Vancouver / Names / R / Ross / Comox Street

A family name on Comox Street, West End

The Rosses

In the city directories 1940 · nine people at three addresses

The directories print nine people named Ross at three addresses in 1940, all on Comox Street. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: seven Rosses at 1041 Comox in 1940. The directories print the name on 151 other streets too, all listed on the Ross 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 Rosses 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

    1041 Comox Street

    West End, 1940

    • C H Ross, a salesman at McDermott Motors 1940
    • Miss C E Ross 1940
    • Carrie E Ross, a school teacher 1940
    • Barbara E Ross 1940
    • Daisy C Ross, an operator at the BC Telephone 1940
    • Mary E Ross, widow of J C 1940
    • Millie G Ross, an operator at the BC Telephone 1940

    Next door in 1940: G Simmers at 1033 and Mrs R E Wray at 1047. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1163 Comox Street

    West End, 1940

    • Mrs M H Ross, widow of H L 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs C A Murray at 1161 and T J A Williams at 1165. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1844 Comox Street

    West End, 1940

    • Ursula Ross, an artist 1940

    Next door in 1940: Miss F L De Voe at 1836 and D Kinneard at 1860. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for five of the nine: an operator (2), an artist, a salesman and a school teacher. Two of them worked for BC Telephone. Two are widows, listed under their own names.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in West End (3). 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 Miss C E Ross at 1041 Comox Street. By 1940 it is C H Ross. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Charles H Ross there as the householder, a salesman at McDermott Motors, with Carrie E Ross, a school teacher, Barbara E Ross, Daisy C Ross, an operator at the BC Telephone, Mary E Ross, widow of J C, and Millie G Ross, an operator at the BC Telephone.

Mrs M H Ross is listed at 1163 Comox 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 Mary H Ross there as the householder, widow of H L. The 1940 name section lists Ursula Ross at 1844 Comox Street, an artist.

Today

1041 Comox still has its building from before 1946, dated 1911 by the City's record and on the Vancouver Heritage Register; the City no longer lists 1163 Comox and 1844 Comox, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Comox Street looking east from Denman, lined with cut-back boulevard trees
1925 Comox Street looking east from Denman, lined with cut-back boulevard trees. Not at the house at 1041 Comox: no archive photo of the 1000 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 357-1. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 11 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 Rosses

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Ross 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.