Frank Jackman

Frank left his home village of Euxton, in Lancashire, in 1928, at the age of 23, to look for work in Africa. The outbreak of the Second World War meant he did not return home for another 20 years, by then he was married and had 2 teenage sons.

After landing at Cape Town, Frank worked his way north working for the railways, laying a spur line to the Wankie Collieries in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) before reaching Livingstone in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). It was in Livingstone he met and married Rose Catherine (Kate). They had to wait for the priest to come by rail as there was no local Catholic priest able to perform the service in Livingstone. In 1933 Frank and Kate moved to Lusaka when the decision was made to move the capital of Northern Rhodesia there from Livingstone. Unfortunately this coincided with the effects of the "Great Depression" finally reaching Northern Rhodesia and the anticipated building boom in the new capital did not materialise. It was a time of great hardship and many of the artisans that had moved to Lusaka in anticipation of this boom could not find work, 800 of them had to be repatriated. Frank stayed on and was the supervisor in charge of the construction of the new Legislative Council building (now the Cabinet Office in Zambia) and worked on the Governor's Residence (now State House). Frank was responsible for the burning of 1 million bricks for the building of the Munali Boys Secondary School in Lusaka. He also burnt the bricks for and built his own house in Lusaka, laying the bricks himself after work. He also built some of the first houses in Kitwe on the Copperbelt. His friend, Jimmy Moss who came out from Lancashire with him ended up as the first Mayor of Kitwe.

Frank later joined the Colonial Service in the African Education department where he trained carpenters at the Hodgson's Technical School and later travelled the Protectorate as an inspector of schools to asses the trades schools for eligibility for government grants and set the country wide trades exams.

Frank and Kate remained in Zambia after independence and are buried in the Aylmer May cemetery on Lagos Road in Lusaka.

• Residence: Apr 2 1911 - Village Euxton, Euxton, Lancashire, England
  • Reference: 1911 England & Wales Census - SmartCopy: Feb 5 2019, 16:10:51 UTC