Vancouver / Names / G / Gray / West 5th Avenue

A family name on West 5th Avenue, Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, Fairview and West Point Grey

The Grays

In the city directories 1940 · eleven people at four addresses

The directories print eleven people named Gray at four addresses in 1940, all on West 5th Avenue. 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 Grays at 1832 West 5th in 1940. The directories print the name on 107 other streets too, all listed on the Gray 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 Grays lived

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

    1832 West 5th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • A Gray, a salesman 1940
    • Glenys M Gray 1940
    • Hector A Gray 1940
    • M Louise Gray, a laundress at Peerless Laundry 1940

    Next door in 1940: A Denney at 1830 and Mrs N Baxter at 1834. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1863 West 5th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • Bessie E Gray, widow of J 1940
    • William G Gray, of N Shore Amusements 1940

    Next door in 1940: S V Rodriguez at 1853 and P G Kodallas at 1873. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3095 West 5th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • H L Gray, a salesman at Blue Ribbon 1940
    • Jack V Gray, a student 1940
    • Victor P Gray 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs A Orr at 3085. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    4501 West 5th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • M E Gray, retired 1940
    • Mabel F Gray, an assistant professor at UBC 1940

    Next door in 1940: A Brown at 4509. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the eleven: a salesman (2), an assistant professor and a laundress. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kitsilano (3) and West Point Grey. 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 A Gray at 1832 West 5th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Alex Gray there as the householder, a salesman, with Glenys M Gray, Hector A Gray, and M Louise Gray, a laundress at Peerless Laundry. The 1940 name section lists Bessie E Gray at 1863 West 5th Avenue, widow of J, with William G Gray, of N Shore Amusements.

H L Gray is listed at 3095 West 5th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Harold L Gray there as the householder, a salesman at Blue Ribbon, with Jack V Gray, a student, and Victor P Gray. M E Gray is listed at 4501 West 5th 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 Milford E Gray there as the householder, retired, with Mabel F Gray, an assistant professor at UBC.

Today

3095 West 5th and 4501 West 5th still have their buildings from before 1946; the City no longer lists 1832 West 5th and 1863 West 5th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 14 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 Grays

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Gray 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.