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The Bell-Irving family were descendants of Henry Bell Irving, a Glasgow, Scotland merchant. Bell Irving resided in Millbank, Dumfries County, and in 1851 he married Williamina McBean Irving. The couple had seven children, two of whom established the family in Vancouver. The eldest son, Henry Ogle Bell-Irving (1856-1931) and his brother, Dr. Duncan Bell-Irving, moved to Granville in 1885. The family retained properties in Scotland, which were administered by a trust after the death of Henry Bell Irving in or before 1863.

In Vancouver, Henry Ogle Bell-Irving went on to found and operate a number of prominent Vancouver businesses, including Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company and Bell-Irving Insurance. Dr. Duncan Bell-Irving practiced medicine in Vancouver for many years; in 1900 he joined his brother's firm, H. Bell-Irving Co. Ltd.

Henry and Emily Bloomfield emigrated to Canada from England in 1887 with their children, Edgar, James, Charles, and Ellen. In 1891, Henry Bloomfield and his sons, Charles and James founded British Columbia's first art and stained glass business, Bloomfield and Sons Limited. The family designed, fabricated and installed numerous notable stained glass projects, including windows for the new Parliament Buildings, Government House and Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria. They moved their office to Vancouver following the great fire of 1898.

Frederick, George, and Charles Buscombe were Vancouver businessmen and public officials.
Frederick Buscombe (1862-1938) was born in Bodmin, England, and moved to Vancouver with his brother George in 1891 to set up a branch of the Jas. A. Skinner Company, a wholesale china and glassware business. He bought out the business in 1899, and was also involved in other businesses, including: Pacific Coast Lumber and Sawmills Co. Ltd.; the Pacific Marine Insurance Co., and Buscombe Securities Corporation. He served as President of the Vancouver Board of Trade from 1900-1901, President of the Vancouver Tourist Association for 1901, and was the Mayor of Vancouver from 1905-1906.
George Buscombe (1875-1958) was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and moved to Vancouver in 1891 with his brother Frederick. He began his career with the Jas. A. Skinner Company, and later became Vice-President, then General Manager of the Frederick Buscombe Co. Ltd. He also served as a Vancouver alderman from 1939-1945.
Charles Buscombe (1880-1947) was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and moved to Vancouver in 1907 to join the family business. He later became in importer of glassware and crockery.

Norman Caple came to Vancouver from Bristol, England, in 1888. He established a photography studio with his partner, Richard Trueman, and their studio produced many images of early Vancouver. In 1893, they dissolved their partnership and Norman Caple opened a stationery store on Hastings Street. Mr. Caple and his wife, Florence, had four sons: Leonard, who was killed overseas during World War One; Montague, a lawyer; Harold, a doctor; and Kenneth, who was the director of the C.B.C.'s operations in B.C.

The Carnwath family was one of Vancouver's early families. Charles H. Carnwath, originally from New Brunswick, lived in Vancouver from the 1880s and owned one of the first lumber companies in the city. Charles' wife, Phoebe Stewart, was from San Francisco. Charlotte Ferne Carnwath, one of their five daughters, married William Scott Anderson, a C.P.R. Ticket Office Clerk, and son of William and Matilda Anderson, also early Vancouver residents who originally came from the Barony in New Brunswick. Charlotte and William Scott Anderson resided at 5463 Larch Street.

The Cates family, being the descendents of Captain Charles Henry (1859-1939), have been prominent in Vancouver shipping and ship building since 1886 and founded Charles H. Cates and Sons Limited, a towage and lightering firm.

Fred Charlesworth (1873-1948) was born in England and emigrated to Canada with his wife, Sarah Ann (neé Heward) first settling in Edmonton, Alberta around 1910. He had been a railway worker and in Edmonton worked at a dairy. Around 1918, Fred and Sarah Ann moved to Vancouver, British Columbia where Fred worked in shipping for David Spencer Ltd. Their son, George Charlesworth met Mary Woodcock (1901-1989) in England and the couple married in Vancouver in 1919. George Charlesworth had been employed as a baggage foreman for the C.P.R. He began working for David Spencer Ltd. around the mid-1920s and later became the manager until his retirement in 1948. George and Mary Charlesworth had three daughters, Evelyn (1920-?), Ruth (1927-?), and Vera (1929-?).

