b. 1835-08-22
d. 1927-04-10
Arthur Reid Lempriere was born on
22 August 1835 in Ewell, Surrey, England. Lempriere was an officer amongst the third group of Royal
Engineers (RE) in
British Columbia, he was primarily responsible for the survey and construction of the
Boston Bar Trail from
Hope to
Lytton. Before joining the RE as an officer, Lempriere was educated at the Royal Military
Academy in Woolwich. He received his commission to join the RE in
1853, and was promoted to lieutenant a year later on
20 June 1854. As a member of the third detachment of RE's to travel to
Vancouver Island, Lempriere left England in the Summer of
1858 on board
Thames City.
On
12 April 1859, Lempriere arrived in
Esquimalt, in which he was charged with the duties of: Commissary Officer and a member of the
photographic department which included the production of photographic copies of maps
and documents of the surveys and road constructions. In the Summer of
1859, Lempriere was simultaneously appointed as 2nd Captain and put in charge of a detachment
of RE's to be sent to deal with the US troops on
San Juan Island -- in what is referred to as “The Pig War”. Lempriere's time in
San Juan was short and he was eventually sent en route to the mainland, to the colony of
British Columbia; it was here that he assisted in the construction of the
Boston Bar Trail. He was equally charged with a special oversight of the government stores in
New Westminster under
Colonel Moody -- Lempriere was responsible for deliveries and item checks.
On
11 April 1860, Lempriere was recalled back to
London by the War Office Authorities, it was explained to him that his recall was on account
of his earlier promotion to 2nd Captain. His time was short lived in
BC and he left on the steamer
Panama on
9 June 1860, although he remained with the RE Columbia Detachment until
1863. Throughout Lempriere's career, he rose through the ranks as Captain in
1866, Major in
1872, and Major-General in
1882 -- that same year he retired from service -- he remained in retirement until his
death on
10 April 1927 in Camberley, Surrey Heath Borough, England.
Besides being a member of the Royal Engineers, Lempriere also posed as a model for
one of John Everett Millais' paintings -- “A Huguenot on St. Bartholomew's Day”.
- 1. Lempriere, Arthur Reid, BC Archives Collections Search.
- 2. Arthur Reid Lempriere, The Island Wiki.
- 3. Lieutenant Arthur Reid Lempriere, Royal Engineers.
- 4. Moody to Carnarvon, 28 August 1858, 8728, CO 6/28, 365.
- 5. Lieutenant Arthur Reid Lempriere, Royal Engineers.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Moody to Fortescue, 4 January 1865, 129, CO 0/23, 304
- 8. Lieutenant Arthur Reid Lempriere, Royal Engineers.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Mary Ann Bennet, Arthur Reid Lempriere, Find a Grave.
- 11. Ibid.