Vancouver / Names / B / Brown / West 2nd Avenue

A family name on West 2nd Avenue, Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, Fairview and West Point Grey

The Browns

In the city directories 1940 · six people at three addresses

The directories print six people named Brown at three addresses in 1940, all on West 2nd Avenue, with the close spelling Browne. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Browns at 1949 West 2nd in 1940. The directories print the name on 254 other streets too, all listed on the Brown name's own page.

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 Browns 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

    1949 West 2nd Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • I W Brown, a clerk 1940
    • Jean M Brown, a waitress 1940
    • Owen E Brown, a salesman at Spencer's 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M Everall at 1943 and W C Rideout at 1953. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2288 West 2nd Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • J Brown, a clerk at the BC Electric Railway 1940
    • Chris D Brown, a clerk for Balfour Guthrie 1940

    Next door in 1940: F G Race at 2274 and Mrs H Smith at 2298. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3076 West 2nd Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • J Brown, a master mariner 1940

    Next door in 1940: A D Roughton at 3066 and Mrs E A Goodwin at 3086. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all six: a clerk (3), a master mariner, a salesman and a waitress.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kitsilano (3). 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 I W Brown at 1949 West 2nd Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Isaac W Brown there as the householder, who worked for the Vancouver Hotel, with Isaac W Brown Jr, a clerk, Jean M Brown, a waitress, and Owen E Brown, a salesman at Spencer's. In 1940 the directory lists J Brown at 2288 West 2nd 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 lists John Brown there as the householder, a clerk at the BC Electric Railway, with Chris D Brown, a clerk for Balfour Guthrie.

In 1940 the directory lists J Brown at 3076 West 2nd Avenue; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists James Brown there as the householder, a master mariner.

Today

2288 West 2nd (1957) and 3076 West 2nd (1982) have newer buildings, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1949 West 2nd, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 10 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 Browns

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Brown 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.