Vancouver / Names / S / Sorby

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Sorbys

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Sorby at three addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: 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 Sorbys 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

    927 Hornby Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • James Sorby 1940

    Next door in 1940: W G Field at 923 and Mrs E M Cleaver at 931. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    864 Richards Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Odd Sorby, a fireman at the Union Steamship Company 1940

    Next door in 1940: H C Cann at 856 and H B Jackson at 872. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1602 Robson Street

    West End, 1940

    • Mrs L Sorby, widow of W B 1940
    • Margaret P Sorby, a saleswoman at the Hudson's Bay Company 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M Summers at 1600 and Mrs E Jenkins at 1614. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a fireman and a saleswoman. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2) and West End. 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 James Sorby at 927 Hornby Street. The 1940 name section lists Odd Sorby at 864 Richards Street, a fireman at the Union Steamship Company. In 1940 the directory lists Mrs L Sorby, rooms to let, at 1602 Robson 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 Lucy Sorby there as the householder, widow of W B, with Margaret P Sorby, a saleswoman at the Hudson's Bay Company.

Today

The City no longer lists 927 Hornby, 864 Richards and 1602 Robson, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 5 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 Sorbys

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Sorby 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.