This photo was contributed by their great granddaughter Geri Stevenson ( see below)

(One version:) Apparently his real name was Mercer but because he deserted the British Navy he added Eastwood to his name.   He came to the USA to go railroading then went to Canada. He was born in 1864 in Yorkshire and died 2 Mar 1943 age 81 – They had 14 kids and lived at Race Rocks from 1891 until they retired in 1919. From Ancestry.ca: “ According to Annie Barbara Peterson, Granddaughter to Frederick, in her letters to me, she stated that: “My grandfather was Frederick Mercer. He deserted the British Navy and went railroading in the USA. He was forced to change his name so he added “Eastwood” becoming F.M.Eastwood. Hard times, no job brought him to Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada. “ UPDATE: In an e-mail of Dec. 31, 2011 from Kev…. Several other ancestry sites have Frederick Mercer Eastwood Born in London, England on 1861 to Joseph Eastwood and Annie Mercer. They have the same children and death date as Annie Peterson, She might be mistaken in thinking her grandfather was a deserter. (Mercer was her Great Grandmother’s maiden name.) ps Annie Biggs, Frederick Mercer Eastwood’s wife, was a distant cousin of mine, I have her tree and therefore Annie Peterson’s tree, back to Richard Biggs (from whom I’m also descended) b: Abt 1685 in Mells Somerset, England. Death: 1710 in Mells Somerset, Burial: 13 Oct 1710 Mells Somerset . Regards Kev

If anyone has any further information / photographs on Thomas Argyle or Ellen we would be interested in adding them here.

Feb 1867 – 1888 (Thomas (1839 – 1919) Argyle & Ellen Argyle (d. 1925) May 23, 1867 – 1888; 32 years old in 1872; Chief Keeper; pay $625 per year From the Metchosin Museum : https://metchosinmuseum.ca/pioneer-museum/pioneers/thomas-argyle/ From a Geneaology website:  https://www.geni.com/people/Thomas-Argyle/6000000013044015241 From the Royal Engineers : http://www.royalengineers.ca/Argyle.html see The Sappers File on Thomas and Ellen Argyle it starts out    “Thomas Argyle was born in Birmingham, England.  As a lad with a strong, adventurous spirit, he joined the Royal Engineers of the British Army and volunteered for service in developing the unorganized territory of New Caledonia, later to become the province of British Columbia.” The picture below was taken around 1890. Courtesy of the BC Archives

Ellen Argyle: assistant keeper May 23, 1867 – 1871; 32 years old in 1872; 3rd Assistant; pay $150 per year; (British Columbia Report of the Hon. H. L. Langevin, C.B., Minister of Public Works, 1872)

From METCHOSIN PIONEERS

On April 12, 1859 the vessel Thames City dropped anchor in Esquimalt
Harbour. On board that ship, together with 150 other members of the Royal
Engineers, was Thomas Argyle. The journey from England had been long and
tedious and Thomas helped passed the time entertaining the rest of the men
by singing humorous songs. He was a fine singer.
Immediately upon arrival the main body of engineers were sent to
Queensborough, now New Westminster. The next five years were spent
surveying land and building wagon roads through the Fraser Canyon to
Clinton and the Cariboo. When the time came to re-embark for England,
November 11, 1863, only 15 of the original 150 men went on the ship.
Thomas elected, as did most of the men, to stay in British Columbia and
availed himself of 150 acres free land grant for prime waterfront land at
Rocky Point. At that time, Rocky Point was practically without white
settlement.
In 1862, a young lady by the name of Mary Ellen Tufts, set sail for
British Columbia from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Miss Tufts was the daughter of
Samuel Tufts, a United Empire Loyalist whose forebears came over from
England on the Mayflower. Chased out of Massachusetts at the time of the
revolution, the Tufts family had settled in Halifax in 1776, at a spot
still known as Tufts Cove. Soon after her arrival on the West Coast, Miss
Tufts met Thomas Argyle and they were married in 1863 and took up
residence on the land at Rocky Point.
In 1867 the Thomas Argyle was appointed chief keeper of the Race Rocks
Lighthouse, 10 miles below Victoria, and he maintained that position until
1888, when he retired and returned to his Rocky Point home.
The above information is taken from the book “FOOTPRINTS, Pioneer Families
of the Metchosin District, Southern Vancouver Island 1851 – 1900”. This
book was compiled and edited by Marion I Helgesen and Published by the
Metchosin School Museum Society

See The Lightkeepers Index

ED Note:  I have included all the references to Mr Daykin that I could find as I found him to be an interesting character and one who represents a unique type of brave and heroic men of those early yearson the Coast of the Pacific northwest. 

May 6, 1889 News of Coal near Carmanah Point reported by Daykin (He has secured a large section of land in the area)

December 3, 1892 Daykin reports serious trouble among the Indians of the Nitnat Tribe

April 6, 1893 Daykin and his two sons assist two officers who secured wreck of the Michigan

October 3, 1893, Phil Daykin searches for his son Ted and a friend drowned while fishing at Nitnat.

September 20, 1894 Phil and Anna Daykin’s son William is second one to die.

January 3, 1894 Invited to Carmanah for New Years, Norman Friend drowns 

January 14, 1896 Saved from the sea.Crew of the Janet Cowan Arrive by the Louise after stayng with Daykin.

January 15, 1896 Wreckage of the Janet Cowan and need for lighthouse on Bonilla Point;

Feb 11, 1896, Burial of victims of the Janet Cowan Disaster.

 Aug 22, 1896 A

missionary writes a biased article on the potlatch which infuriates Phil Daykin
 

Sept 19, 1896 Phil Daykin writes his opposition to the missionary’s letter.

October 4, 1896 a methodist missionary opposing Daykins comments on the potlatch

December 18, 1897 The shipwreck Vesta: Phil Daykin and his son are involved in the rescue . > 

January 13, 1898 Mr. Daykin has lost faith in the telegraph system so will take back to the lighthouse some carrier pigeons for any news of importance

December 19, 1899 Daykin forwards money from Indians for assisting the white people.

January 10, 1900

Daykin gives report of ship wreckage.  

June 12, 1900 A

letter from Daykin complaining about the telegraph service from Carmanah

February 15, 1902 Canned salmon washed ashore with bouy of the Red Rock. awaiting to see if it reaches Liverpool or was it wrecked.

 

Nov 6, 1900 Daykin reports finding the station boat from Cape Flattery, later two men are found dead at Cape Beale

;

January 26,1906 Lifebuoy picked up by Daykin on the beach at Carmanah

January 27,1906 Phil Daykin with crew trying to help wreck of the Valencia

 

January 30, 1906 Narrow escape if an unknown Bark near Carmanah reported by the “ënergetic” Daykin

March 9, 1906 –Investigation into wreck of the Valencia

April 11, 1906– Mrs. Daykin dies and her body is transferred to Victoria for burial

November 9, 1906 Daykin finds wreckage of American fishing schooner Surfduck 

File on Shipwrecks at Race Rocks

 For photographs of the Light station in the early years go to this file: