Vancouver / Names / N / Nelson / West 15th Avenue

A family name on West 15th Avenue, Fairview, Mount Pleasant, Kitsilano and West Point Grey

The Nelsons

In the city directories 1940 · four people at two addresses

The directories print four people named Nelson at two addresses in 1940, all on West 15th Avenue, with the close spellings Neilson and Nielson. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Nelsons at 2886 West 15th in 1940. 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

    855 West 15th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • W Neilson, a watchmaker at Birks 1940

    Next door in 1940: C H Effinger at 845 and L Rothstein at 865. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2886 West 15th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • A I Nelson, retired 1940
    • John E Nelson, a bridgeman 1940
    • Robert A Nelson, a warehouseman at Canadian Ingersol Rand 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Waugh at 2876. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: a bridgeman, a warehouseman and a watchmaker.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in 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

In 1940 the directory lists W Neilson at 855 West 15th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists William Neilson there as the householder, a watchmaker at Birks. In 1940 the directory lists A I Nelson at 2886 West 15th Avenue; 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 Arthur I Nelson there as the householder, retired, with John E Nelson, a bridgeman, and Robert A Nelson, a warehouseman at Canadian Ingersol Rand.

Today

The City no longer lists 855 West 15th and 2886 West 15th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 6 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, street section

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.