[2][3] His grandfather was Sir John Jackson, 1st Baronet, who was chairman of the board of the East India Company.

Aged 15, he joined the Royal Indian Navy and during his 17 years of service, he advanced from midshipman to lieutenant.

He was part of the group of surveyors under Fenwick Williams that defined the boundary between the Ottoman Empire and Persia.

As part of that survey, he rode from the Persian Gulf to Mount Ararat and from there to Trabzon (then known as Trebizond) on the Black Sea.

[1] After the abolition of the provincial system, Jackson was chief surveyor of the Wellington District until he was dismissed in March 1879 via a notice in the Gazette.

[9] The resulting 2 July 1879 by-election was contested by Thomas Mason and Jackson, with The Evening Post pointing out that the candidates had near-identical political views.

The area covered included the town districts of Johnsonville, Kaiwarra, Lower Hutt, and Petone.

[4] Jackson's eldest daughter, Edith Emily, married the third son of Jabez Waterhouse, Rowland Skipsey, at St James' Church in Lower Hutt in February 1883.