Vancouver / Names / D / Doerksen

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Doerksens

In the city directories 1940 · four people at two addresses

The directories print four people named Doerksen at two addresses in 1940 in Downtown. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Doerksens at 716 Hamilton in 1940.

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 Doerksens 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

    716 Hamilton Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Mrs M Doerksen, widow of J H 1940
    • Ernest Doerksen, a painter 1940
    • Frederick Doerksen, a helper at the Talk of the Town Cafe 1940

    Next door in 1940: N McMurtrie at 710 and J Melics at 718. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    957 Richards Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Eddie Doerksen, a dietary at the Vancouver General Hospital 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs E Zanon at 963. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: a dietary, a helper and a painter. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2). 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 Mrs M Doerksen at 716 Hamilton Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Martha Doerksen there as the householder, widow of J H, with Ernest Doerksen, a painter, and Frederick Doerksen, a helper at the Talk of the Town Cafe. The 1940 name section lists Eddie Doerksen at 957 Richards Street, a dietary at the Vancouver General Hospital.

Today

The City no longer lists 716 Hamilton and 957 Richards, 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 Doerksens

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Doerksen 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.