Vancouver / Names / H / Harpur

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Harpurs

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Harpur at two addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family.

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 Harpurs 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

    4855 Collingwood Street

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • R H Harpur, a clerk at the Post Office 1940

    Next door in 1940: W Howard at 4843 and Mrs M Pitchford at 4867. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    265 East 63rd Avenue

    Sunset, 1940

    • J J Harpur, a laborer at BC Concrete 1940

    Next door in 1940: R J Duncan at 245 and T Kilgour at 279. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all two: a clerk and a laborer.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Dunbar-Southlands and Sunset. 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 R H Harpur at 4855 Collingwood Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Reginald H Harpur there as the householder, a clerk at the Post Office. In 1940 the directory lists J J Harpur at 265 East 63rd 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 lists John J Harpur there as the householder, a laborer at BC Concrete.

Today

4855 Collingwood still has its building from before 1946, dated 1928 by the City's record; 265 East 63rd (2010) has a newer building, by the City's record.

Mrs. Rose Ellen Mitchell in the snow outside a tent house at 29th Avenue and Collingwood Street
About 1915 Mrs. Rose Ellen Mitchell in the snow outside a tent house at 29th Avenue and Collingwood Street. Not at the house at 4855 Collingwood: no archive photo of the 4800 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, 2009-005.447. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 4 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 Harpurs

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Harpur 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.

One email, when it's ready. We use your email for nothing else and never share it. Privacy

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 H. Want a name removed? Tell us.