Vancouver / Names / G / Giffen

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Giffens

In the city directories 1940 · seven people at three addresses

The directories print seven people named Giffen 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. The most under one roof: four Giffens at 3032 West 7th 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 Giffens 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

    2994 East 22nd Avenue

    Renfrew-Collingwood, 1940

    • James B Giffen, a bell boy at the Vancouver Hotel 1940

    Next door in 1940: L H Guinn at 2996. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    6689 Vine Street

    Kerrisdale, 1940

    • J B Giffen, retired 1940
    • J Francis A Giffen 1940

    Next door in 1940: R Craggs at 6677. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3032 West 7th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • A C Giffen 1940
    • Ethel M Giffen 1940
    • Helen B Giffen 1940
    • Robina Giffen, widow of J 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs C Jones at 3028 and Mrs E L McClay at 3036. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the seven: a bell boy. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kerrisdale, Kitsilano and Renfrew-Collingwood. 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 James B Giffen at 2994 East 22nd Avenue as the householder, a bell boy at the Vancouver Hotel. J B Giffen is listed at 6689 Vine Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists James B Giffen there as the householder, retired, with J Francis A Giffen.

A C Giffen is listed at 3032 West 7th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Ethel M Giffen there, with Helen B Giffen, and Robina Giffen, widow of J.

Today

6689 Vine (1965) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 2994 East 22nd and 3032 West 7th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 8 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 Giffens

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Giffen 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 G. Want a name removed? Tell us.