Vancouver / Names / S / Spencer / West 12th Avenue

A family name on West 12th Avenue, Fairview, Mount Pleasant, Kitsilano and West Point Grey

The Spencers

In the city directories 1940 · four people at three addresses

The directories print four people named Spencer at three addresses in 1940, all on West 12th Avenue. No first name or initials tie one address to another: 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

    1176 West 12th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • H Spencer, an engineer 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M A Flower at 1156 and montrose apartments at 1190. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1616 West 12th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • H V Spencer, an electrician 1940

    Next door in 1940: W R Jones at 1626. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3245 West 12th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • E Spencer, a carpenter 1940
    • Alan E Spencer, a clipper at BC Plywoods 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Sandison at 3235 and H C Huycke at 3255. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all four: a carpenter, a clipper, an electrician and an engineer.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Fairview (2) and Kitsilano. 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 H Spencer at 1176 West 12th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Herbert Spencer there as the householder, an engineer. In 1940 the directory lists H V Spencer at 1616 West 12th Avenue. The 1940 name section lists Harry V Spencer there as the householder, an electrician.

In 1940 the directory lists E Spencer at 3245 West 12th 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 lists Edward Spencer there as the householder, a carpenter, with Edna M Spencer, and Alan E Spencer, a clipper at BC Plywoods.

Today

1176 West 12th and 3245 West 12th still have their buildings from before 1946; the City no longer lists 1616 West 12th, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 8 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.