NICHOLL, Robert Kennedy Sr & Rebecca (Merryfield) as told to Dora Chapman by Catherine Nicholl for The Place Between v1, condensed for social media.
Rebecca Merryfield, born in Grass Valley California on 30 May 1871, came to Mt Lehman in 1882 with her parents & 6 siblings 20 years after her father James had explored the area during the Gold Rush days at Boston Bar.
Robert Nicholl, born in Fermanagh, Ireland in 1864 came to Canada in 1887, becoming 1 of the early pioneers in the Rand area. Robert & Rebecca married in 1897.
At that time roads were just trails through the timber & brush, with no schools or stores nearby. Robert's 160-acre homestead sat at Douglas Road (Township Line Road) & Patterson Road (LeFeuvre Road), where he completed his 1st house by October 1890. It later burned down.
The 2nd house still stands on the homestead property, one of the 1st area homes built of dressed lumber brought by steamer up the Fraser River to the Glen Valley Landing. This home is still lived in, although it has been modernized.
Rebecca & Robert's son Robert was born in 1899. He attended Douglas & Aberdeen schools, then later the 1st Bradner school built on the Hutchinson property at Bradner Road & Elsie Avenue. His teacher was Miss Woods.
Rebecca created exquisite needlepoint, rugs & quilts, winning many prizes at the Langley Fall Fair. Many items were donated for a raffle with all proceeds going to charity.
The Nicholl's dairy farm shipped milk from the Patterson Road milk stand on the BCER daily milk train. They had a good orchard of fruit trees & a large vegetable garden.
Robert passed away in 1933, Rebecca in 1960. Both are interred at the Aberdeen Cemetery.
In 1928, Robert Jr married Catherine Barclay, a young widow with 3 children who moved to Rand from Alberta after the death of her 1st husband to live with her sister Beth & brother-in-law Jim Trumpour. When they moved to Port Alberni, Catherine & her children remained on the farm.
Robert & Catherine had 2 daughters: Rebecca in 1930, Alice in 1932. Robert Jr passed away in 1972, Catherine in 1994. Both are interred at Aberdeen.
