- Born
- 1857?
- Died
- March 1946
Beechworth, Victoria, Australia - Alternative Names
- Blind Tommy (nickname)
- