The Vancouver Police Connection: Dominion Hotel and Lamplighter Public House (Clough Club)

The first commercial building on the site of what is today the Lamplighter Pub was a bar named “The Hole in the Wall Saloon,” a vision of local pioneer Joseph Simmons. It was here that the city’s first and only coal oil lamp lighter, John Clough, would spend a considerable amount of his time “relaxing.”

Of course, we know John as the “one-armed jailer.”

*1901 Vancouver Police Souvenir Booklet*

John Clough was born 1826 in Lincolnshire. He left England in 1869 for New York, where he drove stock through to California, taking up to two years doing so. He then went to Sacramento, digging $16,000 in gold, before heading to San Francisco, where he bought passage back to England. Upon meeting with other partying miners, he lost his passage. The vessel he was due to sail on was later destroyed by fire at sea, and all hands lost. John used to say, “You can’t tell me that drink ever did me any harm.”

Next, he headed to the Cariboo for gold mining, but was unsuccessful. He went to work as foreman for Onderdonk, who built the C.P.R. right of way in B.C., and where he subsequently lost his arm. While going back to examine a blast which had not exploded (black powder was used in those days), it detonated just as he reached it.

John’s career with the City seems to have been as a “jack of all trades,” often labeled a caretaker, assistant or under-jailer, City Hall caretaker, and dog catcher. He was the City Jailer when the Great Fire of June 13th (1886) broke out. Chief Stewart had the prisoners in a tent tied to stakes. Clough was ordered to cut them loose, which he did, as the fire was driving down on them.

The Chief once bought him a false arm, but he didn’t appear to have used it. Instead, John would often “throw the hook,” – the usual target: a prisoner’s clothing.

On February 28, 1887, John was appointed as the lamp lighter for the city of Vancouver at a salary of $10 per month, starting March 1st. He carried a light ladder for this purpose. These duties ceased as the City started installing electric lights later that year.

As John’s nephew tells it, “He never had any money but if he could furnish the money for her fine, he would never allow a woman to be locked up. As men were often discharged from jail in a penniless state, he often “staked them.”

John was also in charge of the chain gang, a group of prisoners who had been sentenced to three or four months of imprisonment, and assigned to street construction. They were taken to work daily by cart, the men seated lengthwise with picks and shovels, and John Clough driving. The chain gang worked lane construction and were responsible for a large number in the West End, Fairview slopes, Mount Pleasant, and the East end, west of Grandview. The men took their lunch with them, and during noon hour could be seen sitting on stumps or logs enjoying their meal. Mr. Clough reportedly treated them very kindly; he may have carried a rifle or revolver, but it was never seen. The men wore leg irons.

In February of 1904, as caretaker and assistant jailer, he made a salary of $25 per month. His duty hours: 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. Duty: to attend jail, answer telephone, and see that the building was kept clean.

John saw the very start of the force and was the first person to receive a pension ($30 per month) from the City in 1912. He retired to his native England; his nephew in Vancouver was supposed to have forwarded his pension money, but didn’t. John had to hire a solicitor to arrange for direct payments.

In January 1914, word was received that John had passed away in Alford, Lincolnshire.

Clough Avenue existed between Ontario and Fraser Street (South Vancouver); not known if it was named after our character, but before 1912 it was renamed to East 61st Avenue.

Today, the Clough Club, named in honour of John, is a cocktail lounge located within the Lamplighter Public House in Gastown (Donnelly Group Proprietors).

*Vancouver Daily World, January 23, 1914, page 1*

*Vancouver Daily World, January 23, 1914, page 17*

The Dominion Hotel, located at 210 Abbott Street, is one of the city’s earliest yet still standing, hotels. Completed in 1900, it was also known as the Sherdahl Block, after its original owner Sven (Swain) Sherdahl. This block included the Mainland Cigar Factory, and Rubinowitz & Co Cheapside Department Store, and what would become the Lamplighter Pub.

The writer has not yet found any service record information on Francis Eliot (Frank) Baynes, however, according to local newspapers, he started with the force sometime before June 6th, 1898, and resigned October 26t,h 1900. He married Sherdahl’s daughter, Emily, and took on managing the hotel.

*The Province, October 30, 1900, page 1*

The Dominion had one of the earliest pub licenses, approved in 1925, for the Lamplighter Pub. It was also the first to serve alcohol to women.

Frank transitioned into the real estate business during the 1900s with the firm Baynes & Baynes. He also ran the first hotel bus service in the city.

In 1903, Frank and Emily purchased a home at 1447 Barclay Street in the West End. They tore the house down and rebuilt in 1905. An addition was added in 1909, and was used as Miss Clermont’s West End Hospital until 1919. The property, later called Barclay Manor (1926), was a boarding house, in the early days housing naval officers, until 1970. It was purchased by the City and has been restored, operated today as a community centre.

In 1912, Frank and Emily purchased a home at 1315 Laurier Avenue in Shaughnessy. They paid $10,500 for it that year. During summer months, they let out the house to visiting vacationers.

*The Province, January 9, 1925, page 16*

Frank and Emily moved their family to a Pitt Meadows farm (registered on 1921 census). He became a school board chairman as well as a police magistrate. In 1927, he opened the Fraser Valley Lodge (writer has yet to determine exactly where this was located in Coquitlam).

Meanwhile, Emily’s family had moved to Long Beach, California, and her father Swain/Sven died there in January 1925. In September 1928, Frank’s family also moved to the United States. Both he and Emily were naturalized US citizens in 1935. Frank died at Long Beach on October 30th, 1943, leaving his wife and children to survive him.