Vancouver / Names / M / McPherson / Nelson Street

A family name on Nelson Street, West End and Downtown

The McPhersons

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named McPherson at three addresses in 1940, all on Nelson Street, with the close spellings Macpherson and MacPherson. 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 88 other streets too, all listed on the McPherson 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 McPhersons 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

    1245 Nelson Street

    West End, 1940

    • Gene K MacPherson, a nurse at the St Paul's Hospital 1940

    Next door in 1940: queen anne gardens at 1235. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1638 Nelson Street

    West End, 1940

    • McPherson, a domestic 1940

    Next door in 1940: W T Frith at 1632 and Mrs G H Curtin at 1642. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1756 Nelson Street

    West End, 1940

    • McPherson (no first name printed) 1940

    Next door in 1940: C E Brettall at 1750 and W Blais at 1770. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a domestic and a nurse.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in West End (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 Gene K MacPherson at 1245 Nelson Street, a nurse at the St Paul's Hospital. The 1940 name section lists McPherson at 1638 Nelson Street, a domestic. The 1940 name section lists McPherson (no first name printed) at 1756 Nelson Street.

Today

The City no longer lists 1245 Nelson, 1638 Nelson and 1756 Nelson, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Nelson Street, a wide street of houses behind hedges
About 1915 Nelson Street, a wide street of houses behind hedges. Not at the house at 1245 Nelson: no archive photo of the 1200 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, Str P181.2. Public domain.

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 McPhersons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the McPherson 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.