A family name on Main Street, Riley Park, Strathcona, Downtown, Mount Pleasant and Sunset
The Williamses
In the city directories 1940 · four people at four addresses
The directories print four people named Williams at four addresses in 1940, all on Main Street, with the close spelling Willams. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 186 other streets too, all listed on the Williams name's own page.
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 Williamses lived
- 1
331 Main Street
Strathcona, 1940
- A Williams 1940
Next door in 1940: Importing Standard at 327 and BC Pub Mkt at 333. The block, door by door
- 2
451 Main Street
Strathcona, 1940
- Mrs H C Williams, in florist and eggs 1940
Next door in 1940: Library Annex Van Pub at 431. The block, door by door
- 3
2214 Main Street
Mount Pleasant, 1940
- Mrs M E Williams, a confectioner 1940
Next door in 1940: G Downey at 2202 and G Lamberton at 2218. The block, door by door
- 4
3126 Main Street
Mount Pleasant, 1940
- E E Williams, a car cleaner at the BC Electric Railway 1940
Next door in 1940: Mrs J E Grimway at 3124 and E Grenke at 3128. The block, door by door
What they did
The name section prints a trade for one of the four: a car cleaner.
Their neighbourhoods
The addresses are in Mount Pleasant (2) and Strathcona (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
The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists A Williams at 331 Main Street. Mrs H C Williams, in florist and eggs, is listed at 451 Main Street in 1940. In 1940 the directory lists Mrs M E Williams, a confectioner, at 2214 Main Street.
E E Williams is listed at 3126 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Earl E Williams there as the householder, a car cleaner at the BC Electric Railway.
Today
3126 Main still has its building from before 1946, dated 1929 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 331 Main, 451 Main and 2214 Main, 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.
The book of the Williamses
Every directory, as one book
The family book reads the Williams 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.
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.