Vancouver / Names / T / Thornhill

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Thornhills

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Thornhill at two addresses in 1940 in Downtown. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: 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 Thornhills 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

    589 Burrard Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • J E Thornhill, a waiter at the St Regis Hotel 1940

    Next door in 1940: Day R S & Son Ltd at 567 and W C Beattie at 591. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    50 West Cordova Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • William Thornhill, a clerk 1940

    Next door in 1940: Hatchery Queen at 36 and C Carlson at 52. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all two: a clerk and a waiter.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (2). 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 J E Thornhill at 589 Burrard Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists John E Thornhill there as the householder, a waiter at the St Regis Hotel. The 1940 name section lists William Thornhill at 50 West Cordova Street, a clerk.

Today

50 West Cordova still has its building from before 1946, dated 1910 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 589 Burrard, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Shriners in striped robes marching in a parade on Burrard Street
1942 Shriners in striped robes marching in a parade on Burrard Street. Not at the house at 589 Burrard: no archive photo of the 500 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 1184-1239. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 3 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 Thornhills

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Thornhill 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.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

One email, when it's ready. We use your email for nothing else and never share it. Privacy

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.