Vancouver / Names / R / Reading

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Readings

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Reading at three addresses in 1940 in two 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 Readings 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

    350 East 46th Avenue

    Sunset, 1940

    • W Reading, a driver at Birmingham Cartage & Supplies 1940

    Next door in 1940: F T Wooders at 342 and J P Loftus at 358. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    625 East 49th Avenue

    Sunset, 1940

    • Ruth Reading, a factory worker at S D & W 1940

    Next door in 1940: W Garner at 615 and Miss A Dickieson at 635. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1129 West Georgia Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Sybil Reading, an elevator operator 1940

    Next door in 1940: G R Burgess at 1125 and G F Moore at 1133. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all three: a driver, an elevator operator and a factory worker.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Sunset (2) and Downtown. 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 Reading at 350 East 46th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Walter Reading there as the householder, a driver at Birmingham Cartage & Supplies. The 1940 name section lists Ruth Reading at 625 East 49th Avenue, a factory worker at S D & W. The 1940 name section lists Sybil Reading at 1129 West Georgia Street, an elevator operator.

Today

625 East 49th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1909 by the City's record and on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 350 East 46th (2002) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1129 West Georgia, 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 Readings

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Reading 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 R. Want a name removed? Tell us.