Vancouver / Names / T / Thompson / West Pender Street

A family name on West Pender Street, Downtown

The Thompsons

In the city directories 1940 · five people at five addresses

The directories print five people named Thompson at five addresses in 1940, all on West Pender Street. 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 175 other streets too, all listed on the Thompson 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 Thompsons 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

    609 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • William Thompson, a dispatcher 1940

    Next door in 1940: Magic Barber Shop at 607 and B C Office Equip Co at 611. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1028 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Mrs Helen Thompson 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs H Beddome at 1036. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1054 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Betty Thompson, a maid at the Merritt Gordon Hotel 1940

    Next door in 1940: E C Church at 1052 and H Okamura at 1056. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    1101 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • James Thompson 1940

    Next door in 1940: E Taylor at 1105. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    1313 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • G E Thompson, a bricklayer 1940

    Next door in 1940: R Lunny at 1311 and H P Andersen at 1321. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the five: a bricklayer, a dispatcher and a maid.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (5). 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 William Thompson at 609 West Pender Street, a dispatcher. The 1940 name section lists Mrs Helen Thompson at 1028 West Pender Street. The 1940 name section lists Betty Thompson at 1054 West Pender Street, a maid at the Merritt Gordon Hotel. The 1940 name section lists James Thompson at 1101 West Pender Street.

In 1940 the directory lists G E Thompson at 1313 West Pender Street. The 1940 name section lists George E Thompson there as the householder, a bricklayer.

Today

The City no longer lists 609 West Pender, 1028 West Pender, 1054 West Pender, 1101 West Pender and 1313 West Pender, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 6 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 Thompsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Thompson 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.