Logo courtesy of the District of Metchosin, see footnote
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METCHOSIN PIONEERS
In this space we will feature from time to time a brief biography of a pioneer family on this occasion it is the Argyle Family
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 who we would like to thank for their kindness in allowing the extracts to be used. A visit to the Metchosin School Museum is highly recommended as is purchasing a copy of this excellent book.