Lowe Kong Meng - Biographical entry - Chinese-Australian Historical Images in Australia

Born

1831
Penang, Malaysia

Died

1888
Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Occupation

community leader, merchant and mining manager

Alternative Names

Kong Meng (also used)
Lowe Kong Meng (also used)

Details

Lowe Kong Meng was born a British subject in Penang. He was educated there and in Mauritius and spoke English and French fluently. Before coming to Australia he traded goods between Mauritius, Calcutta and Singapore. He arrived in Australia after hearing of the gold rushes in 1853 and a year later had established an importing business in Little Bourke Street.

Lowe Kong Meng was a very successful businessman with interests in a wide range of activities both in the Australian colonies and abroad. He owned a fleet of six ships some of which were engaged in procuring beche-de-mer from the Torres Straits. In 1864 he was one of the first merchants to attempt trade between Melbourne and Port Darwin. He bought a gold mine at Majorca, Victoria and speculated in many other mining ventures in the colony. He was also connected with banking and insurance. With Louis Ah Mouy he served on the provisional committee of the new Commercial Bank of Australia in 1866 and they were amongst its most important shareholders. He represented the Chinese insurance companies, On Tai and Man On. He had large interests in Hong Kong, Cairns and Queensland. He was probably the wealthiest Chinese resident in Melbourne and was well-known across Australia.

Within the Chinese community he was a popular leader and supervised various Chinese organisations, settled disputes and helped Chinese to find work. He encouraged the Chinese community to respect the British flag, law and justice. He actively protested against immigration restrictions against Chinese. In 1879 with Cheok Hong Cheong and Louis Ah Mouy he wrote the pamphlet, The Chinese Question in Australia, 1878-1879 and in 1887 with other leading Chinese he organised a petition to the two visiting Chinese Commissioners, General Wong Yung Ho and U Tsing. For his leadership within the Victorian Chinese community he was awarded in 1863 the title of mandarin of the blue button, civil order by the Chinese Emperor.

Lowe Kong Meng was also well respected outside the Chinese community. He gave generously to a wide range of church and public charities. In 1860 he married Mary Ann Prussia of Tasmania and they had twelve children. He died on 22 October 1888 at his home in Malvern.

Sources used to compile this entry: Macgregor, Paul, 'Dreams of Jade and Gold', in Epstein, Anna (ed.), The Australian Family: Images and Essays, Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 1998, pp. 25-35; Yong, Ching Fatt, Meng, Lowe Kong (1831-1888), Australian Dictionary of Biography, D. Pike, vol. 5, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1974, 106-107 pp, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050126b.htm.

Prepared by: Sophie Couchman, La Trobe University

Associated with

Children

Grandchild

Hanstein, Dorothea Beatrice May

Sibling

Wife

Prussia, Mary Ann ( - 1913)

Related Concepts

Related Events

Visit - Chinese Commissioners General Wong Yung Ho and Consul U. Tsing to Australia in 1887

Related People

Ah Mouy, Louey (c. 1826 - 1918)

Related Places

Archival Collections

J. van der Wal (private)

Thomas Bradley Harris album, - 1866, http://www.the-eastern-window.com/harris-introduction.html; J. van der Wal (private). Details

L. Fonseca (private hands)

Thomas Bradley Harris album, http:www2.hawaii.edu/~lfonseca/harris-intro.html; L. Fonseca (private hands). Details

Published Resources

Book Sections

Leavitt, J. H. H., 'Lowe Kong Meng', in Jubilee History of Victoria and Melbourne, vol. 1, Melbourne, 1888, pp. 96-98. Details
Macgregor, Paul, 'Dreams of Jade and Gold', in Epstein, Anna (ed.), The Australian Family: Images and Essays, Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 1998, pp. 25-35. Details

Edited Books

Lowe Kong Meng, Cheok Hong Cheong, Louis Ah Mouy (ed.), The Chinese Question In Australia, 1878-79, F. F. Bailliere, Melbourne, 1879. Details

Journal Articles

Lake, Marilyn, 'The Chinese empire encounters the British empire and its 'colonial dependancies': Melbourne, 1887', Journal of Chinese Overseas, vol. 9, no. 2, 2013, pp. 176-192. Details
Macgregor, Paul, 'Chinese political values in Colonial Victoria: Lowe Kong Meng and the legacy of the July 1880 election', Journal of Chinese Overseas, vol. 9, no. 2, 2013, pp. 135-175. Details
Oddie, G, 'The lower class Chinese and the merchant elite in Victoria, 1870-1890', Historical Studies, vol. 10, 1961, pp. 65-69. Details

Newspaper Articles

'Mr Kong Meng [illustration]', Australian News for Home Readers, 27 September. Details
''Mr Lowe Kong Meng - [From a Photograph by Frith]' [etching]', Illustrated Australian News, 20 September. Details

Theses

Oddie, G., 'The Chinese in Victoria, 1870-1890', MA thesis, University of Melbourne, 1959. Details

Online Resources

Yong, Ching Fatt, Meng, Lowe Kong (1831-1888), Australian Dictionary of Biography, D. Pike, vol. 5, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1974, 106-107 pp, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050126b.htm. Details

Images

Title: Lowe Kong Meng
Type: Photograph
Date: - c. 1866
Place: Australia - Victoria - Melbourne; Details

Title: Lowe Kong Meng (1888)
Type: Illustration
Date: c. 29 November 1888
Place: Australia - Victoria; Details

Title: Lowe Kong Meng holding Chinese book
Type: Illustration
Date: c. 1863
Place: Australia - Victoria - Melbourne; Details

Title: 'Mr Lowe Kong Meng - [from a photograph by Frite]'
Type: Illustration
Date: c. 20 September 1866 - c. 27 September 1866
Place: Australia - Victoria; Details

Chinese-Australian Historical Images in Australia

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