Thomas Chippendale V (1886-1959), direct descendant of the famed eighteenth century cabinet maker, Thomas Chippendale I, was a noted teacher, craftsman, musician and priest. Born in England, he came to Vancouver in 1912. He became one of the founders of Vancouver Technical High School, and taught at Magee High School for many years. After his retirement in 1951, he became an ordained Liberal Catholic priest. Barbara Pollard Chippendale was born in England, married Thomas Chippendale in 1912, and came with him to Vancouver. She was an active social worker, and founded the Vancouver Civilian Mothers' Pension Association in 1921. She died in 1972. A daughter, Sheyla, was a musician who pursued a singing career in Vancouver and New York.

Joseph Victor Norman Spencer, known as Colonel Victor Spencer, was born in 1882 in Victoria, B.C., the tenth child of David Evans Spencer, founder of the David Spencer Ltd. chain of department stores. After serving in the military during the Boer War, Victor Spencer began ranching as part of a government homesteading project. In 1913, he married Gertrude Isabell Winch, daughter of Vancouver businessman R.V. Winch. Victor and Gertrude Spencer had seven children: Isabell Louise, usually known as Louise (1913-2000), Trudean Lorraine (1915-1987), Barbara Ellen (b. 1920), Diana Margaret (b. 1922), Victor Vance (b. 1924), John Fife (b. 1927), and Elizabeth Ann, known as Ann (1933-1990). Victor Spencer worked in management and as an executive for David Spencer Ltd. until World War I, when he joined the Canadian Army. He retired at the end of the war as a lieutenant-colonel, and it was from this rank that he earned the title Colonel, by which he was known for the rest of his life. Upon his return to B.C., Spencer continued his ranching enterprise, eventually owning five ranches in British Columbia: the Douglas Ranch Lake in Nicola Valley, the Pavillion Ranch on Pavillion Mountain, the Bryson Ranch in Pavillion Valley, the Circle S Ranch at Dog Creek, and Earlscourt, a ranch at Lytton, which also served as a part-time home for the family. In addition to ranching, Col. Spencer served as director of the Pioneer Gold Mine and Pacific Nickel Mines, and worked with businesses including Vancouver Iron and Engineering Works and Westcoast Shipbuilders Ltd. Col. Victor Spencer owned a home at 1750 Trimble Street in Vancouver, known as Aberthau. The Spencer family lived there from 1919-1939, when the home was purchased by the Royal Canadian Air Force for use as an officers mess for the RCAF station at Jericho Beach. Col Victor Spencer was a follower of various sports, including rugby, rowing, and horse racing. He was an avid supporter of the Vancouver Rowing Club, for which he purchased and donated the shells that the University of British Columbia team used in the 1956 Summer Olympics. When Col. Victor Spencer died in Pasadena, CA in 1960 he was survived by his wife, his children, and 14 grandchildren. Following his death, the ranches were sold. Gertrude Spencer died in 1976 in West Vancouver.

James Ernest Costain immigrated to Vancouver in 1904 from Port Erin on the Isle of Man. His wife Katherine Costain and their four children: Katherine, Mildred, Madge, and Ernest joined him in 1908. They settled in the Strathcona area and built a family home at 2346 East 3rd Avenue in the 1920’s. Costain was a plasterer by trade and was involved in Odd Fellow’s Society and the Manx Society. Katherine was involved with the Dundas Methodist Sunday School and was active in the Rebecca Lodge. Katherine passed away in 1961 while James died in 1963.

R.C. Etches was born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, in 1742. As a merchant shipowner, he realized the great commercial advantages to be obtained in the northwest and instructed his captains to establish a fur trading post and settlement at Nootka Sound. In 1788 he formed a joint stock company with his brother John. Four of his vessels were seized by the Spanish in 1789. Following this incident, R.C. Etches turned his attention to adventures in other parts of the world, working as an intelligence agent during the revolutionary wars.

Albert Gammage was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, and became the postmaster of Michel, B.C. He married Martha E. Bridgett, also from Owen Sound, in Calgary in 1904. The following year he died suddenly and his widow was appointed postmaster for Michel in 1906.

The Philip Dorset Goepel family was from Islington, Middlesex, England and Victoria, B.C.

Walter Melvin Gow (1879-1961) was a native of Guelph, Ontario. He came to Vancouver in 1898, where he operated a jeweller's and watchmaker's business. In 1902 he married Gertrude Coughtrey (1881- ), the daughter of Alfred Coughtrey (1849-1930) of St. Helens, Lancashire, who came to Granville from Yale in 1885.

The Grimmett family lived in Vancouver.

Giovanni Grippo was born in Pietragalla, Italy in 1887, and immigrated to Canada in 1920, arriving in New York, U.S.A, on July 10, and Bridgeburg, Ont. July 11. Giovanni eventually settled in Vancouver where he lived at 1374 Gravely St., and worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway until his retirement in 1952. Giovanni's son Theodore celebrated his marriage with Nunzia (Nancy) Rago at Sacred Heart Church in Vancouver on September 28, 1930, and was granted Canadian Citizenship on June 11, 1948.

Eric Werge Hamber (1879-1960) was born in Parkdale, Manitoba, the oldest son of Ada Jefferson and Frederick Edmund Marsh Hamber, who had emigrated to Canada from England. He was educated at the Anglican St. John's College for Boys in Winnipeg, and later went to work in Winnipeg for the Dominion Bank of Canada, becoming manager at Calgary, Alberta, in 1906, Vancouver in 1908, and London in 1911. He was also an accomplished athlete. He married Aldyen Hendry in 1912, the only daughter of John Hendry, a prominent businessman and industrialist. Eric Hamber became general manager and vice-president of Hendry's vast network of logging, mining, and transportation companies. After Hendry's death in 1916, Hamber was left wholly in charge of the operation until the mill site was sold to the Vancouver Harbour Commission in 1925. Hamber was appointed British Columbia's fifteenth Lieutenant Governor in 1936. In addition to his business and political involvements, Hamber served throughout his career on the Board of Directors of several large companies. In 1944, he became Chancellor of the University of British Columbia. After her husband's death, Aldyen Hamber remained active and continued to support the same charitable organizations. She died in 1988.

The Hill family were Loyalists who came to Cape Breton Island from Boston. Albert J. Hill and Arthur Edmund Hill, the sons of J. L. Hill, came to B.C. in 1880 to work for the CPR. They were associated with surveys and construction in the Interior and on Vancouver Island, with the Coquitlam Water Works Company, and with New Westminster projects. In 1890 A.E. Hill was appointed superintendent of waterworks for New Westminster. In turn, he was associated with the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway, the Nicola, Kamloops and Similkameen Railway, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, and the British Columbia Electric Railway. He died in 1921. His widow and daughter corresponded with family members in Eastern Canada, and both were very active in the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Society.

Joseph Attwood Reynolds Homer (1827-1886) was born in Barrington, Nova Scotia. He came to B.C. in 1858 via San Francisco. He became one of the first sawmill owners in New Westminster and had an active interest in the British Columbia Coal Mining Company. In 1860 he was elected to the first city council of New Westminster, and was a signatory of the petition sent to the colonial office from the members of the Hope convention of 1861 asking for a separate government for the mainland. In 1864 he was the first member to be elected by the City of New Westminster to the Legislative Council of the Crown Colony of B.C. Appointed High Sheriff of B.C. in 1866, he read the royal proclamation uniting the British crown colonies of Vancouver Island and B.C. In 1882 he was elected Conservative MP for New Westminster.

James Jamison (obit. 1891), his wife Jennie, and seven children: Walter, James, Robert, Amanda, Eliza, Maud and Harriet, were pre-emptors of a farm located five miles from the town of Princeton on the banks of the Similkameen River. The family became involved in a lawsuit concerning title to the property in 1919.

John Jenkinson emigrated from Lancashire, England to Vancouver in 1898. He worked as a meter reader for the B.C. Electric Railway Company.

The Ledingham family lived in Vancouver and owned a general contracting firm, G.W. Ledingham & Company.

