Vancouver / Names / W / Witter

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Witters

In the city directories 1940 · four people at four addresses

The directories print four people named Witter 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 Witters 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

    546 East 18th Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Arthur Witter, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: W Trinder at 544 and T W Young at 552. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    77 East 20th Avenue

    Riley Park, 1940

    • C E Witter, a clerk at the Liquor Control Board 1940

    Next door in 1940: F F Crowder at 59 and Mrs M E James at 95. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    747 Lakewood Drive

    Grandview-Woodland, 1940

    • H J Witter 1940

    Next door in 1940: C Husband at 739. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    849 West Georgia Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Florence Witter, proprietor of Florence Millinery 1940

    Next door in 1940: georgia hotel at 801. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: a clerk and a proprietor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Riley Park (2), Downtown and Grandview-Woodland. 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 Arthur Witter at 546 East 18th Avenue, retired. C E Witter is listed at 77 East 20th 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 Charles E Witter there as the householder, a clerk at the Liquor Control Board. H J Witter is listed at 747 Lakewood Drive in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too.

The 1940 name section lists Florence Witter at 849 West Georgia Street, proprietor of Florence Millinery.

Today

546 East 18th and 77 East 20th still have their buildings from before 1946, 546 East 18th on the Vancouver Heritage Register; the City no longer lists 747 Lakewood Drive and 849 West Georgia, 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 Witters

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Witter 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.