Ernest Lythgoe was born in Yorkshire, England. At seventeen he joined the English Merchant Navy and served a number of years. For awhile he was a postman in Manchester. He married Margaret Pounder of Lancashire and they had five children before they came to Canada in 1911. His brother, Arthur, had a farm near Yahk, B.C. and Ernest obtained land through the C.P.R. homesteaders program.
His wife and four children: Elizabeth (Bessie), Alice, Ernest Jr. (Ernie), and Arthur accompanied him. (One child had died in infancy). Ernest built a house in Yahk and got a job at the sawmill, as well as looking after the farm.
His eldest daughter, Bessie, married Johnny Walker in 1915 and moved to Kimberley. (See Walker Story) Alice married Jack Macleod, a contractor that built houses, but she died in childbirth in Cranbrook. Ernie Jr. worked on construction with Jack Macleod in Kimberley and then went to work for the Company for three years. He quit and became a teacher and married another teacher from Mission. They have one son, Erik, who became a music teacher and lives in Victoria. He also plays the organ for a church in Victoria.
Art became a mechanic and began working for Vie Paulson who owned three garages, one each in Cranbrook, Creston and Kimberley. In 1926 Art came to Kimberley to work with Fred Burrin, the manager for Vic Paulson's garage.
In the late 1920's three sisters came to Kimberley, Dalia, Ida, and Vi Perkins. Ida married Cliff Vance who worked in Chapman Camp. (See Vance Story) Dalia was a teacher in Marysville and in 1929 she married Art Lythgoe. Vi worked in the Top Mine cookhouse and in Chatson's before her marriage to Alex Massie in 1930. Alex came to Kimberley in 1926 to work at the Concentrator. They had three children: Lenore, Howard (Sonny) and Sandra. Sonny was barely six when he died.
Vi operated the Bus Depot Cafe for a number of years until ill health caused her to give it up. Her daughter Lenore is now working for a large hotel in Toronto, and Sandra became a nurse and also lives in Ontario. Vi went east to be near her daughters in the early 1960's. Alex was working as chief clerk in the Concentrator warehouse when he retired in 1966 after forty years with the Company. He too went east to be with Vi who passed away in 1972.
When Dalia first came to teach in Marysville, she boarded with the Waites family and then with the Hodgsons. Shortly after her marriage to Art Lythgoe, they moved to Yahk where Art opened up his own garage for the next twelve years. Two children, Beverley (Bev) and Leonard, were born there. The next move was to Nelson and Art joined the Forces so Dalia went back teaching there. Bev also became a teacher, and first taught in Trail. She married Lawrie Garvin in 1955, and when he was transferred to the shop at the Fertilizer Plant in Kinberley, as an instrument mechanic, they moved to Chapman Camp. She taught Kindergarten there for eight years, first in her own home for five years and then in the basement of the Baptist Church.
Bev and Lawrie have three children: Brock, Gregory and Tracey. Brock is now working for the Company at the Fertilizer and Gregory works in an assay labratory in Calgary. Tracey is still a student. Recently Bev and Lawrie moved to Was a Lake and Lawrie drives back and forth to work.
Leonard became a music teacher and is now employed at the Prince of Wales High School in Vancouver. He married June Reimer and they have three children.
In 1953, Art and Dalia moved back to live in Chapman Camp and Art purchased the garage from Fred Burrin, his former boss. He also managed the B.A. Service Station on the corner of Wallinger Avenue and Boundray Street for about four years. Dalia went back teaching in Kimberley for two years and then in Marysville for another seven. Art retired in 1968 and after Dalia retired she has kept herself busy with her church group and the Retired Teachers Association. Recently Art has been spending his winters in Vancouver due to his health.
