Vancouver / Names / R / Robson / Hornby Street

A family name on Hornby Street, Downtown

The Robsons

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Robson at two addresses in 1940, all on Hornby Street, with the close spelling Robison. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 41 other streets too, all listed on the Robson 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 Robsons 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

    915 Hornby Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Robson (no first name printed), a millworker 1940

    Next door in 1940: G W Moreland at 901 and W R Nimmons at 917. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1133 Hornby Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • R H Robison 1940
    • Jeffrey G Robison, a wireman at the BC Electric Railway 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M Hurliman at 1127 and Mrs C Caughlin at 1141. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a millworker and a wireman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2). 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 Robson (no first name printed) at 915 Hornby Street, a millworker. R H Robison is listed at 1133 Hornby 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 Robert H Robison there as the householder, with Jeffrey G Robison, a wireman at the BC Electric Railway.

Today

1133 Hornby still has its building from before 1946, dated 1912 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 915 Hornby, 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, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Robsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Robson 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.