Vancouver / Names / O / O'Brien / Bute Street

A family name on Bute Street, West End and Downtown

The O'Briens

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named O'Brien at three addresses in 1940, all on Bute Street, with the close spelling O'brien. 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 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. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    884 Bute Street

    West End, 1940

    • Mrs H T O'Brien 1940
    • Helen F O'Brien, widow of P J 1940

    Next door in 1940: Bute Lodge at 836 and Mrs A Dann at 894. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1065 Bute Street

    West End, 1940

    • M J O'Brien 1940

    Next door in 1940: mayfair apts at 1019. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1086 Bute Street

    West End, 1940

    • Michael J O'Brien, a radio department at Gourlay Advertising 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs E L Monkman at 1036. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the four: a radio department. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in West End (3). 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 H T O'Brien at 884 Bute Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Helen F O'Brien there as the householder, widow of P J. In 1940 the directory lists M J O'Brien at 1065 Bute Street. The 1940 name section lists Michael J O'Brien at 1086 Bute Street as the householder, a radio department at Gourlay Advertising.

Today

884 Bute, 1065 Bute and 1086 Bute still have their buildings from before 1946, 884 Bute on the Vancouver Heritage Register.

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, 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.