Vancouver / Names / M / McRae / Nelson Street

A family name on Nelson Street, West End and Downtown

The McRaes

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named McRae at three addresses in 1940, all on Nelson Street, with the close spellings Macrae, MacRae and McCrae. 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 80 other streets too, all listed on the McRae 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 McRaes 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

    840 Nelson Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • John McRae, a building contractor 1940

    Next door in 1940: Oke & Duke at 808. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1235 Nelson Street

    West End, 1940

    • E A McRae, an accountant at the Royal Bank 1940

    Next door in 1940: beverly (the) at 1225 and tweedsmuir apts at 1245. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1605 Nelson Street

    West End, 1940

    • W John McRae, a patcher at BC Plywoods 1940

    Next door in 1940: B Brand at 1609. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all three: an accountant, a building contractor and a patcher.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in West End (2) and Downtown. 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 John McRae at 840 Nelson Street, a building contractor. E A McRae is listed at 1235 Nelson Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Eric A McRae there as the householder, an accountant at the Royal Bank. The 1940 name section lists W John McRae at 1605 Nelson Street, a patcher at BC Plywoods.

Today

1235 Nelson and 1605 Nelson still have their buildings from before 1946, both on the Vancouver Heritage Register; the City no longer lists 840 Nelson, so that building is 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 1235 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 4 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 McRaes

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the McRae 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.