Vancouver / Names / T / Thomas / Napier Street

A family name on Napier Street, Hastings-Sunrise, Strathcona and Grandview-Woodland

The Thomases

In the city directories 1940 · six people at two addresses

The directories print six people named Thomas at two addresses in 1940, all on Napier Street, with the close spelling Thoms. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: five Thomases at 1220 Napier in 1940. The directories print the name on 126 other streets too, all listed on the Thomas 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 Thomases 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

    1220 Napier Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • G Thomas, a laborer 1940
    • Bessie V Thomas 1940
    • John Thomas, a laborer 1940
    • Mike Thomas, a cook 1940
    • Peter Thomas, a laborer 1940

    Next door in 1940: M Jacobsen at 1232. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2552 Napier Street

    Hastings-Sunrise, 1940

    • E Thomas, a laborer at the Alberta Wheat Pool 1940

    Next door in 1940: F Malella at 2534 and J Lufkin at 2558. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for five of the six: a laborer (4) and a cook.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Hastings-Sunrise and Strathcona. 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 G Thomas at 1220 Napier Street; 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 George Thomas there as the householder, a laborer, with Bessie V Thomas, John Thomas, a laborer, Mike Thomas, a cook, and Peter Thomas, a laborer. In 1940 the directory lists E Thomas at 2552 Napier Street; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Edward Thomas there as the householder, a laborer at the Alberta Wheat Pool.

Today

2552 Napier (2002) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1220 Napier, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

A family with a covered wagon, their horses and a foal on Napier Street
About 1918 A family with a covered wagon, their horses and a foal on Napier Street. Not at the house at 1220 Napier: no archive photo of the 1200 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, SGN 1548. Public domain.

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 Thomases

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Thomas 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 T. Want a name removed? Tell us.