Vancouver / Names / B / Biggan

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Biggans

In the city directories 1940 · nine people at six addresses

The directories print nine people named Biggan at six 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. The most under one roof: three Biggans at 830 West 67th in 1940.

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 Biggans lived

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

    7898 Cartier Street

    Marpole, 1940

    • A B Biggan, a collector at the Sun 1940

    Next door in 1940: E A Kimberley at 7886. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1436 East 7th Avenue

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • Nellie Biggan, a turner at Canadian-Bemis Bag 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs F McDonald at 1430 and F R Morris at 1456. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    8531 Fremlin Street

    Marpole, 1940

    • R B Biggan 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Campbell at 8519 and Mrs E M Richards at 8555. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    8531 Shaughnessy Street

    Marpole, 1940

    • Mrs E J Biggan, widow of A B 1940
    • James Biggan, a shipper at Pacific Meat 1940

    Next door in 1940: P E Prefontaine at 8555. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    830 West 67th Avenue

    Marpole, 1940

    • J Biggan 1940
    • A Biggan, a waitress at the Shaughnessy Hospital Canadian Government 1940
    • Edith M Biggan, a domestic 1940
  6. 6

    1241 West Georgia Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Maude Biggan, a caterer 1940

    Next door in 1940: Walmsley Motors at 1233 and Mrs M A Ferguson at 1259. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for six of the nine: a caterer, a collector, a domestic, a shipper, a turner and a waitress. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Marpole (4), Downtown and Grandview-Woodland. 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 A B Biggan at 7898 Cartier Street; 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 Andrew B Biggan there as the householder, a collector at the Sun. The 1940 name section lists Nellie Biggan at 1436 East 7th Avenue, a turner at Canadian-Bemis Bag. R B Biggan is listed at 8531 Fremlin Street in 1940.

In 1940 the directory lists Mrs E J Biggan at 8531 Shaughnessy Street; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Ellen J Biggan there as the householder, widow of A B, with James Biggan, a shipper at Pacific Meat. In 1940 the directory lists J Biggan at 830 West 67th Avenue; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists James Biggan there as the householder, with A Biggan, a wood picker for Marpole Woodyd, Alex J Biggan, a laborer at the Eburne Saw Mills, Annie H Biggan, a waitress at the Shaughnessy Hospital Canadian Government, and Edith M Biggan, a domestic.

The 1940 name section lists Maude Biggan at 1241 West Georgia Street, a caterer.

Today

7898 Cartier (1975), 8531 Fremlin (1982) and 830 West 67th (1988) have newer buildings, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1436 East 7th and 1241 West Georgia, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred); for 8531 Shaughnessy, its page says what we could and couldn't match to today's buildings.

Every line as printed

All 14 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 Biggans

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Biggan 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.