Vancouver / Names / N / Nelson / West Georgia Street

A family name on West Georgia Street, Downtown and West End

The Nelsons

In the city directories 1940 · eight people at four addresses

The directories print eight people named Nelson at four addresses in 1940, all on West Georgia Street, 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 most under one roof: five Nelsons at 1201 West Georgia 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

    321 West Georgia Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • William Neilson 1940

    Next door in 1940: W Zarazun at 319 and J Wright at 375. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    801 West Georgia Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Lawrey Nelson, a secretary at Nelson & Co 1940

    Next door in 1940: devonshire hotel at 849. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    925 West Georgia Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • J R Neilson, a physician 1940

    Next door in 1940: Lunch Sandwich at 915 and Macdonald's Prescriptions at 929. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    1201 West Georgia Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Mrs R E Nelson, widow of P 1940
    • Alma A Nelson, a stenographer at Milne & Craighead 1940
    • Edith E Nelson, a stenographer at Leith & Dyke 1940
    • John R Nelson, a lumberman 1940
    • Peter F Nelson, a timekeeper 1940

    Next door in 1940: Auto Reconditioning at 1219. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for five of the eight: a stenographer (2), a lumberman, a secretary and a timekeeper. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (4). 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 William Neilson at 321 West Georgia Street. The 1940 name section lists Lawrey Nelson at 801 West Georgia Street, a secretary at Nelson & Co. In 1940 the directory lists J R Neilson, a physician, at 925 West Georgia Street.

Mrs R E Nelson is listed at 1201 West Georgia Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Rose E Nelson there as the householder, widow of P, with Alma A Nelson, a stenographer at Milne & Craighead, Edith E Nelson, a stenographer at Leith & Dyke, John R Nelson, a lumberman, and Peter F Nelson, a timekeeper.

Today

801 West Georgia and 1201 West Georgia still have their buildings from before 1946, both on the Vancouver Heritage Register; the City no longer lists 321 West Georgia and 925 West Georgia, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 9 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.