Vancouver / Names / D / Donnan

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Donnans

In the city directories 1940 · four people at two addresses

The directories print four people named Donnan 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. The most under one roof: three Donnans at 4006 West 13th 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 Donnans 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

    1116 Bute Street

    West End, 1940

    • Mrs Lila Donnan, a saleswoman 1940

    Next door in 1940: W Worsfold at 1110 and Mrs C Granger at 1122. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    4006 West 13th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • H Donnan, retired 1940
    • Eileen F Donnan, a stenographer at Mutual Fire Insurance 1940
    • James A Donnan, a fireman at the University Area Fire Department 1940

    Next door in 1940: A M Sinclair at 4014. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: a fireman, a saleswoman and a stenographer.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in West End 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

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Mrs Lila Donnan at 1116 Bute Street, a saleswoman. H Donnan is listed at 4006 West 13th 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 Hugh Donnan there as the householder, retired, with Eileen F Donnan, a stenographer at Mutual Fire Insurance, and James A Donnan, a fireman at the University Area Fire Department.

Today

4006 West 13th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1928 by the City's record; 1116 Bute (2004) has a newer building, by the City's record.

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 Donnans

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Donnan 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.