Vancouver / Names / S / Spencer / Kingsway

A family name on Kingsway, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Mount Pleasant and Renfrew-Collingwood

The Spencers

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Spencer at two addresses in 1940, all on Kingsway. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 47 other streets too, all listed on the Spencer 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 Spencers 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

    3203 Kingsway

    Renfrew-Collingwood, 1940

    • T Spencer, a caretaker at the Kway Theatre 1940

    Next door in 1940: B & M Cycle Shop at 3201 and Moore Radio & Elec at 3205. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    3207 Kingsway

    Renfrew-Collingwood, 1940

    • Mrs C Spencer, a confectioner 1940

    Next door in 1940: Moore Radio & Elec at 3205 and Kway Theatre at 3215. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the two: a caretaker.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Renfrew-Collingwood (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 T Spencer at 3203 Kingsway; 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 Thomas Spencer there, proprietor of Spencer's Hall, with Thomas R Spencer, a caretaker at the Kway Theatre. In 1940 the directory lists Mrs C Spencer, a confectioner, at 3207 Kingsway.

Today

The City no longer lists 3203 Kingsway and 3207 Kingsway, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

People in open cars gathered for a car rally on Kingsway
1913 People in open cars gathered for a car rally on Kingsway. Not at the house at 3203 Kingsway: no archive photo of the 3200 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 371-2294. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 4 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 Spencers

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Spencer 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.