Vancouver / Names / T / Toms

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Tomses

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Toms at two addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods, with the close spelling Tooms. 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 Tomses 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

    4669 Oak Street

    Shaughnessy, 1940

    • A W R Toms, a manager at Brisbane Aviation Co 1940

    Next door in 1940: A Forshaw at 4649. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2516 West 6th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • T W Tooms, a representative at Canadian Rhodes Manufacturing 1940

    Next door in 1940: H L Northey at 2506 and C A Miller at 2526. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for all two: a manager and a representative.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kitsilano and Shaughnessy. 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 A W R Toms at 4669 Oak 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 Alfred W R Toms there as the householder, a manager at Brisbane Aviation Co. In 1940 the directory lists T W Tooms at 2516 West 6th Avenue; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Thomas W Tooms there as the householder, a representative at Canadian Rhodes Manufacturing.

Today

2516 West 6th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1924 by the City's record; 4669 Oak (1994) has a newer building, by the City's record.

Oak Street at Broadway, looking south past billboards and the Vallejo Court apartments
21 May 1929 Oak Street at Broadway, looking south past billboards and the Vallejo Court apartments. Not at the house at 4669 Oak: no archive photo of the 4600 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 453-1. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 4 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 Tomses

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Toms 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.