Vancouver / Names / S / Spencer / West 15th Avenue

A family name on West 15th Avenue, Fairview, Mount Pleasant, Kitsilano and West Point Grey

The Spencers

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Spencer at two addresses in 1940, all on West 15th Avenue. 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

    2001 West 15th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • Joan Spencer, an artist 1940
    • Robert A Spencer, proprietor of Jerome's 1940

    Next door in 1940: J T North at 2017. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    4437 West 15th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • F R Spencer, an accountant 1940

    Next door in 1940: C A Conrad at 4433 and J Hollick-Kenyon at 4453. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all three: an accountant, an artist and a proprietor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kitsilano and West Point Grey. 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 Joan Spencer at 2001 West 15th Avenue, an artist, with Robert A Spencer, proprietor of Jerome's. F R Spencer is listed at 4437 West 15th Avenue in 1940; 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 Frank R Spencer there as the householder, an accountant.

Today

2001 West 15th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1911 by the City's record; 4437 West 15th (2013) has a newer building, by the City's record.

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, name section, where each person's work is printed

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.