Vancouver / Names / B / Boswell

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Boswells

In the city directories 1940 · ten people at four addresses

The directories print ten people named Boswell at four 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: four Boswells at 219 East 49th 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 Boswells 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

    219 East 49th Avenue

    Sunset, 1940

    • E W Boswell, a grocer 1940
    • Arthur W Boswell, a bookkeeper at Spencer's 1940
    • Maxwell W Boswell, a helper for E W Boswell 1940
    • Rex W Boswell, a helper for E W Boswell 1940
  2. 2

    6494 Main Street

    Sunset, 1940

    • E W Boswell, a grocer 1940

    Next door in 1940: Beauty Shoppe Adelaide at 6490. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    440 West 23rd Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Mrs E F Boswell, widow of J 1940
    • Harold G Boswell, a mechanic at D McLean Motor 1940
    • James G Boswell, an assistant shipper at Willson Stationery 1940

    Next door in 1940: J C Clark at 434 and H H Simpson at 448. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    2348 West Broadway

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • Miss C Boswell 1940
    • Christina Boswell, who worked for the BC Telephone 1940

    Next door in 1940: E C Browne at 2336 and Mrs M E Fennell at 2352. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for seven of the ten: a helper (2), an assistant shipper, a bookkeeper, an employee, a grocer and a mechanic. Two of them worked for E W Boswell. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Sunset (2), 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 E W Boswell at 219 East 49th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Ernest W Boswell there as the householder, a grocer, with Arthur W Boswell, a bookkeeper at Spencer's, Maxwell W Boswell, a helper for E W Boswell, and Rex W Boswell, a helper for E W Boswell. In 1940 the directory lists E W Boswell, a grocer, at 6494 Main 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).

Mrs E F Boswell is listed at 440 West 23rd Avenue in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Ellen F Boswell there as the householder, widow of J, with Harold G Boswell, a mechanic at D McLean Motor, and James G Boswell, an assistant shipper at Willson Stationery. Miss C Boswell is listed at 2348 West Broadway in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Christina Boswell there as the householder, who worked for the BC Telephone.

Today

440 West 23rd (2016) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 219 East 49th, 6494 Main and 2348 West Broadway, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 12 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 Boswells

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Boswell 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.