Vancouver / Names / L / Le May

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Le Mays

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Le May at three addresses in 1940 in three of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: 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 Le Mays 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

    3505 Commercial Street

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • W Le May, a sculptor 1940

    Next door in 1940: A W Jones at 3503 and Mrs M A Beaver at 3517. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    736 Gore Avenue

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Alfred Lemay 1940

    Next door in 1940: “Orientals” at 740. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    309 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Ed Lemay, who worked for the Sun 1940

    Next door in 1940: Boden Auction Rooms at 317. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the three: a sculptor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Kensington-Cedar Cottage and Strathcona. 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 W Le May, a sculptor, at 3505 Commercial Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Wilfred Lemay there, a sculptor. The 1940 name section lists Alfred Lemay at 736 Gore Avenue. The 1940 name section lists Ed Lemay at 309 West Pender Street, who worked for the Sun.

Today

The City no longer lists 3505 Commercial, 736 Gore and 309 West Pender, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

The 3500 block of Commercial Street, looking north from 20th Avenue past the Bank of Hamilton
About 1913 The 3500 block of Commercial Street, looking north from 20th Avenue past the Bank of Hamilton. Taken on the 3500 block; it doesn't single out the house at 3505 Commercial. City of Vancouver Archives, LGN 504. 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 Le Mays

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Le May 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 L. Want a name removed? Tell us.