Vancouver / Names / B / Ballam

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Ballams

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Ballam 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 Ballams 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

    1008 East 14th Avenue

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • R G Ballam, a watchman at Canadian Fishing 1940

    Next door in 1940: G Brooks at 1002 and F Barnard at 1016. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    876 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Murray Ballam, a seaman at the Union Steamship Company 1940

    Next door in 1940: Bon Ton Pastry & Conf at 874 and Orpheum Theatre at 884. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    784 Thurlow Street

    West End, 1940

    • Miss R F Ballam 1940
    • Rose F Ballam 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs E I Johnston at 752. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a seaman and a watchman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Mount Pleasant 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

In 1940 the directory lists R G Ballam at 1008 East 14th Avenue; the 1940 line is marked *: some member of the family owns the property, to the best of our knowledge (the directory's own mark). The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Robert G Ballam there as the householder, a watchman at Canadian Fishing. The 1940 name section lists Murray Ballam at 876 Granville Street, a seaman at the Union Steamship Company.

Miss R F Ballam is listed at 784 Thurlow Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Rose F Ballam there as the householder.

Today

876 Granville and 784 Thurlow still have their buildings from before 1946, 784 Thurlow on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 1008 East 14th (2013) has a newer building, by the City's record.

Every line as printed

All 5 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, street section

The book of the Ballams

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Ballam 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 B. Want a name removed? Tell us.