Vancouver / Names / N / Nelson / West 12th Avenue

A family name on West 12th Avenue, Fairview, Mount Pleasant, Kitsilano and West Point Grey

The Nelsons

In the city directories 1940 · four people at four addresses

The directories print four people named Nelson at four addresses in 1940, all on West 12th Avenue, with the close spellings Neilson and Nielson. 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 134 other streets too, all listed on the Nelson 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 Nelsons 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

    584 West 12th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • Ingvald Nelson, a woodworker 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs A M Roberts at 550 and G H McRobbie at 590. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    3276 West 12th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • J Nelson, a student 1940

    Next door in 1940: E R Austin at 3266 and J A McKibbin at 3286. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3677 West 12th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • M W Nelson, an accountant at Guernsey Breeders' Dairy 1940

    Next door in 1940: W E G Thomson at 3673. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    4383 West 12th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • Janet Neilson, widow of G 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs L Child at 4377 and West Pt Grey Presby Ch at 4395. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: an accountant and a woodworker. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kitsilano (2), Fairview and West Point Grey. 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 Ingvald Nelson at 584 West 12th Avenue, a woodworker. J Nelson is listed at 3276 West 12th Avenue in 1940; 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 John Nelson there as the householder, with John A Nelson, a student.

M W Nelson is listed at 3677 West 12th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Maxwell W Nelson there as the householder, an accountant at Guernsey Breeders' Dairy. The 1940 name section lists Janet Neilson at 4383 West 12th Avenue, widow of G.

Today

3276 West 12th and 4383 West 12th still have their buildings from before 1946; the City no longer lists 584 West 12th and 3677 West 12th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 7 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 Nelsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Nelson 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 N. Want a name removed? Tell us.