Vancouver / Names / B / Bowley

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Bowleys

In the city directories 1940 · five people at five addresses

The directories print five people named Bowley at five addresses in 1940 in four of the city's neighbourhoods. 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 Bowleys 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

    3342 East 26th Avenue

    Renfrew-Collingwood, 1940

    • William Bowley, a heater at the Burrard Dry Dock 1940

    Next door in 1940: K Parsons at 3336 and C Heath at 3354. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1125 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Robert Bowley 1940

    Next door in 1940: Hemenway & Son at 1123 and L N Gowdy at 1127. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1522 Venables Street

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • C L Bowley, a motorman at the BC Electric Railway 1940

    Next door in 1940: C D Welch at 1520 and P H Storer at 1528. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    3249 West 38th Avenue

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • A H Bowley, a chief clerk at the Canadian (BC) Telephone 1940

    Next door in 1940: H Baguley at 3237 and H E Woodford at 3263. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    515 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • William S M Bowley, a news vendor 1940

    Next door in 1940: Harling & Spragg at 513 and Harvey & Riach at 519. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the five: a chief clerk, a heater, a motorman and a news vendor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2), Dunbar-Southlands, Grandview-Woodland and Renfrew-Collingwood. 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

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists William Bowley at 3342 East 26th Avenue, a heater at the Burrard Dry Dock. The 1940 name section lists Robert Bowley at 1125 Granville Street. In 1940 the directory lists C L Bowley at 1522 Venables Street. The 1940 name section lists Charles L Bowley there as the householder, a motorman at the BC Electric Railway.

In 1940 the directory lists A H Bowley at 3249 West 38th Avenue. The 1940 name section lists Albert H Bowley there as the householder, a chief clerk at the Canadian (BC) Telephone. The 1940 name section lists William S M Bowley at 515 West Pender Street, a news vendor.

Today

1125 Granville still has its building from before 1946, dated 1910 by the City's record; 3342 East 26th (1965) and 515 West Pender (1996) have newer buildings, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1522 Venables and 3249 West 38th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 7 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Bowleys

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Bowley 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.