Vancouver / Names / C / Cowling

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Cowlings

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Cowling 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 Cowlings 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

    1161 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • James Cowling, a clerk 1940

    Next door in 1940: St Helen's Cigar Stand at 1159 and French Way Clnrs at 1167. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    4018 Nootka Street

    Renfrew-Collingwood, 1940

    • J Cowling, a plumber for J Cowling 1940

    Next door in 1940: S A Keefer at 4010 and H T McCulloch at 4030. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1429 West Georgia Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • J Cowling, proprietor of J Cowling & Co 1940

    Next door in 1940: W W Wirth at 1423 and W Kitt at 1437. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all three: a clerk, a plumber and a proprietor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2) and Renfrew-Collingwood. 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 James Cowling at 1161 Granville Street, a clerk. J Cowling is listed at 4018 Nootka Street in 1940; 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 W Cowling there as the householder, a plumber for J Cowling.

J Cowling is listed at 1429 West Georgia Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists James Cowling there as the householder, proprietor of J Cowling & Co.

Today

1161 Granville still has its building from before 1946, dated 1911 by the City's record and on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 4018 Nootka (2006) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1429 West Georgia, 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 Cowlings

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Cowling 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.