Vancouver / Names / B / Brain

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Brains

In the city directories 1940 · ten people at five addresses

The directories print ten people named Brain at five addresses in 1940 in five 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 Brains at 2216 Victoria Drive 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 Brains 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

    1812 Nelson Street

    West End, 1940

    • Joseph A Brain, retired 1940
    • Kathleen F Brain, a school teacher 1940

    Next door in 1940: G K Lamb at 1808 and W D Smith at 1822. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    603 North Kootenay Street

    Hastings-Sunrise, 1940

    • F Brain, a bookkeeper at the Sumner Brass Foundry 1940
  3. 3

    2216 Victoria Drive

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • W B Brain, a helper at the Burrard Dry Dock 1940
    • Alfred W Brain 1940
    • David H Brain, a tinsmith at Kydd Bros 1940
    • Roy H Brain, an apprentice at the Daly Heating & Sheet Metal Works 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs H E Dorman at 2204 and E S Hoy at 2224. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    2911 West 32nd Avenue

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • L H Brain, a building contractor 1940

    Next door in 1940: J St C Woodworth at 2907 and A M Kincaid at 2923. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    3274 West 8th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • R L Brain, an instructor 1940
    • Leonard R Brain 1940

    Next door in 1940: H Holt at 3266 and R Gillis at 3282. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for six of the ten: an apprentice, a bookkeeper, a helper, an instructor, a school teacher and a tinsmith.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Dunbar-Southlands, Grandview-Woodland, Hastings-Sunrise, Kitsilano and West End. 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 Joseph A Brain at 1812 Nelson Street, retired, with Kathleen F Brain, a school teacher. F Brain is listed at 603 North Kootenay Street in 1940; 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 lists Frederick Brain there as the householder, a bookkeeper at the Sumner Brass Foundry.

W B Brain is listed at 2216 Victoria Drive in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Walter B Brain there as the householder, a helper at the Burrard Dry Dock, with Alfred W Brain, David H Brain, a tinsmith at Kydd Bros, and Roy H Brain, an apprentice at the Daly Heating & Sheet Metal Works. L H Brain, a building contractor, is listed at 2911 West 32nd Avenue in 1940.

In 1940 the directory lists R L Brain at 3274 West 8th Avenue. The 1940 name section lists Ray L Brain there as the householder, an instructor, with Leonard R Brain.

Today

2216 Victoria Drive still has its building from before 1946, dated 1910 by the City's record; 2911 West 32nd (2010) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1812 Nelson, 603 North Kootenay and 3274 West 8th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 13 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 Brains

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Brain 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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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.