Vancouver / Names / B / Bills

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Billses

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Bills at two addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: 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 Billses 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

    735 East 26th Avenue

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • F M Bills, in grocer and meats 1940

    Next door in 1940: Miss J R Ross at 727 and C Passerini at 741. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    4152 Fraser Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • F M Bills, a meats and grocer 1940

    Next door in 1940: Lee Bros at 4144 and 4 listings at 4154. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the two: a grocer and meats.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kensington-Cedar Cottage 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 M Bills at 735 East 26th 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 Fred M Bills there as the householder, in grocer and meats. In 1940 the directory lists F M Bills, a meats and grocer, at 4152 Fraser Street.

Today

735 East 26th and 4152 Fraser still have their buildings from before 1946.

Every line as printed

All 3 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 Billses

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Bills 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.