Vancouver / Names / G / Gillis / Granville Street

A family name on Granville Street, Downtown, Fairview, Shaughnessy, Kerrisdale, Oakridge and Marpole

The Gillises

In the city directories 1940 · four people at four addresses

The directories print four people named Gillis at four addresses in 1940, all on Granville Street, with the close spelling Gillies. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 54 other streets too, all listed on the Gillis 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 Gillises 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

    915 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Katie Gillis, widow of P 1940

    Next door in 1940: Groceteria Sun at 911 and La Belle Beauty Shop at 917. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    936 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • W C Gillis 1940

    Next door in 1940: Ladies My at 932 and New Palace Cafe at 938. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    946 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • F Gillis, a salesman 1940

    Next door in 1940: Aristocrat Cleaners & Hatters at 944 and La Salle Cafe at 950. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    2635 Granville Street

    Fairview, 1940

    • H Gillis, a driver at Johnston National Storage 1940

    Next door in 1940: H Sickelmore at 2633 and Richfield Dairy Lunch at 2675. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a driver and a salesman. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (3) and Fairview. 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 Katie Gillis at 915 Granville Street, widow of P. The 1940 name section lists W C Gillis at 936 Granville Street. In 1940 the directory lists F Gillis at 946 Granville Street. The 1940 name section lists Frank Gillis there as the householder, a salesman.

In 1940 the directory lists H Gillis at 2635 Granville Street. The 1940 name section lists Harold Gillis there as the householder, a driver at Johnston National Storage.

Today

936 Granville still has its building from before 1946, dated 1910 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 915 Granville, 946 Granville and 2635 Granville, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Riders in uniform lead a parade along Granville Street, past crowds on the sidewalk
1917 Riders in uniform lead a parade along Granville Street, past crowds on the sidewalk. Not at the house at 946 Granville: no archive photo of the 900 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-350. Public domain.

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, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Gillises

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Gillis 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.