Vancouver / Names / M / Mathison

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Mathisons

In the city directories 1940 · six people at four addresses

The directories print six people named Mathison at four addresses in 1940 in three of the city's neighbourhoods, with the close spelling Matthison. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Mathisons at 1245 West Broadway in 1940.

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 Mathisons 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

    2588 Cornwall Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • Vera H Mathison, a comptroller operator at Safeway 1940

    Next door in 1940: E S Van Dervoort at 2596. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    5626 Highbury Street

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • Jane M E Mathison, a domestic for C M Skelly 1940

    Next door in 1940: V Willing at 5616 and H J Seed at 5646. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    4073 West 19th Avenue

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • R A Mathison, an assistant manager at International Harvester 1940

    Next door in 1940: W J S Chatwin at 4067 and W W Floyd at 4083. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    1245 West Broadway

    Fairview, 1940

    • C Matthison, a dentist for W A Rutledge 1940
    • Henry A Matthison, a clerk at Royal Crown Soap 1940
    • Edith H Matthison, a nurse at the Vancouver General Hospital 1940

    Next door in 1940: beauty service at 1235 and W L Welsh at 1255. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all six: an assistant manager, a clerk, a comptroller operator, a dentist, a domestic and a nurse.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Dunbar-Southlands (2), Fairview and Kitsilano. 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 Vera H Mathison at 2588 Cornwall Avenue, a comptroller operator at Safeway. The 1940 name section lists Jane M E Mathison at 5626 Highbury Street, a domestic for C M Skelly. In 1940 the directory lists R A Mathison at 4073 West 19th Avenue. The 1940 name section lists R Arthur Mathison there as the householder, an assistant manager at International Harvester.

In 1940 the directory lists C Matthison at 1245 West Broadway; 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 Charles Matthison there as the householder, a dentist for W A Rutledge, with Henry A Matthison, a clerk at Royal Crown Soap, and Edith H Matthison, a nurse at the Vancouver General Hospital.

Today

5626 Highbury still has its building from before 1946, dated 1936 by the City's record; 4073 West 19th (2018) and 1245 West Broadway (1989) have newer buildings, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 2588 Cornwall, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 8 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 Mathisons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Mathison 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 M. Want a name removed? Tell us.