Vancouver / Names / B / Bell / West 23rd Avenue

A family name on West 23rd Avenue, Dunbar-Southlands, Riley Park, South Cambie and Arbutus Ridge

The Bells

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Bell at two addresses in 1940, all on West 23rd Avenue. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 137 other streets too, all listed on the Bell name's own page.

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 Bells lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. One address isn't on today's map, so it has no pin. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    296 West 23rd Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Mrs H F Bell 1940

    Next door in 1940: C A Morrison at 276. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    361 West 23rd Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • A D Bell, proprietor of Sonny's Snappy Service 1940
    • May Bell, widow of J 1940

    Next door in 1940: J E Christison at 351 and D J Macaskill at 375. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the three: a proprietor. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Riley Park (2). 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 Mrs H F Bell at 296 West 23rd 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 Mrs Helen F Bell there as the householder. In 1940 the directory lists A D Bell at 361 West 23rd Avenue; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Arthur D Bell there as the householder, proprietor of Sonny's Snappy Service, with May Bell, widow of J.

Today

296 West 23rd and 361 West 23rd still have their buildings from before 1946.

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 Bells

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Bell 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.