Vancouver / Names / A / Avison

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Avisons

In the city directories 1940 · five people at three addresses

The directories print five people named Avison at three addresses in 1940 in three of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family.

Reserve this family's book, freeThe name in every directory we hold from 1901 to 1945, at every address, each line with its page, to read here or save as a PDF. About $29 when orders open.

Where the Avisons lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    974 Cardero Street

    West End, 1940

    • Henry S Avison 1940
    • Jessie C Avison 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M Dew at 968. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    337 Dunsmuir Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • H F Avison, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: Master Painters' Supp at 331. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1564 Venables Street

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • J W Avison, a storekeeper at the City of Vancouver 1940
    • John H Avison, a musician 1940

    Next door in 1940: O Bohm at 1562. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the five: a musician and a storekeeper.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Grandview-Woodland and West End. Each neighbourhood's page shows its trades, its people and every street in it, the way the directory printed them.

The story, address by address

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Henry S Avison at 974 Cardero Street, with Jessie C Avison. The 1940 name section lists H F Avison at 337 Dunsmuir Street, retired. In 1940 the directory lists J W Avison at 1564 Venables Street. The 1940 name section lists John W Avison there as the householder, a storekeeper at the City of Vancouver, with John H Avison, a musician.

Today

974 Cardero still has its building from before 1946, dated 1910 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 337 Dunsmuir and 1564 Venables, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 6 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Avisons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Avison name in each Vancouver directory we hold from 1901 to 1945: everyone printed under it at every address, their work from the name sections, who lived next door, and the page behind every line, to read here or save as a PDF to print or give.

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Another name, or a house

Sources

Henderson's and successor city directories for Vancouver, read by us line by line: the street sections for 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1940 and 1945, and the name section for 1930 and 1940 where we've read it (Vancouver Public Library, BC City Directories). Names are shown through 1945, as printed. Close spellings are grouped, as on the house pages, since a family's name was often spelled differently from one year to the next; one name can still be several families, and we join lines only where the first names or initials agree. Many Chinese, Japanese and other residents weren't named by the canvassers, so they can't be listed by name: their houses' pages say where. More family names under A. Want a name removed? Tell us.