Murdoch MacLean followed the gold rush from 1898-1900. In 1900, he married Martha Munn, of Portage La Prairie, in Victoria. In 1907, MacLean was working as a baker in Vancouver. In 1934, he was a Managing Director of F. V. Sugar Beet Holding. MacLean's son, Lauchlan (Lauchie), was an employee of Canadian Pacific Airlines from 1950-1970.

The Malkin family resided in England during the last half of the nineteenth century. James Malkin (1828-1894) was in the pottery business, Burslem. In 1884, two of his younger sons, James Frederic (1864-1950) and William Harold (1868-1959) emigrated to Canada and came to Grenfell Sask, where they attempted farming until 1889. Their elder sister, ‘Belle” Mary Isabella (1858-1926) joined them from 1886-1889 then returned to England. Fred and Harold remained in Canada with return visits to England. In June 1894 Harold and his youngest brother John Philip Davy ‘Phil’ (1878-1952) travelled to Grenfell where they worked at the Osmund Skrine general store. Fred was in Vancouver touting the greater future there. Skrine moved half his operations and the two Malkin brothers to Vancouver in January-February 1895. They were joined by their mother, Ann Elizabeth Malkin (1832-1919) and sister Mary Isabella in late March 1895. The family remained firmly in Vancouver from that date.

The brothers became deeply involved in the wholesale food business, and in 1897 W. H. Malkin et al. purchased Osmund Skrine and Company. The brothers expanded the company, W. H. Malkin & Company Ltd. into a leading BC commercial enterprise, dominating the wholesale tea, coffee and grocery trade, across British Columbia and Alberta until 1938, when in their 60s and 70s, the brothers sold out to Western Grocers Limited. The family was also active in community affairs. W. H. Malkin served as the Mayor of Vancouver from 1928 to 1930, gave the Malkin Bowl band stand in Stanley Park, was a Founder of the Vancouver Foundation and of the Vancouver Art Gallery. J. P. D. Malkin and his wife, Georgina, helped establish and support the Vancouver Symphony, and later he acted as the Director of the War Assets Corporation during World War II. J.F Malkin’s community contributions are not yet documented.

Alexander R. Mann (d. 1943) and Jennie Quinn Malcolm Mann (d. 1949) had three children, Alexandra (1910-ca. 1995), Hugo, and Kathleen (1915-1996). Alexander R. Mann was a railway builder and president of Northern Construction Company, Ltd., which he founded in 1904.
He was the brother of Sir Donald Mann, the Canadian railway contractor and entrepreneur associated with the Canadian Northern Railway. The Mann family lived in Vancouver, B.C., at 3690 Selkirk from 1912 to 1922, and at 1350 The Crescent ("The Hollies") from 1922 to 1943.

Fitzgerald McCleery and his brother, Samuel, came to B.C. to join their uncle, Hugh McRoberts, who in 1862 transferred 160 acres of land on the north side of the north arm of the Fraser River (District Lot 315) to Fitzgerald. Samuel McCleery also bought property in the area (District Lot 316). The McCleerys were the first settlers in the area that eventually became the City of Vancouver.

The McFarlane family lived in Vancouver.

Gerald Gratton McGeer (1888-1947) was born in Winnipeg in 1888. He moved with his family to B.C. four years later, where he attended public schools and, later, Dalhousie Law School. He was called to the Bar of B.C. in 1915. After four years as an MLA in the B.C. Legislature (1916-1920), McGeer resigned. In 1925, he was elected as MP to the House of Commons. In 1933, he returned to the west and was reelected to the B.C. Legislature. The following year he became Mayor of Vancouver (full dates as mayor are 1935-1936, 1947). In 1940, he was reelected to the House of Commons. Upon his retirement five years later, he was appointed to the Senate. He died in 1947 within months of being reelected Mayor of Vancouver. In 1917, he married Charlotte Emma Spencer of Victoria. They had two children, Patricia (b. 1921) and Michael (b. 1922).

The McGlashan family came to Vancouver from Scotland via New Brunswick. James Stanley McGlashan was a manager for several Vancouver buildings, including the Marine Building, from the 1930s to the 1950s. During World War II, he served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Vancouver Detachment of the Canadian Red Cross Corps.

