Vancouver / Names / B / Breffit

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Breffits

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Breffit 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 Breffits 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

    1804 East 7th Avenue

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • Dolla Breffit, widow of E 1940

    Next door in 1940: Rev J W Melvin at 1810. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1949 West 36th Avenue

    Shaughnessy, 1940

    • W Breffit, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs Cook at 1957. The block, door by door

What they did

One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Grandview-Woodland and Shaughnessy. 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 Dolla Breffit at 1804 East 7th Avenue, widow of E. W Breffit is listed at 1949 West 36th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists William Breffit there as the householder, retired, with William S Breffit.

Today

1804 East 7th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1911 by the City's record; 1949 West 36th (2015) has a newer building, by the City's record.

Every line as printed

All 4 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 Breffits

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Breffit 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.