Vancouver / Names / B / Buffam

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Buffams

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Buffam 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 Buffams 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

    5082 Chester Street

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • R L Buffam, a purchasing agent at Elk River & Malahat Log 1940

    Next door in 1940: W H Crummie at 5078. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    3914 West 19th Avenue

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • Mrs M I Buffam, widow of A A 1940

    Next door in 1940: A J Boothman at 3906 and R H Easterbrooks at 3920. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the two: a purchasing agent. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Dunbar-Southlands and Kensington-Cedar Cottage. 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 R L Buffam at 5082 Chester Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Robert L Buffam there as the householder, a purchasing agent at Elk River & Malahat Log. In 1940 the directory lists Mrs M I Buffam at 3914 West 19th 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 Margaret I Buffam there as the householder, widow of A A.

Today

The City no longer lists 5082 Chester and 3914 West 19th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

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, street section

The book of the Buffams

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Buffam 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.