Vancouver / Names / W / Wilbee

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Wilbees

In the city directories 1940 · four people at four addresses

The directories print four people named Wilbee at four addresses in 1940 in two 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 Wilbees lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. One address isn't on today's map, so it has no pin. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    3253 East 28th Avenue

    Renfrew-Collingwood, 1940

    • A C Wilbee, a branch manager at Wilbee's Service Stores 1940

    Next door in 1940: E K Nyberg at 3247 and L E Webster at 3261. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    471 East 49th Avenue

    Sunset, 1940

    • Henry Wilbe, a laborer 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Schmidt at 463 and Rev J G Thiessen at 475. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    639 East 52nd Avenue

    Sunset, 1940

    • A F Wilbee, of Wilbee's Service Stores 1940

    Next door in 1940: S C H Allen at 617 and Ebenezer Bapt Ch at 659. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    7416 Fraser Street

    Sunset, 1940

    • G V Wilbee, a managing director at Wilbee's Service Stores 1940

    Next door in 1940: H G Smith at 7456. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the four: a branch manager, a laborer and a managing director. Two of them worked for Wilbee's Service Stores.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Sunset (3) and Renfrew-Collingwood. 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 C Wilbee at 3253 East 28th 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, where each person's work is printed, lists A Clif Wilbee there as the householder, a branch manager at Wilbee's Service Stores. The 1940 name section lists Henry Wilbe at 471 East 49th Avenue, a laborer.

A F Wilbee is listed at 639 East 52nd Avenue in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists A Frank Wilbee there as the householder, of Wilbee's Service Stores. G V Wilbee is listed at 7416 Fraser Street in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists G Victor Wilbee there as the householder, a managing director at Wilbee's Service Stores.

Today

3253 East 28th still has its building from before 1946, dated 1930 by the City's record; 471 East 49th (2010) and 639 East 52nd (2003) have newer buildings, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 7416 Fraser, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 7 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 Wilbees

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Wilbee 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 W. Want a name removed? Tell us.