Vancouver / Names / D / Downton

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Downtons

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Downton 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 Downtons lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Two addresses aren't on today's map, so they have no pin. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    2232 East 35th Avenue

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • G H Downton, a mechanic 1940
    • Dorothy C Downton, a saleswoman at Woodward's 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs E L Fleming at 2226 and H Rowden at 2242. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    6450 Elm Street

    Kerrisdale, 1940

    • Mabel D Downton, a maid for R J Lecky 1940

    Next door in 1940: A W McGhie at 6430. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    342 West 23rd Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • G H Downton, a salesman for J Watson 1940

    Next door in 1940: W R MacKerricher at 328 and T B Fletcher at 352. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all four: a maid, a mechanic, a salesman and a saleswoman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Kerrisdale and Riley Park. 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 G H Downton at 2232 East 35th Avenue; 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, where each person's work is printed, lists George H Downton there as the householder, a mechanic, with Dorothy C Downton, a saleswoman at Woodward's. The 1940 name section lists Mabel D Downton at 6450 Elm Street, a maid for R J Lecky.

G H Downton is listed at 342 West 23rd Avenue in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists George H Downton there as the householder, a salesman for J Watson.

Today

6450 Elm and 342 West 23rd still have their buildings from before 1946, 6450 Elm on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 2232 East 35th (1999) has a newer building, by the City's record.

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, street section

The book of the Downtons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Downton 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.