John Deighton
John Deighton (born November 1830 in Kingston upon Hull , England ; † 29 May 1875 ; called Gassy Jack ) was a Canadian steamship captain and bar owner. Gastown , the oldest district in Vancouver, is named after him .
He came to California in 1849 and then sailed as a sailor between London, the British colonies and China. In 1858 he came during the gold rush on the Fraser River to British Columbia and was captain of a steamboat that traveled between several ports on Canada's west coast. Between 1862 and 1867 Deighton owned a bar in New Westminster , after which he opened a bar on the south bank of Burrard Inlet , the Globe Saloon . The bar was built by sawmill workers who received as much whiskey as they could drink during one visit.
The guests were mostly seamen and workers from the nearby sawmill. In 1870 the bar was replaced by a larger new building, the Deighton House . His brother Tom Deighton and his wife took over the saloon in 1874 and John Deighton returned to working as a steamship captain. After a family row, he took over the saloon a few months later and worked there until his death the following year.
Deighton was commonly known by the nickname Gassy Jack (chatty Jack) for his talkative manner and storytelling inclination . The name established itself and the area around his former bar is still called Gastown today . Deighton is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in New Westminster.
Web links
- John Deighton . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
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- ^ Greg Middleton, Vancouver Crime ( September 2, 2006 memento in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Deighton, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gassy Jack |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian steamship captain and bar owner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 1830 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kingston upon Hull |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 29, 1875 |