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Tong, Alice (Bou Youk) (1900 - )

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    Tong family, c. 21 June 1912, by Yeomans, 116 Bourke St, Melbourne, courtesy of S. Millard (private hands).
    Details

Born
13 January 1900
Lacey Place (off Little Bourke Street), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Alternative Names
  • O'Hoy, Alice (married name)
  • Tong, Alice (maiden name)
  • Tong, Bou Youk/Bou Yuk (also used)
  • Tong, Yookie (nickname)

Details

Alice or Bou Youk Tong was affectionately known by her family as ‘Yukie’. She was born in Melbourne in 1900 and attended the Presbyterian Chinese Mission school in Heffernan lane off Little Bourke Street, then St Peter's Eastern Hill school near to top end of Little Bourke Street and finally Rathdowne Street State School in nearby Carlton. After her father’s death in 1912 she went with her mother and siblings to live in China (possibly Hong Kong). Her mother and two of her sisters died there some time between 1912 and 1916 and she and her brother and sister were placed under the guardianship of Chin Wah Moon. Chin Wah Moon told immigration officials that she had been back to China to be educated.

In 1916 she returned to Australia with her sister Boo Lan (Ethel) and they went to Bendigo. Bou Youk/Alice’s marriage to Fee Lan O’Hoy is believed by the family to have been an arranged one as she returned to Victoria in July 1916 and was married in September the same year. She lived with her husband and family in Bridge Street, Bendigo. In the 1950s, after their children had left Bendigo the couple moved to Melbourne.

Bou Yuk and Fee had seven children, two boys and five girls: Edna, Edward, Lorna, Ron, June, Joyce and Marjorie. Edna only lived for one day. Bou Yuk worked at home raising their children while her husband assisted his older brother Que O’Hoy, run Sun Ack Goon, the family business.

Her family remembers her as being very practical, down to earth and family-oriented. She was well-loved and respected. She enjoyed playing hits of the 1930s and 1940s on the pianola, was involved in community singing and also regularly played mahjong and cards. She was fondly remembered by her children.

Sources used to compile this entry: Couchman, Sophie, ''Oh, I would like to see Maggie Moore again': Selected women of Melbourne's Chinatown', After the Rush: Regulation, Partcipation, and Chinese Communities in Australia 1860-1840 (Otherland Literary Journal), vol. 9, 2004, pp. 171-190; Oral history interview with Marjorie Law, 24 August 1999; Personal correspondence with Marjorie Law, 11 August 1999; NAA(Vic), B13/0, 1920/13667; 1922/9836.

Prepared by: Sophie Couchman, La Trobe University

Family

Published Resources

Book Sections

  • Couchman, Sophie, 'Tong family networks revealed through the camera's lens', in Sophie Couchman (ed.), Secrets, Silences and Sources: Five Chinese-Australian Family Histories (La Trobe Asian Studies Papers), Asian Studies, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 2005, pp. 47-53. Details

Journal Articles

  • Couchman, Sophie, ''Oh, I would like to see Maggie Moore again': Selected women of Melbourne's Chinatown', After the Rush: Regulation, Partcipation, and Chinese Communities in Australia 1860-1840 (Otherland Literary Journal), vol. 9, 2004, pp. 171-190. Details

Online Resources

Images

Title
Alice O'Hoy 1917
Type
Photograph
Date
1917
Place
Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
Details
Title
Tong family
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 21 June 1912
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details

Created: 14 May 2004, Last modified: 4 November 2005