Vancouver / Names / O / O'Brien / Balsam Street

A family name on Balsam Street, Kerrisdale, Kitsilano and Arbutus Ridge

The O'Briens

In the city directories 1940 · four people at two addresses

The directories print four people named O'Brien at two addresses in 1940, all on Balsam Street, with the close spelling O'brien. 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 O'Briens at 5939 Balsam in 1940. The directories print the name on 47 other streets too, all listed on the O'Brien 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 O'Briens lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. One address isn't on today's map, so it has no pin. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    5939 Balsam Street

    Kerrisdale, 1940

    • Mrs M N O'Brien 1940
    • Elizabeth P O'Brien, a maid 1940
    • John J O'Brien, a salesman at Safeway 1940

    Next door in 1940: S C Chatwin at 5925 and C McRae at 5951. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    6257 Balsam Street

    Kerrisdale, 1940

    • Elizabeth M O'Brien, who worked for J B Yuill 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs E D Woods at 6241 and J Johnstone at 6275. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a maid and a salesman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kerrisdale (2). 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 Mrs M N O'Brien at 5939 Balsam Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Mrs Maud N O'Brien there as the householder, with Elizabeth P O'Brien, a maid, and John J O'Brien, a salesman at Safeway. The 1940 name section lists Elizabeth M O'Brien at 6257 Balsam Street, who worked for J B Yuill.

Today

The City no longer lists 5939 Balsam and 6257 Balsam, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 5 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 O'Briens

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the O'Brien 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 O. Want a name removed? Tell us.