Vancouver / Names / P / Potvin

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Potvins

In the city directories 1940 · four people at four addresses

The directories print four people named Potvin at four addresses in 1940 in four of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family.

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 Potvins 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

    233 Abbott Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Alfred J Potvin, a laborer 1940

    Next door in 1940: Van Belt Works at 219 and Oland Rooms at 247. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    956 East 16th Avenue

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • A A Potvin, a winchman at Canadian National Steamships 1940

    Next door in 1940: R E Peterson at 930 and F Wells at 964. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    8400 Kerr Street

    Killarney, 1940

    • H J Potvin, an edger at Canadian White Pine 1940
  4. 4

    4059 West 15th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • H Potvin, a barber at Pender Barber Shop 1940

    Next door in 1940: W J Symonds at 4053 and F M Fairman at 4065. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all four: a barber, an edger, a laborer and a winchman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Killarney 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 Alfred J Potvin at 233 Abbott Street, a laborer. A A Potvin is listed at 956 East 16th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Albert A Potvin there as the householder, a winchman at Canadian National Steamships.

H J Potvin is listed at 8400 Kerr Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Henry J Potvin there as the householder, an edger at Canadian White Pine. H Potvin is listed at 4059 West 15th 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 Henry Potvin there as the householder, a barber at Pender Barber Shop.

Today

233 Abbott and 956 East 16th still have their buildings from before 1946, 233 Abbott on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 4059 West 15th (2008) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 8400 Kerr, so that building is 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 Potvins

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Potvin 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 P. Want a name removed? Tell us.