Laura and Roland (Rolly) Caukill were born in Yorkshire, England. In 1919, Laura married Howard Douglas whom she had met during the war. Howard first came west from Saint John, New Brunswick in 1906 and worked in lumber mills at Galloway, Fernie and eventually at Taylor's Mill in Kimberley. During the war Howard went overseas. Following the war he returned to Kimberley bringing Laura with him and he went to work in the Steam Plant at the Concentrator, under Bob Armour the Chief Engineer. When Laura went back to England for a visit in 1927, she encouraged her brother, Rolly, to return with her and look for work in Kimberley. He was a plumber by trade and soon found work on the pipe crew at the Concentrator with Joe Harris as his boss.
In 1928, Thomas Horrobin came out from Wiggin, England and found work at Moyie, B.C. He worked there for six months and was transferred to the Concentrator in Kimberley. His wife, Ellen, and their two children, Thomas Vincent and Nell, joined him in 1929.
Rolly Caukill and Nell Horrobin were married in 1933. That same year Tom Horrobin returned to England to work for his uncle for the next fifteen years. He married Edith Stanton and they had two children, Joan and Ronald, before returning to Kimberley in 1948. The children received their schooling in Kimberley.
Rolly and Nell have two children, Norman and Barbara. They received their schooling in Kimberley and Norman studied for a chartered accountant. He married a Calgary girl and they have four children: Vicki, Dianne, Mark and Brett. Mark was born in Kimberley. Norman had an accounting office in High River and now lives in Stauffer, Alberta.
Barbara married Ted Farrier and he works in the Company General Office in Kimberley. They have three children: Heather, Michael and Cynthia. Ted and Barbara have been very active in the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movement for many years. Ted served as District Commissioner and is presently the secretary- treasurer for the Kimberley group. Barbara is a Lieutenant with the Girl Guides.
Mr. Horrobin Sr. passed away in 1965 and his wife in 1974. They are both buried in Kimberley.
After Howard Douglas passed away in 1952, Laura managed a small store on Marsden Avenue for many years. They had two children, a son Jim died at fifteen and a daughter Beverley who first studied for a teacher, then trained for a nurse. She is now with the Public Health Nursing Services in Vancouver.
Laura lived to be 83 and passed away in 1978. Rolly remembers one of his early jobs was working at the Chapman Camp swimming pool, when they were building the change rooms.
In 1948 he built the Dunromin Motel on Marsden Avenue and he and Nell operated it until 1960. They moved into their new home on Knighton Road, in Chapman Camp after they sold the motel.
Rolly's favorite sports are fishing and curl- ing, and he likes puttering around in his workshop in the basement. Nell likes to bowl and enjoys lawn bowling, carpet bowling and alley bowling.
Rolly and Nell both said that Kimberley has been good to them and they have no plans to leave.
