Vancouver / Names / I / Idle

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Idles

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Idle at two addresses in 1940 in Downtown. 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 Idles 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

    423 Hamilton Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • H H Idle 1940

    Next door in 1940: Acme Loan Co at 427. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1238 Melville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Mrs E Idle, a music teacher 1940
    • H H Idle, a collection agency 1940

    Next door in 1940: Miss E Gooding at 1236 and D H Elliott at 1242. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a collection agency and a music teacher.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2). 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 H H Idle at 423 Hamilton Street. H H Idle is listed at 1238 Melville Street 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). In 1940 the listing there is Mrs E Idle, a music teacher. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists H Hervon Idle there as the householder, a collection agency, with Mrs Edith Idle, a music teacher.

Today

1238 Melville (1995) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 423 Hamilton, so that building is 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 Idles

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Idle 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 I. Want a name removed? Tell us.