Vancouver / Names / S / Swires

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Swireses

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Swires at three addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: 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 Swireses 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

    958 East 10th Avenue

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • R J Swires, a salesman at Vancouver Tobacco 1940

    Next door in 1940: T D McMillan at 950 and G Crowston at 966. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    375 East 14th Avenue

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • T E Swires, a driver for T G McBride 1940

    Next door in 1940: J W Wardrop at 359. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1568 East 8th Avenue

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • Edith M Swires, who worked for the BC Telephone 1940

    Next door in 1940: W Romain at 1562 and G E Randall at 1576. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all three: a driver, an employee and a salesman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Mount Pleasant (2) and Grandview-Woodland. 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 R J Swires at 958 East 10th Avenue. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Robert J Swires there as the householder, a salesman at Vancouver Tobacco. In 1940 the directory lists T E Swires at 375 East 14th Avenue. The 1940 name section lists Thomas E Swires there as the householder, a driver for T G McBride.

The 1940 name section lists Edith M Swires at 1568 East 8th Avenue, who worked for the BC Telephone.

Today

958 East 10th (2017) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 375 East 14th and 1568 East 8th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 5 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 Swireses

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Swires 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.