Vancouver / Names / P / Ptolemy

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Ptolemys

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Ptolemy at two addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: 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 Ptolemys 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

    4566 West 12th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • W S Ptolemy, who worked for Woodland Manufacturing 1940

    Next door in 1940: H J Green at 4558 and H I Corbett at 4570. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1297 West Broadway

    Fairview, 1940

    • F P Ptolemy, proprietor of Loggers Pool Room 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs L Smith at 1293. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all two: an employee and a proprietor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Fairview 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

In 1940 the directory lists W S Ptolemy at 4566 West 12th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Walter S Ptolemy there as the householder, who worked for Woodland Manufacturing. In 1940 the directory lists F P Ptolemy at 1297 West Broadway. The 1940 name section lists Frank P Ptolemy there as the householder, proprietor of Loggers Pool Room.

Today

4566 West 12th (2019) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1297 West Broadway, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

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 Ptolemys

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Ptolemy 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.