In 1902, pioneer homesteader Charles Rodberg (known in his native Belgium as Chevalier Charles Rodberg de Walden) opened a store and post office along the railway and the area was known as Rodberg's Crossing, or Rodberg's Flat. Later the area was known as Diana, after his eldest child, and the Post Office was called the Diana Post Office. When the CPR arrived in 1905 the community was renamed to honor the wife of a railway official. Julia Maude Schreiber (née Gwynne) was the second wife of Sir Collingwood Schreiber (1831-1908), a railway builder, former chief engineer of the CPR and former federal deputy minister of railways and canals. Julia was president of the Ottawa Ladies' golf club and vice-regent of the Daughters of the Empire in Ottawa. It is doubtful that she ever set foot in the hamlet named after her.[3]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Gwynne had a population of 93 living in 41 of its 42 total private dwellings, a change of 27.4% from its 2016 population of 73. With a land area of 0.5 km2 (0.19 sq mi), it had a population density of 186.0/km2 (481.7/sq mi) in 2021.[1]
As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Gwynne had a population of 73 living in 31 of its 32 total private dwellings, a change of -17% from its 2011 population of 88. With a land area of 0.52 km2 (0.20 sq mi), it had a population density of 140.4/km2 (363.6/sq mi) in 2016.[19]
^"Geographical Identification and Population for Unincorporated Places of 25 persons and over, 1971 and 1976". 1976 Census of Canada(PDF). Supplementary Bulletins: Geographic and Demographic (Population of Unincorporated Places—Canada). Vol. Bulletin 8SG.1. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. 1978. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
^1981 Census of Canada(PDF). Place name reference list. Vol. Western provinces and the Territories. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. 1983. Retrieved September 26, 2024.