This site is about the history of the West End in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, starting in the late 1800s and running to about 1920. It deals mostly with the West of Denman area, which runs from Denman Street on the east to Stanley Park on the west, and from Coal Harbour on the north to English Bay on the south.
People have been living in this area for a long time. The earliest residents were already here when the Europeans arrived. More recently, there were explorers, followed by traders and then by settlers from all over the world. This site deals mostly with the people who arrived in the West of Denman area after the official creation of the City of Vancouver in 1886, along with the houses and the other buildings that appeared in the area. In many cases, I have included information on siblings and other relatives, as well as descendants; however, I haven’t tried to include all relatives or descendants to current times.
As in most neighbourhoods, there are stories of hope and achievement, along with those of tragedy and disappointment. A few stories are well-known, sometimes in more than one version; some parts of these stories may or may not be completely true. Most of the stories have been known, if at all, only to family and close friends.
Most of the earliest buildings in the neighbourhood have disappeared, but there are many sources of information about these buildings, their designers, and their occupants. Some buildings were quite famous, at least for part of their lives; many were anonymous from beginning to end. Some buildings were significant examples of the work of architects and builders of the time; others were based on pattern books or other common plans. Some people drew their own plans.
For the entry on each person and each building, I have reviewed various sources of information. Some sources are primary materials, such as birth, marriage and death records, census materials, military records, and similar types of information. Other sources are less direct, including newspaper accounts, directories, area photographs, survey plans, and fire insurance maps.
Every source is potentially useful, but some sources are more reliable than others. People may be mistaken, or they may have particular ways of looking at things. Sometimes people simply perpetuate rumours or mistaken impressions that they have heard from others. Sometimes people deliberately tell inaccurate stories, for a variety of reasons.
I have attempted to provide online source references if they are available. I have also included references to traditional sources. Unfortunately, some original sources are not clear. I have tried to use the best available copies. From time to time, some online links may not work, although I will try to keep them current or provide alternatives if they are available.
Although I have tried to present information that I believe is correct, I can’t guarantee that everything is completely accurate. If you want to be sure about any information, the best approach is to look at the original sources yourself.
Common Occupations
A list of common occupations, with links to the pages for each person or business having that occupation: Common Occupations: https://westendvancouver.wordpress.com/about/common-occupations/.
Bibliography
A selected bibliography appears on this page: Selected Annotated Bibliography: https://westendvancouver.wordpress.com/about/selected-annotated-bibliography/.
Robert Moen
WestEndVancouver 
Hi, I discovered your wonderful blog when I was researching Albert Edward Lewis and Herbert Charles Drummond, both of whom were married to my great-great aunt, Helen Frances Bagg. See my blog, writinguptheancestors.blogspot.ca. My last two posts were about her grandmother.
Janice Hamilton, Montreal
Hello Janice,
Thank you for letting me know about your ancestors, and their connection to Albert Edward Lewis and Herbert Charles Drummond.
Robert
Hi, Robert,
A great site — and I congratulate you on the detail of your citations. I added a bit of information about George Westerfield Barker (son of William Henry Barker) to that part of the blog. I’ve got a LOT more information about WHB’s family and ancestors (he was my great-grandmother’s oldest brother–one of 5) if any of your blogreaders are interested.
Hello Katherine,
Thank you for your kind words, and for sharing the information about George Westerfield Barker.
Thanks very much for your bio of Cecil Mack Merritt – incidentally the Vancouver Club has a fine portrait of Merritt in its collections, however I do not know who the painter was.
Thanks for the information about the Cecil Mack Merritt’s portrait in the Vancouver Club. I’ll add a reference to it in the biography.
Robert
re Wilfred Ernest Norman and wife Edith Martha Simons of Langley, BC – their daughter was Marjorie Edith Norman who married Frank Ernest Stott (not Potts) and lived in Auckland, Zealand, then Gold Coast, Queensland Australia, where she died in 2008
Hello Barbara,
Thank you for this information, and for noticing the mis-spelling of Frank Stott’s surname. I have updated the page on Wilfred Ernest Norman.
Robert
Thanks again for the excellent research.
Re John McKinnon and his building at Granville at Hastings: he sold to Frederick de la Fontaine Williams in 1900 – see The Prospector, Oct 5, 1900, page 1 article in the UBC Historic Newspaper collection.
