vin Villa flourished there until prohibition. This database has over 350 entries. Each entry has the full names, age, birthplace, religion, and occupation of each resident in the census subdistrict of Pelee Island (I) in the census district of Essex (#181). Sandwich West is in Essex County. It was named after the English borough of the same name. The town of Sandwich was created in 1858. Windsor annexed Sandwich in 1935. The municipal townships of Sandwich East, Sandwich South and Sandwich West were created in 1854. Sandwich East was divided between Windsor and Sandwich South in 1966. In 1966, Sandwich West became the town of LaSalle. This database has over 2800 entries. Each entry has the full names, age, birthplace, religion, and occupation of each resident in the census subdistrict of Sandwich West (J) in the census district of Essex (#181). Gosfield Township is in Essex County. Gosfield was named after Gosfield, England. In 1887 the township was split into Gosfield North and Gosfield South. This database has over 3400 entries. Each entry has the full names, age, birthplace, religion, and occupation of each resident in the census subdistrict of Gosfield (F) in the census district of Essex (#181). This database includes the National archives film number, division number, page number, entry number and family number to help researchers obtain a copy of the original record, if desired.
