Census returns are official Government of Canada records that enumerate the country’s population. They are an invaluable source of information for genealogy research. Starting in 1851, most census records included the names of every resident, their country or province of birth, age, and many other details.
1842 Assessment Roll for Huron County is transcribed and available through the Huron County Library https://www.huroncounty.ca/assess/
Huron District Assessment Returns, 1842-1845 and 1847-1848, are available on microfilm at the Goderich Public Library. Assessment and Return of Inhabitants (1842 – 1850) are available on microfilm at the Huron Museum & Archives.
1842 Census for Ashfield and Wawanosh is available on microfilm M-5908 at Archives of Ontario.
Huron County Census Returns, 1848 & 1850, are available on microfilm at some Huron County Library branches and I believe are also in the archive at the museum. For 1848 there is both a census and an assessment return.
An index to the 1848 and 1850 Censuses for the District of Huron is available on self-service microfiche in the Archives of Ontarios’ Reading Room. The University of Western Ontario’s D.B. Weldon Library has the District of Huron 1848 Census on microfilm.
*Census records before 1851 were often just head of household. Quality of the images is often poor.
1851 – 1921 Census records are available online at Library and Archives Canada https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx and are free to view. They are also available through Ancestry and Family Search.
Transcriptions of 1851 and 1861 censuses were done by Huron Co Branch members. Local transcribers are often better able to recognize names from challenging handwriting. The focus on this county brought forward names that were missed on the transcriptions and indexes done prior. They are available on our Huron Members site (for paid members).
1871 census – missing names from Tuckersmith Township – when transcriptions were done (used by LAC, Ancestry, etc.) one of our members discovered there were names missing for Tuckersmith. This list can be found on Members Corner tab.
Census records for 1931 and on will be opened for public use and transferred to Library and Archives Canada 92 calendar years after the taking of a census.