Vancouver / Names / T / Tonks

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Tonkses

In the city directories 1940 · four people at four addresses

The directories print four people named Tonks at four addresses in 1940 in three of the city's neighbourhoods. 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 Tonkses 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

    240 East 14th Avenue

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • William Tonks, a kiln piler at Masterbilt Doors 1940

    Next door in 1940: Timms A H Ltd at 234 and Mrs E J W Johnston at 244. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    4454 West 11th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • Leah Tonks, widow of W H 1940

    Next door in 1940: T Younger at 4446 and F K Helmer at 4460. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    4583 West 12th Avenue

    West Point Grey, 1940

    • A J Tonks, a telegraph operator at the CPR 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs I Maltby at 4579 and Mrs D G Sheffield at 4593. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    556 West 6th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • A Thomas Tonks 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Owen at 550 and Nelson Blower Co at 580. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a kiln piler and a telegraph operator. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in West Point Grey (2), Fairview and Mount Pleasant. 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 Tonks at 240 East 14th Avenue, a kiln piler at Masterbilt Doors. The 1940 name section lists Leah Tonks at 4454 West 11th Avenue, widow of W H. In 1940 the directory lists A J Tonks at 4583 West 12th 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 Alfred J Tonks there as the householder, a telegraph operator at the CPR.

The 1940 name section lists A Thomas Tonks at 556 West 6th Avenue.

Today

4583 West 12th (2018) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 240 East 14th, 4454 West 11th and 556 West 6th, 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 Tonkses

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Tonks 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.