Vancouver / Names / B / Brownell

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Brownells

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Brownell at three addresses in 1940 in two 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 Brownells 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

    2080 Haro Street

    West End, 1940

    • Robert K Brownell, proprietor of Birks Coffee Shop 1940

    Next door in 1940: E V Wakelin at 2036. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1115 Nelson Street

    West End, 1940

    • Brownell, a builder 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs A Davis at 1111 and W A Campbell at 1117. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    2166 West 14th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • A J Brownell, a secretary at Empire Manufacturing 1940
    • J Ross Brownell, a student at UBC 1940

    Next door in 1940: F M Page at 2156 and K Weys at 2174. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: a builder, a proprietor and a secretary.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in West End (2) and Kitsilano. 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 Robert K Brownell at 2080 Haro Street, proprietor of Birks Coffee Shop. The 1940 name section lists Brownell at 1115 Nelson Street, a builder. In 1940 the directory lists A J Brownell at 2166 West 14th Avenue. The 1940 name section lists Arthur J Brownell there as the householder, a secretary at Empire Manufacturing, with J Ross Brownell, a student at UBC.

Today

2166 West 14th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1912 by the City's record; 1115 Nelson (1969) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 2080 Haro, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 5 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 Brownells

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Brownell 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.