Vancouver / Names / D / Dolphin

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Dolphins

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Dolphin at three addresses in 1940 in three 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 Dolphins 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

    1254 Matthews Avenue

    Shaughnessy, 1940

    • Phyllis Dolphin, a maid for P Aivazoff 1940

    Next door in 1940: N L Lando at 1234 and J C Coote at 1290. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    426 West 20th Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • W T Dolphin, an inspector at the BC Electric Railway 1940
    • Leila E Dolphin, a student 1940

    Next door in 1940: T Scott at 420 and D A Macaskill at 434. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3042 West 37th Avenue

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • W E Dolphin, an accountant at the Packers Dock 1940

    Next door in 1940: M W Lovell at 3026 and W R Bucknall at 3058. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: an accountant, an inspector and a maid.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Dunbar-Southlands, Riley Park and Shaughnessy. 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 Phyllis Dolphin at 1254 Matthews Avenue, a maid for P Aivazoff. W T Dolphin is listed at 426 West 20th Avenue 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 William T Dolphin there as the householder, an inspector at the BC Electric Railway, with Leila E Dolphin, a student.

W E Dolphin is listed at 3042 West 37th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists William E Dolphin there as the householder, an accountant at the Packers Dock.

Today

1254 Matthews and 426 West 20th still have their buildings from before 1946; the City no longer lists 3042 West 37th, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 6 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 Dolphins

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Dolphin 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.