Vancouver / Names / P / Pumfrey

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Pumfreys

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Pumfrey at three addresses in 1940 in three 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 Pumfreys 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

    771 Homer Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Pumfrey (no first name printed) 1940

    Next door in 1940: B Mercosky at 767 and A E Armstrong at 777. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    5849 Hudson Street

    Oakridge, 1940

    • W Pumfrey, a service station attendant 1940
    • Margaret Pumfrey, a student at UBC 1940

    Next door in 1940: E Hagell at 5829 and D N McDonell at 5869. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3984 West 16th Avenue

    Dunbar-Southlands, 1940

    • Walter Pumfrey 1940

    Next door in 1940: J G Rutherford at 3970 and F J Rigby at 3990. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the four: a service station attendant.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Dunbar-Southlands and Oakridge. 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 Pumfrey (no first name printed) at 771 Homer Street. W Pumfrey is listed at 5849 Hudson Street 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 William Pumfrey there as the householder, a provincial manager at McColl Frontenac, with William J Pumfrey, a service station attendant, and Margaret Pumfrey, a student at UBC. The 1940 name section lists Walter Pumfrey at 3984 West 16th Avenue.

Today

3984 West 16th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1931 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 771 Homer and 5849 Hudson, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Hudson Street looking south toward the Eburne station, past the Hotel Eburne and parked cars
The 1910s Hudson Street looking south toward the Eburne station, past the Hotel Eburne and parked cars. Not at the house at 5849 Hudson: no archive photo of the 5800 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, LGN 994. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 6 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 Pumfreys

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Pumfrey 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.