Vancouver / Names / R / Rossum

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Rossums

In the city directories 1940 · five people at two addresses

The directories print five people named Rossum 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. The most under one roof: four Rossums at 1271 East 14th in 1940.

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 Rossums 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

    1271 East 14th Avenue

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • O F Rossum, a mechanic at Bowell McDonald 1940
    • Austa Rossum, a clerk at Famous 1940
    • Lilliam B Rossum 1940
    • Roy Rossum, a mechanic at Bowell McDonald 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Patton at 1251 and R L Fletcher at 1281. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    6638 Fraser Street

    Sunset, 1940

    • B W Rossum, a metal worker at Bowell McDonald 1940

    Next door in 1940: P McConnachie at 6698. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the five: a mechanic (2), a clerk and a metal worker. Three of them worked for Bowell McDonald.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Mount Pleasant and Sunset. 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 O F Rossum at 1271 East 14th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Oscar F Rossum there as the householder, a mechanic at Bowell McDonald, with Austa Rossum, a clerk at Famous, Lilliam B Rossum, and Roy Rossum, a mechanic at Bowell McDonald. In 1940 the directory lists B W Rossum at 6638 Fraser Street; 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 Barney W Rossum there as the householder, a metal worker at Bowell McDonald.

Today

The City no longer lists 6638 Fraser, so that building is probably gone (inferred); for 1271 East 14th, its page says what we could and couldn't match to today's buildings.

Every line as printed

All 7 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 Rossums

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Rossum 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.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

One email, when it's ready. We use your email for nothing else and never share it. Privacy

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.