Vancouver / Names / E / Elsie

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Elsies

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Elsie 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 Elsies 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

    1221 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • William H Elsie, a buyer for R H Stewart 1940

    Next door in 1940: Snap-On Tools of Can at 1211 and T Ishida at 1227. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    3869 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Mrs W Elsie, a saleswoman at A & N Department Store 1940

    Next door in 1940: F O Walmsley at 3871. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    779 West 62nd Avenue

    Marpole, 1940

    • J E Elsie, a warehouseman at Clark Fruit 1940

    Next door in 1940: H Spibey at 769 and H Cunliffe at 789. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all three: a buyer, a saleswoman and a warehouseman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Marpole 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

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists William H Elsie at 1221 Granville Street, a buyer for R H Stewart. Mrs W Elsie is listed at 3869 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Mrs Winifred Elsie there as the householder, a saleswoman at A & N Department Store.

J E Elsie is listed at 779 West 62nd 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 Jack E Elsie there as the householder, a warehouseman at Clark Fruit.

Today

1221 Granville still has its building from before 1946, dated 1911 by the City's record; 779 West 62nd (1994) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 3869 Main, 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 3869 Main: no archive photo of the 3800 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, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Elsies

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Elsie 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 E. Want a name removed? Tell us.