John (Jack) A. Cruickshank was born in Vancouver on March 5, 1899. In the winter of 1917, he and a group of young men from Vancouver decided to set up a summer camp in West Vancouver. The other members of "The Hounds" as the group called themselves, were Harry Thorley, Wally Hunter, Bill Strang, John McGillivray, and Herb Ballantyne.

The next summer they rented a vacant lot at 17th Street and Fulton Avenue, the current site of the Municipal Hall, for $10 a month, where they erected a large tent with a wooden framework. During the week they commuted by ferries from their Vancouver homes, and on the weekends enjoyed the local dances and stayed overnight.

In the spring of 1920, the Hounds moved to Dundarave at 2540 Bellevue, where they again set up a tent with a ten-foot porch on the front. A number of similar camps in this, and other West Vancouver areas made for many lively times. When friends visited they often went out to Sandy Cove for a picnic on the beach. In 1920, the group organized the West Vancouver Amateur Swimming Club, and in 1921 put on the first Dundarave Regatta, a successful swimming competition that continued for several years. At the end of 1924, Herb Ballantyne and Jack Cruickshank, the most regular members of the Hounds decided to give up their camp.

On November 12, 1924 Jack Cruickshank married Elizabeth (Bess) Holt. In the spring of 1926, they settled in West Vancouver in a double garage that Jack had converted into a temporary home, on property they had purchased from Bess Holt's mother. After the birth of their first two children, Jack Holt in 1927, and Isabel Diane in 1930, the Cruickshanks built a permanent home on the property. They lived at 2586 Marine Drive until December 1955, then moved to a house on Mathers Avenue, before retiring to Vernon to manage a summer resort. The Cruickshanks continued to spend their winters on the North Shore. John (Jack) A. Cruickshank died on July 4, 1984, at the age of 85.