Vancouver / Names / S / Shakespeare

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Shakespeares

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Shakespeare 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.

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 Shakespeares 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

    556 Howe Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • W B Shakespeare, in insurance 1940

    Next door in 1940: Farr Robinson & Bird at 546 and H W Morgan at 560. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2495 Point Grey Road

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • R N Shakespeare, of Killam & Shakespeare 1940

    Next door in 1940: E B Stapleton at 2465. The block, door by door

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown and Kitsilano. 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 B Shakespeare, in insurance, at 556 Howe Street. R N Shakespeare is listed at 2495 Point Grey Road in 1940. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Ray N Shakespeare there as the householder, of Killam & Shakespeare.

Today

2495 Point Grey Road still has its building from before 1946, dated 1912 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 556 Howe, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Friends taking tea on the front steps of P. Stewart's house at 2437 Point Grey Road
1930 Friends taking tea on the front steps of P. Stewart's house at 2437 Point Grey Road. Taken on the 2400 block; it doesn't single out the house at 2495 Point Grey Road. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-2123. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 3 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 Shakespeares

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Shakespeare 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 S. Want a name removed? Tell us.