Vancouver / Names / S / Sow

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Sows

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Sow at two addresses in 1940 in Strathcona. 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 Sows 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

    242 East Pender Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Wah Sow 1940

    Next door in 1940: Hong Yick Co at 238 and Shang Shing Co at 250. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    333 Keefer Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Yee Sow 1940

    Next door in 1940: Yam Chan at 327 and Lin Sow Lum at 343. The block, door by door

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Strathcona (2). 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 Wah Sow at 242 East Pender Street. Yee Sow is listed at 333 Keefer Street in 1940. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Yee Sow there as the householder.

Today

The City no longer lists 242 East Pender and 333 Keefer, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

The Wong Wing Fong family on Keefer Street
1914 The Wong Wing Fong family on Keefer Street. Not at the house at 333 Keefer: no archive photo of the 300 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, 2021-034.288, photo by Yucho Chow Studio. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 3 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.

The book of the Sows

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Sow 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.