Vancouver / Names / D / Des Rochers

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Des Rocherses

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Des Rochers at three addresses in 1940 in three of the city's neighbourhoods, with the close spelling Desrochers. 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 Des Rocherses 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

    3647 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • L N Des Rochers, a plasterer 1940

    Next door in 1940: J M Decker at 3633 and J A Wallace at 3683. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    207 Union Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Henry Desrochers, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs J E Murray at 209. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3863 West 11th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • J B Desrochers, a building contractor 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Sharp at 3855 and T Cliffe at 3867. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a building contractor and a plasterer.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Riley Park, Strathcona and West Point Grey. 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 L N Des Rochers at 3647 Main Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Louis N Desrochers there as the householder, a plasterer. The 1940 name section lists Henry Desrochers at 207 Union Street, retired.

J B Desrochers, a building contractor, is listed at 3863 West 11th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Joseph B Desrochers there, a building contractor.

Today

3863 West 11th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1937 by the City's record; 3647 Main (1989) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 207 Union, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Streetcars on Main Street, past a row of billboards
March 1940 Streetcars on Main Street, past a row of billboards. Not at the house at 3647 Main: no archive photo of the 3600 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 136-513. Public domain.

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 Des Rocherses

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Des Rochers 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 D. Want a name removed? Tell us.