Vancouver / Names / S / Simpson / East 30th Avenue

A family name on East 30th Avenue, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Riley Park and Renfrew-Collingwood

The Simpsons

In the city directories 1940 · four people at two addresses

The directories print four people named Simpson at two addresses in 1940, all on East 30th Avenue. 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: three Simpsons at 665 East 30th in 1940. The directories print the name on 119 other streets too, all listed on the Simpson 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 Simpsons 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

    665 East 30th Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • J P Simpson, retired 1940
    • Grace Simpson, a cashier at the Lux Theatre 1940
    • Ken Simpson, a helper at McLeod S & D 1940
  2. 2

    735 East 30th Avenue

    Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 1940

    • W Simpson, a clerk at the BC Government 1940

    Next door in 1940: T Phillips at 719 and W J Grosvenor at 757. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: a cashier, a clerk and a helper.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kensington-Cedar Cottage and Riley Park. 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 J P Simpson at 665 East 30th Avenue; 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, where each person's work is printed, lists James P Simpson there as the householder, retired, with Grace Simpson, a cashier at the Lux Theatre, and Ken Simpson, a helper at McLeod S & D. In 1940 the directory lists W Simpson at 735 East 30th Avenue; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists William Simpson there as the householder, a clerk at the BC Government.

Today

665 East 30th and 735 East 30th still have their buildings from before 1946.

Every line as printed

All 6 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 Simpsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Simpson 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.

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.