A family name in Vancouver's city directories
The Speerses
In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses
The directories print two people named Speers 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 Speerses lived
- 1
735 Bidwell Street
West End, 1940
- Elsie A Speers, a saleswoman at Birks 1940
Next door in 1940: J A Wylie at 773. The block, door by door
- 2
175 East 15th Avenue
Mount Pleasant, 1940
- T W Speers, a clerk at the CNR 1940
Next door in 1940: J J Bond at 145. The block, door by door
What they did
The name section prints a trade for all two: a clerk and a saleswoman.
Their neighbourhoods
The addresses are in Mount Pleasant 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 Elsie A Speers at 735 Bidwell Street, a saleswoman at Birks. T W Speers is listed at 175 East 15th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Thomas W Speers there as the householder, a clerk at the CNR.
Today
The City no longer lists 175 East 15th, so that building is probably gone (inferred); for 735 Bidwell, its page says what we could and couldn't match to today's buildings.
Every line as printed
All 3 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
- Speers Elsie A slswm Birks735 Bidwell, p. 578
- Speers T W175 East 15th, p. 218
- Speers Thos W clk CNR175 East 15th, p. 578
British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed
The book of the Speerses
Every directory, as one book
The family book reads the Speers 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.