Vancouver / Names / M / Murray / Robson Street

A family name on Robson Street, West End and Downtown

The Murrays

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Murray at three addresses in 1940, all on Robson 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 136 other streets too, all listed on the Murray 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 Murrays 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

    611 Robson Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Murray (no first name printed) 1940

    Next door in 1940: C Hope at 609 and Van Tamale Parlor at 615. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1348 Robson Street

    West End, 1940

    • Mrs Cath Murray 1940
    • Dorothy E Murray, a comptroller operator at BC Drugs 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs B Bethune at 1332 and la belle apts at 1368. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1748 Robson Street

    West End, 1940

    • James I Murray, a clerk at the CPR 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Barker at 1742. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a clerk and a comptroller operator.

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 Murray (no first name printed) at 611 Robson Street. The 1940 name section lists Mrs Cath Murray at 1348 Robson Street, with Dorothy E Murray, a comptroller operator at BC Drugs. The 1940 name section lists James I Murray at 1748 Robson Street, a clerk at the CPR.

Today

1348 Robson still has its building from before 1946, dated 1936 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 611 Robson and 1748 Robson, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

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 Murrays

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Murray 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.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

One email, when it's ready. We use your email for nothing else and never share it. Privacy

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.