Vancouver / Names / B / Billet

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Billets

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Billet at three addresses in 1940 in three of the city's neighbourhoods, with the close spelling Billett. 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 Billets 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

    662 East 27th Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • F Billett 1940
  2. 2

    540 Helmcken Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Miss R Billet 1940

    Next door in 1940: F Smith at 538 and E Schofield at 542. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    2405 West 10th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • Ismelda J Baillet, a saleswoman at Woolworths 1940
    • Rene A Baillet 1940

    Next door in 1940: J H Wharton at 2415. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the four: a saleswoman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Kitsilano and Riley Park. 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 F Billett at 662 East 27th 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 Frederick Billett there as the householder. In 1940 the directory lists Miss R Billet at 540 Helmcken Street. The 1940 name section lists Ismelda J Baillet at 2405 West 10th Avenue, a saleswoman at Woolworths, with Rene A Baillet.

Today

540 Helmcken still has its building from before 1946, dated 1910 by the City's record and on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 662 East 27th (2000) and 2405 West 10th (1999) have newer buildings, 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 Billets

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Billet 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.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

One email, when it's ready. We use your email for nothing else and never share it. Privacy

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.