George left there in 1902, when only a teenager, and started as a clean-up boy, sweeping the floors in the C.P.R. Angus Shops in Montreal. His brother, Tom, also arrived in Montreal and worked as an accountant for the C.P.R. He encouraged George to take an apprenticeship in the machine shop. The pay was practically nil, so he made a little extra money tutoring students. When talk of a strike in the foundry became evident, George came west to Calgary, then on to Lethbridge. He was in Cranbrook by 1907, later returning to Montreal for a time.
In 1917, he married Muriel Evelyn Rogers. He had met her when a boy in Georgetown, where her father was sent to open a branch of the Bank of England. She had come to Montreal and worked for a lawyer as a court recorder. She also worked as a stenographer for the C.P.R. offices. She was an excellent typist and also had taken many prizes for her Pitman shorthand.
They spent a short time in San Francisco where George heard of work at the Sullivan Mine in southern B.C. With his experience as a machinist, he obtained a job as foreman in the shop at the Top Mine, where Pont Johnson was the Supervisor.
During the 1919 strike, they went back to San Francisco, but the Company called him back in 1920. They lived at the Top Mine until 1923 when they moved to McDougall Townsite and George went into the Machine Shop at the Tunnel as foreman.
George and Muriel had six children, five girls and one boy: Jean, Helen, Frances, Vivienne, Audrey and George Jr. Due to the lack of a hospital in Kimberley, jean and Helen were born in Cranbrook. Before the family returned to San Francisco, Frances was born in Dr. Hannington's small hospital at the foot of the long hill from the Top Mine. They then moved to a house on Spokane Street.
George retired in 1951 and he and Muriel moved to Vancouver, but after two years of ill health for Muriel, they moved back to Cranbrook. Muriel passed away in 1959 at age 62. George lived to be 76 and died in 1964.
Jean married Harold Vines in Nelson. He worked at several mines up north before they retired in Riondel.
Helen married Ace Jones, a sawmill worker in Lumberton, they now live in Cranbrook. They have three children, Edna, Keith and Janet.
Frances married Glen Brown and has lived her entire life in Kimberley. They had three children, Wayne, Gary, and Darryl. Gary died at the age of sixteen.
Vivienne married Nick Samson who works for the C.P.R. in Cranbrook. They have three sons. Larry, Gerry and David. Larry is now in Hope, Gerry in Lethbridge, but David works for the Company at the Mine and lives in Marysville.
Audrey married Frank Burton. They live in Cranbrook, but Frank commutes to Kimberley and works in the Mine. They have three children, Gail, Frank and Holly. Gail married a Kimberley man, George Mann, and still resides here. Frank is in Kitimat and Holly is married and lives in New Hampshire, U.S.A.
George and Muriel's one son, George Jr., married Betty Clark and they had five children, four of their own and one adopted; George, Jim, Mike, Susan and Steven. The youngest, George, is now in Calgary, Jim lives in Cranbrook, but is a pipefitter in the Mine, Mike took an apprenticeship with Joe Fugina and now works on auto body repair, in Cranbrook. Susan first worked in the Bank of Montreal in Kimberley. She married Bruce Flagel and now works for the Cranbrook Branch. Steven is still in School.
Frances and George still reside in Kimberley as does a son of Tom Plant. Ned came to Kimberley in 1935 from his father's farm near Didsbury, Alberta. His first job was machinist in the Rock House and then he went underground. He has worked on numerous jobs underground; steel shop, timber gang, pipe gang, transportation and others. Ned married a Lethbridge girl, Jessie Jones, and they have four children, all born in Kimberley; Bob, Roy, Jerry and Gloria.
Bob and Jerry both work for the Company as machinists, Bob is in the Central Shop and Jerry works at the Mine. Roy is Area Manager for New Zealand Lamb in Toronto. Their daughter Gloria works in Ottawa for O'Neill Associates.
Ned has also been very active on First Aid teams that won several trophies at different competitions. He retired in 1971 and his favorite pastime now is bowling.
