Vancouver / Names / C / Cottam

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Cottams

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Cottam 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 Cottams 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

    522 East 18th Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • H Cottam 1940

    Next door in 1940: W A Day at 518 and J McKechnie at 536. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1019 Harwood Street

    West End, 1940

    • C A Cottam, a helper at the Vancouver Hotel 1940
    • Ann Y Cottam, a stenographer at the BC Hotels' Association 1940

    Next door in 1940: S Heaven at 1017 and 4 listings at 1021. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a helper and a stenographer.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Riley Park 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

In 1940 the directory lists H Cottam at 522 East 18th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Herbert Cottam there. In 1940 the directory lists C A Cottam at 1019 Harwood Street. The 1940 name section lists Charles A Cottam there as the householder, a helper at the Vancouver Hotel, with Ann Y Cottam, a stenographer at the BC Hotels' Association.

Today

The City no longer lists 522 East 18th and 1019 Harwood, so those buildings are 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, street section

The book of the Cottams

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Cottam 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 C. Want a name removed? Tell us.