Vancouver / Names / T / Tofft

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Toffts

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Tofft at three addresses in 1940 in three of the city's neighbourhoods, with the close spelling Toft. 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 Toffts 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

    966 West 13th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • Frederick Toft, proprietor of Alaska Fur 1940

    Next door in 1940: G Kellett at 956 and W B Nemetz at 968. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    4146 West 15th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • Mrs M E Tofft, a widow 1940

    Next door in 1940: L A Webber at 4138 and E L Hooper at 4154. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    2139 West 38th Avenue

    Arbutus Ridge, 1940

    • A M Toft, a canvasser at First United Church Welfare Industrial 1940

    Next door in 1940: J F MacLean at 2137 and G A Strickland at 2155. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a canvasser and a proprietor. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Arbutus Ridge, Fairview 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 Frederick Toft at 966 West 13th Avenue, proprietor of Alaska Fur. Mrs M E Tofft is listed at 4146 West 15th Avenue in 1940; 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 Mary E Tofft there as the householder, a widow.

A M Toft is listed at 2139 West 38th Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Alfred M Toft there as the householder, a canvasser at First United Church Welfare Industrial.

Today

4146 West 15th (1984) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 966 West 13th and 2139 West 38th, 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, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Toffts

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Tofft 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.