Do you have an ancestor that lived in Vancouver or perhaps you are curious about your childhood home in Vancouver?
Heritage Vancouver’s searchable building permits database can help genealogists learn a bit more about their ancestors. The database is an exact transcription of original historic building permits dating from 1901 to the early 1920’s for the following areas:
- City of Vancouver: 1901 to 1904 and 1909 to 1921
- Corporation of the District of South Vancouver: Oct 1911 to Dec 1921
- Corporation of Point Grey: May 14, 1912 to Dec 1923
Information from a recent University of British Columbia blog post provides valuable information about both the BC Historical Newspapers archive and a searchable City of Vancouver building permits database, reading partly as follows:
“UBC Library’s B.C. Historical newspaper archives, part of the university’s publicly-accessible Open Collections, is playing a critical role in heritage research in Vancouver. ‘The archive is such an amazing and unique resource’, says Patrick Gunn, Board of Directors at Heritage Vancouver Society, ‘It is key in our ongoing built heritage research, across multiple areas’.
One of the ways the archive is being used is to help provide more fulsome information for Heritage Vancouver’s online building permits database that contains over 40,000 building permits from January 1, 1929 when the municipalities of Vancouver, South Vancouver and Point Grey were amalgamated into what we now know as modern-day Vancouver.
The searchable database, that was created by painstakingly transcribing handwritten city ledgers found within the City of Vancouver archives allows for users to find key information about particular buildings in Vancouver. The ledgers provide some, but not all the information that would have been included in the individual permit document. Long-form building permits were issued to the applicant and a copy was made for the city; unfortunately, it was common practice to record overview information into registers, like the ledgers that have survived, then purge the full records. It is in this respect that the B.C. Digital Newspapers Archive has been useful in filling in the gaps.”
Although the database, sponsored by the Heritage Vancouver Society, was created to assist individuals with historical research pertaining to the City of Vancouver, it can help genealogists and family historians learn about the home where their ancestors lived.
The database can be searched by building owner and address. When exploring the database, keep in mind that street names can change and addresses can shift over time.
If you do find an ancestor’s home in the database, you will also learn its value at the time the building permit was issued and the name of the architect and builder. This type of information fills in gaps in the knowledge you may have of an ancestor’s life
From my own family records and research, I knew that my grandparents lived at 1943 5th Avenue West, Vancouver. The earliest record I have of them living there is the 1921 Canadian census return.
Searching the City of Vancouver building database, I found the following information:
District: Vancouver
Permit: —
Owner: Vernon Bros., Ltd.
Architect: Vernon Bros., Ltd.
Builder: Vernon Bros., Ltd.
Legal Address: DL: 526 Block: 246 Sub: Resub: Lot: 29
Date (Y-M-D): 1909-12-06
Street Number: 1943
Street Name: 5th Avenue W
Value: $1,350.00
Remarks: Framed house
Reference ID: VN-3021-3021-41
The probate records for my grandfather dated February 28, 1930, provide more information on the property:
“Property in the City of Vancouver, Province of British Columbia, being more particularly known as Lot 29, Block 246, District Lot 526, Group 1, New Westminster District, Plan 590 (1943 5th Avenue West, Vancouver) valued at $1,500.00.”
My grandmother sold the property shortly after my grandfather’s death. A high rise now stands on the property and it is mind boggling to know the value of that property today!
Read more about the building permits database and newspaper archive in the blog post, UBC Library’s B.C Historical Newspaper archive plays critical role in helping to preserve heritage buildings in Vancouver.
Good luck with your ancestor home hunting!