Vancouver / Names / W / Wong / West Pender Street

A family name on West Pender Street, Downtown

The Wongs

In the city directories 1940 · two people at two addresses

The directories print two people named Wong at two addresses in 1940, all on West Pender Street. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 32 other streets too, all listed on the Wong 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 Wongs 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

    4 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Fong Wong, a watchmaker 1940

    Next door in 1940: Y Kee at 2 and Kee Chin at 6. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    8 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • How Wong, a barber 1940

    Next door in 1940: Kee Chin at 6 and Yee Long at 10. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the two: a watchmaker.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (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

In 1940 the directory lists Fong Wong, a watchmaker, at 4 West Pender Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Fong Wong there, a watchmaker. In 1940 the directory lists How Wong, a barber, at 8 West Pender Street.

Today

8 West Pender still has its building from before 1946, dated 1913 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 4 West Pender, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 3 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 Wongs

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Wong 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.