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Choy Ying Wong (1849 - 1927)

Gallery

  • Click to view this Print (front)

    Unidentified group at picnic [?], courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
    Details

  • Click to view this Print

    Fr James Cheong with his family, c. 1906, courtesy of St Peter's Eastern Hill Church archive.
    Details

  • Click to view this Print (front)

    Unidentified older woman, courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
    Details

Born
10 October 1849
'Hockshan', China
Died
14 February 1927
'Pine Lodge', Croydon, Melbourne, Victoria
Alternative Names
  • Cheong, Mrs (married name)
  • Choy Ying Wong (maiden name)
  • Wong Toy Chen (also used)

Details

Choy Ying Wong was the wife of Cheok Hong Cheong. She was born on 10 October 1849 and her birthplace is recorded phonetically as Hockshan. Her pre-marriage name was Choy Ying Wong or Wong Toy Chen. Her mother's name was recorded as Cheong Se, the latter term (See, Shee) indicating she was a married woman. Her father, Cheong Hum Wong was a market gardener.

On 14 October 1869 she married Cheok Hong Cheong in an arranged marriage at the Ballarat Chinese Presbyterian Mission. She was twenty years old and her husband seventeen. They lived in Ballarat until 1872 when they moved to Fitzroy in Melbourne. They had nine children, seven boys (James, Joshua, Caleb, Oi Chan, Nehemiah, Nathaniel, Benjamin) and two girls (Grace Mary, Christina).

She died at 'Pine Lodge', Croydon on 14 February 1927.

Sources used to compile this entry: Welch, Ian, 'Alien Son: A Life of Cheok Hong Cheong', PhD thesis, Australian National University, 2004. Also available at http://thesis.anu.edu.au/public/adt-ANU20051108.111252.

Prepared by: Ian Welch, Australian National University

Family

Archival Collections

Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History)

  • Cheong family collection; Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History). Details

Published Resources

Conference Papers

  • Welch, Ian, 'Cheok Hong Cheong: Victim or Victor? [unpublished paper]', in Workshop on the Chinese in Australian and New Zealand History, University of New South Wales, 11-13 February. Details

Theses

Images

Title
Mrs C.H. Cheong
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 2 September 1899
Place
Australia - Victoria
Details
Title
Portrait of Mrs Cheok Hong Cheong
Type
Painting
Details
Title
Unidentified group at picnic [?]
Type
Photograph
Details

See also

Title
Fr James Cheong with his family
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1906 - c. 1928
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Unidentified older woman
Type
Photograph
Details

Created: 10 May 2001, Last modified: 1 November 2005