Thomas Francis McGuigan (1860-1910) and his brother William Joseph arrived in Vancouver from Ontario in 1886. Both signed the petition for the incorporation of Vancouver and became involved in local civic and political affairs. William Joseph (1853-1908), a doctor, was appointed City Coroner in 1886, served on the Hospital Board, and was elected alderman in 1892 and 1898-1903 and mayor in 1904. Thomas became City Clerk, 1886-1905, and was elected Alderman in 1906. A third brother, James (1856-1920), arrived in 1893 and shortly thereafter became chairman of the B.C. Electric Co. Employees' Committee. His eldest son, William Joseph "Bill" McGuigan (1887-1961), founded the Grouse Mountain Scenic Incline Railway Co. in 1911 and was Market Commissioner of Vancouver, 1932-1951.

The McKinley family lived in Vancouver.

James McQueen and his family came to Vancouver from Dundas, Ontario, in 1891. McQueen, a businessman, served as alderman on City Council, 1897-1900 and 1902-03. His brother-in-law, Dr. James Wetham, built Wetham Block at the northeast corner of Cambie and Cordova Streets. He also established one of the first private boys' schools in B.C., in 1891, but it was unsuccessful and closed in 1893. McQueen's son, George, was a barrister and served for several years as a police magistrate and member of the Police Commission until his death in 1944. McQueen's daughter, Kate (1884-1982), graduated from McGill University (B.C. branch) in 1908 and taught English at King Edward High School until her retirement in 1944. She was active in many women's groups, serving as President of the University Women's Club, 1912-13. Miss McQueen was also an avid hiker.

Hugh McRoberts (1814-1883), a native of Belfast, was the first white settler of Sea Island. He purchased a farm there in ca.1861 after working on the Cariboo Road and pursuing careers in California and Australia. He later sold his farm and moved to New Westminster, where he established a dairy business. His daughter, Jennie (1841-1931), born in Australia, joined him at Yale in 1860 and moved with him to the Sea Island farm. In 1864 she married a Victoria City Councilman, Charles Edward Bunting (1828-1890), a native of Saint John, New Brunswick.

Jonathan Miller (1834-1914) was born in Melbourne, Ontario, and married Margaret Springer in 1855. He left for B.C. in 1862, with his brother-in-law, Benjamin Springer, for the Cariboo Gold Rush. His wife, Margaret, and children joined him in 1864. During that same year, he became a member of the New Westminster City Council. In 1871 he was appointed Granville townsite's first constable and government agent. In 1886, Miller became Vancouver's first postmaster, a position he held until 1909, when he retired at the age of 75.

William and Ethel Mitchell-Dwelly lived in Vancouver until 1948, when they moved to North Vancouver. Interested in local history, they kept a variety of notes and clippings related to North Vancouver history. In World War II, William served with the Canadian Army, and during this time, Ethel lived in a boarding house run by Elizabeth Aston.

J.R. Munro came to British Columbia in 1888, and ran a contracting business in White Rock ca. 1920. His son, Donald G. Munro, served as postmaster of White Rock ca. 1968.

The Murrin family lived in Vancouver. William G. Murrin was the president of the British Columbia Electric Railway Company from 1929 to 1946.

John Preston Nightingale (d. 1938) and Ida Burritt were married in Vancouver in 1896. Nightingale was a wholesale and retail grocer who operated in Vancouver. He and his wife were both residents of Mount Pleasant, later moving to South Vancouver and then Burnaby.

The Oppenheimer brothers, Godfrey, Charles, David (1834-1897) and Isaac (d. 1922), were born in Frankfurt, moving to Victoria, B.C., ca. 1858. They then moved to Yale and established a firm that outfitted and supplied miners and mining camps. In 1862 Charles joined Moberly and Lewis to build a section of the Cariboo road. By 1863, the Oppenheimers had returned to Victoria. In 1885 David and Isaac moved to Vancouver and played a part in the incorporation of the city. They also established the first wholesale grocery operation on the mainland of B.C., in a warehouse located on the Southeast corner of Powell St. and Columbia Ave. Both were elected aldermen for Ward Five in the City's second Council; in 1888 David was elected mayor and Isaac re-elected an alderman. David was re-elected three times, resigning in 1891. In 1889, the brothers formed a company with Ben Douglas, J.R. Webster and H.V. Edmonds that secured a provincial charter to build an electric railway, a work which was completed in 1892.

