Growing up in Hull, a major seaport, Deighton and his brothers Tom and Richard learned to sail.

When the California Gold Rush hit, ships were in demand to transport cargo and people from New York to San Francisco.

Local boats were built to meet this need and Deighton piloted steamships and sternwheelers on the Fraser River for several years.

[3] By 1864, Deighton was forced to pursue other lines of work as he developed health problems (swelling of the legs and feet).

In 1867, when Deighton went out of town to visit the hot mineral springs near Harrison Lake, he entrusted the bar to an old shipmate, an American.

[5] In 1867, Deighton opened a bar on the south side of Burrard Inlet at the behest of his old friend, Captain Edward Stamp, the owner of the Hastings Mill.

When business dwindled there, Deighton tried to acquire 20 waterfront acres near Moody's Mill and build a new saloon there.

The local natives protested and the Governor agreed with them – Deighton went back to his previous bar, the Globe Saloon.

(In her 1940 interview with Major Matthews, Madeline said the baby lived about two years and was buried at Brockton Point, but in fact he outlived his father.)

A headstone was installed in 1972, reading "Here lies John 'Gassy Jack' Deighton, 1830 - 1875, Sailor, Prospector, Steamboatman, Pioneer, Hotelman at New Westminster & Granville: 'I have done well since I came here.'"

In honour of Jack Deighton, the Gassy Jack statue stood in Maple Tree Square in Gastown which was the former site of his saloon, until it was toppled and covered with paint by demonstrators on February 14, 2022, during the 31st annual Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.