Thank you for this information. I have updated the page on John McLellan MacKinnon: https://westendvancouver.wordpress.com/biographies-a-m/biographies-m/mackinnon-john-mclellan-1863-1937/.
Robert
Your reach has helped us start to explore more details about the Crisp family. Thank you so much.
Colin FG Crisp and C John Crisp, Victoria BC. Grandson and Great Grandson of Fredrick George Crisp and Anne (Gow Crisp)
Thank you for getting in touch. I’m glad that this has been helpful.
Robert
Hi Robert,
Thank you so much for creating this. I stumbled upon it while searching for information about my great grandparents (Herchmer “Harry” Sherwood & Dorothy Hulme). It’s been incredible learning more about both families early roots in Vancouver, where their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have continued to live and grow up.
Hello Michelle,
Thanks for getting in touch. I’m glad that you were able to find some useful information.
Robert
Hi Robert, i was searching for a maternity hospital where my grandmother (Olive Ruthven Foster,b. 1907) was born when I found your website. I didn’t find the hospital, but found my maternal grandfather lived in the west end, (John Archibald Macdonald) just a few blocks from where I now live. Thank-you so much for all the work you have done!
Sydney
Hello Sydney,
Thanks for your message. I’m glad you found some interesting information.
Robert
Hello Robert,
I came across the biography Charles Henry Wilson on your wonderful site. I found an obituary newspaper clipping of Isabel Mary Tang, one of Charles’ daughters, in the papers I inherited from my parents. I believe that my mother’s parents were friends of Isabel and Holger Tang. Your research has illuminated a corner of my grand-parent’s life. Thank you.
Hello Dave,
Thanks for getting in touch with me. I’m glad this was helpful.
Robert
Hi, Thanks for all your work on this blog. I’m working on a local historical novel, Factory Girl, some of which is set in the West End (ca 1900-1912). Great resource!
Hello and thank you for your extensive research into the Bell-Irvings of Vancouver. My grandmother’s grandfather was William Bell-Irving, Henry Ogle’s youngest brother that ended up in Cuba. Before ending up in Cuba he married H.O.’s wife’s sister. William’s family moved to Denman Island where my Grandmother was born.
Hello Teresa,
Thank you for getting in touch with me, and for letting me know about your relatives in the Bell-Irving family.
Robert
I’m a trustee for an estate of a former antique dealer. I found a box with Mr. H. Pybus on it. There’s also a Chinese symbol on it Reading information on him, I wonder if it might belong to that family.
Hello Robert,
Thank you for getting in touch.
The closest person I can think of who might be associated with the box is Henry Pybus: see Pybus, Henry (1850-1938); https://westendvancouver.wordpress.com/biographies-n-z/biographies-p/pybus-henry-1850-1938/. As you probably know already, he worked as an officer on ships that went to China, so the box might have belonged to him. Two Pybus daughters married into the Bell-Irving family, so descendants of that family might have further information.
Robert
What a fantastic resource! Congratulations on the tremendous amount of work that it represents. Some additional information on John Laurence Meredith, the son of Francis Russell Meredith:
He arrived in England from Canada in 1932, his name being given as Laurence R Meredith and his occupation as Teacher on the passenger list. He was enumerated in the 1939 England and Wales Register as John L R Meredith at 20 Barkston Gardens, Kensington, with his occupation given as Journalist Staff Correspondent News Agency United Press America. The Electoral Register and British Phone Book gave his address as 3 Sydney Place, Kensington in 1948, and his name as Laurence Russell Meredith. His death in 1990 was registered as Lawrence Russell Meredith, and his date of birth as 14 Aug 1907. The Probate Calendar of 1991 gave his date of death as 27 Nov 1990, address as Flat 10, 36 Evaston Place, London, and his estate as £115,000.
Best regards, Keith
Hello Keith,
Thank you for all of this useful information. I will be updating the page on the Meredith family.
Robert
Hi one mistake. There was no Etta Johnson living with William Goode Johson in the 1851 UK census. If there was such a person she didn’t live until the 1861 census but I somehow doubt that she existed.However thanks for lots of useful information which I didn’t know before. William was an elder brother of my 2 x great grandfather Thomas Fielding Johnson (1828-1921) who died the same year. I note that the photograph of William is from my Ancestry tree which I am very happy to share.
Hello Richard,
Thank you for getting in touch with me.
I have corrected the page on William Goode Johnson to remove the references to Etta Johnson.
Thank you for letting me know that is is all righ to share the photograph of William.
Robert