Vancouver / Names / F / Foster / West 20th Avenue

A family name on West 20th Avenue, Dunbar-Southlands, Riley Park, South Cambie, Shaughnessy and Arbutus Ridge

The Fosters

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Foster at two addresses in 1940, all on West 20th Avenue. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 104 other streets too, all listed on the Foster name's own page.

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 Fosters 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

    595 West 20th Avenue

    South Cambie, 1940

    • Mrs E C Foster, widow of N 1940
    • Alida F Foster, an accountant at Thompson Agencies 1940

    Next door in 1940: M A Yarco at 587 and F G Hargitt at 597. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    923 West 20th Avenue

    South Cambie, 1940

    • W A Foster, a dental laborer 1940

    Next door in 1940: T L Barrow at 917 and G D Marr at 929. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: an accountant and a dental laborer. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in South Cambie (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 E C Foster at 595 West 20th 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 Ethel C Foster there as the householder, widow of N, with Alida F Foster, an accountant at Thompson Agencies. In 1940 the directory lists W A Foster at 923 West 20th Avenue; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists William A Foster there as the householder, a dental laborer.

Today

923 West 20th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1923 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 595 West 20th, so that building is 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 Fosters

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Foster 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 F. Want a name removed? Tell us.