Viewing Object

Philip Jackman was born in Devonshire, England, on April 12, 1835. On his 24th birthday, on April 12, 1859, he arrived in the Colony of B.C. as one of the Royal Engineers of the Columbia Detachment on the HMS Thames City. He worked on building the Douglas-Lillooet Road, the Cariboo Road, and he participated in the laying out of roads in New Westminster. In 1861, when he was working on the Dewdney Trail he accidentally chopped off a toe. In 1863 Jackman married Sarah Ann Lovegrove, who was believed to be a housekeeper for Colonel Richard Clement Moody of the Royal Engineers. After his disbandment of the Columbia Detachment in 1863, Jackman headed for the Cariboo in search of gold. In 1865, while working as the foreman of a work gang, he ended up breaking his right hand after a tree fell on top of him. He later worked as a night watchman in New Westminster. He moved to Aldergrove in 1886, and homesteaded and ran a store for three years. The business eventually went under and he took up work as a fishery guardian on the Fraser River for 14 years. From 1895-1897 he served as reeve of Langley. He died in 1927 at the age of 92.

During the 1958 B.C. Centennial "Changes of the guard" ceremonies were held in Fort Langley May 21 - 28, where a group of British Royal Engineers in replica 1858 costumes symbolically passed on their duties to the Royal Canadian Engineers under the command of Captain B. Breiville. The Canadian Engineers were a group of non-commissioned officers and sappers of the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineers from Camp Chilliwack of Vedder Crossing. TThe corp also performed at the Fort Langley National Historic Site for Princess Margaret's official visit.