Edgar Dewdney - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Following his education in civil engineering, he emigrated from England to British Columbia in 1859. In 1864, Dewdney married Jane Shaw Moir, the daughter of a tea plantation owner from Ceylon. This marriage was without issue.

Dewdney was originally employed as a railway surveyor, and supervised the survey of New Westminster. In 1865, Dewdney was appointed by Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Frederick Seymour to oversee the construction of a trail to the East Kootenay region of the British Columbia Interior so that coastal merchants might benefit from the burgeoning trade associated with gold mining in that area. Although used for only a few years, parts of the Dewdney Trail, as it was known, remain to this day and are used for recreational hiking. Provincial Highway 3 largely follows the route of the Dewdney Trail. His great grand daughter Joan Skelton married Edwin Shelton who is the only engineer in Edgar Dewdney's descendants.

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