Vancouver / Names / L / Lee / Union Street

A family name on Union Street, Strathcona and Downtown

The Lees

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Lee at three addresses in 1940, all on Union Street. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 105 other streets too, all listed on the Lee 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 Lees 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

    207 Union Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Toy Lee 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs J E Murray at 209. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    255 Union Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Wong Lee, who ran a laundry 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Redland at 249 and N Agostino at 263. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    258 Union Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Emily H Lee, widow of G 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mothers Tamale & Chili Parlor at 250 and F Berardino at 264. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the three: a laundry. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Strathcona (3). 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

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Toy Lee at 207 Union Street. The 1940 name section lists Wong Lee at 255 Union Street, who ran a laundry. The 1940 name section lists Emily H Lee at 258 Union Street, widow of G.

Today

255 Union (1994) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 207 Union, so that building is probably gone (inferred); for 258 Union, its page says what we could and couldn't match to today's buildings.

Every line as printed

All 3 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Lees

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Lee 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.