Vancouver / Names / T / Thomson / West 15th Avenue

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

The Thomsons

In the city directories 1940 · five people at three addresses

The directories print five people named Thomson at three addresses in 1940, all on West 15th Avenue, with the close spellings Thomason and Thomasson. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Thomsons at 4533 West 15th in 1940. The directories print the name on 119 other streets too, all listed on the Thomson 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 Thomsons 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

    1207 West 15th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • Mabel M Thomson, widow of L 1940

    Next door in 1940: H W Croft at 1205 and glen-alder apts at 1215. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1285 West 15th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • James A Thomson, a piler at the Eburne Saw Mills 1940

    Next door in 1940: S C Hayden at 1275 and Miss G M L Knox at 1295. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    4533 West 15th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • J A Thomson, who worked for Gordon Belyea 1940
    • Doug T Thomson, a clerk at the City of Vancouver 1940
    • Isabella A Thomson, a laundress at Nelson Laundries 1940

    Next door in 1940: H H Weed at 4527 and F Sherman-Anderson at 4537. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the five: a clerk, an employee, a laundress and a piler. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Fairview (2) 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 Mabel M Thomson at 1207 West 15th Avenue, widow of L. The 1940 name section lists James A Thomson at 1285 West 15th Avenue, a piler at the Eburne Saw Mills. In 1940 the directory lists J A Thomson at 4533 West 15th 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 John A Thomson there as the householder, who worked for Gordon Belyea, with Doug T Thomson, a clerk at the City of Vancouver, and Isabella A Thomson, a laundress at Nelson Laundries.

Today

4533 West 15th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1939 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1207 West 15th and 1285 West 15th, 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 Thomsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Thomson 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.