Osborne J. Pierce was born in Albion, Maine on March 8, 1839. He spent most of his life in Albion up until 1856, when he took some odd jobs in La Porte City, Iowa and Mankato and St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1858 he returned to Maine, where he taught school in Winslow and Albion. In 1860, Pierce left for Boston, Massachusetts, where he set up a sign painting business. After the outbreak of the American Civil War Pierce went to Albion to volunteer for service; he was appointed a recruiting officer in 1862. He was organized into the 24th Main Regiment, Company G on September 17th. In January 1863, he was appointed 6th Corporal of Company G, and in April he was promoted to Sergeant Major of the regiment. On December 30, 1863, after a brief break in service, Pierce entered U.S. Service as a 1st Sergeant, and he held this position until the close of the war. At the end of 1865, Pierce purchased a publishing business in Boston, moving it to Waterville in May 1866. On April 24, 1866, Pierce married Caroline Little Twitchell (b. February 24, 1847?, d. 1936) of Bethel, Maine. The couple had two children, Annie Louise (b. June 9, 1867, d. December 21, 1928) and Winifred Mabel (b. August 15, 1872, d. April 2, 1919). Annie Louise married Louis Denison (L.D.) Taylor on May 26, 1892. Together they had two sons, Theodore Pierce Taylor and Kenneth Osborne Taylor.

The Pierces lived in Waterville until May 1868, during which time Pierce added photographic portraiture and stereoscopic views of scenery to his business. In 1866, Pierce had taken courses in architecture in Worcester and taught drawing at the School of Mechanics. Upon moving to Worcester Massachusetts in June 1868, Pierce became engaged in architecture, first with the office of E. Boyden & Son in July 1868, then as a partner with A.P. Cutting Architects in May 1969, followed by a short partnership with E.L. Angell. In May 1872, Pierce left for Northampton, where he worked for Mr. W.F. Pratt, Architect, until March 31, 1873. Pierce then fell under the employ of Bradlee and Winslow Architects of Boston between April 1873 and April 1874. During this time he was appointed a Teacher of Drawing in Chelsea Free Evening Drawing School and the Drawing School for Public School Teachers. In September 1874, Pierce was hired by the City of Chicago to introduce the Walter Smith System of Drawing into the public school system. Upon completion of the contract in July 1875, he was hired as the Superintendent of Drawing for the City of Chicago Department of Public Instruction. After the completion of the contract in July 1976, Pierce taught art privately at Bryants Business College and the Chicago Academy of Design; he also designed furniture and decorative pieces and engaged in various commercial enterprises.

Between 1878-and 1880, Pierce worked as a draftsman and superintendent for several Chicago Architects. From 1879 to 1881, he worked for E.S. [Jamison] Architects and then for two or three other architects until June 1882 when he opened his own office at 155 La Salle Street, which he maintained until at least 1889. Types of buildings that Pierce designed include a school, warehouse, store, bank, houses, library room, office, and a livery stable. Pierce practiced in Chicago until 1894 and then lived in Oak Park, Illinois from 1895-1897. Moving back to Chicago in 1899, he worked for Frost & Granger as Superintendent of Construction and, in 1901, he became a Superintendent for Patton & Miller and then S.S. Beeman. Between January and October 1902, Pierce worked for Grace & [Lloyde] of Chicago and New York as the Inspector of Granite for the LaSalle Street Terminal Union Station this involved work in Hardwick and Northfield, Vermont. Osborne and Caroline Pierce moved to Redlands, California in November 1902. Pierce opened an architectural office there in January 1903. In October 1904, the family moved to Los Angeles so that Pierce could pursue a job as a draftsman. In 1906, Annie, Theodore and Kenneth Taylor joined the Pierces in Los Angeles. While living in Los Angeles, Pierce was a member of the South Hollywood Improvement Association. He died on January 11, 1912.