Vancouver / Names / G / Gray / West 8th Avenue

A family name on West 8th Avenue, Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, Fairview and West Point Grey

The Grays

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Gray at two addresses in 1940, all on West 8th 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 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. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    686 West 8th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • J S Gray, a clerk at Woodward's 1940

    Next door in 1940: H J Billis at 676. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    4650 West 8th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • J M Gray, an agent at Manufacturers Life 1940
    • Bruce Gray 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs E A Scott at 4646 and J Sharpe at 4654. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: an agent and a clerk.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Fairview 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 J S Gray at 686 West 8th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists James S Gray there as the householder, a clerk at Woodward's. In 1940 the directory lists J M Gray at 4650 West 8th Avenue. The 1940 name section lists John M Gray there as the householder, an agent at Manufacturers Life, with Bruce Gray.

Today

The City no longer lists 686 West 8th and 4650 West 8th, so those buildings are 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 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.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

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.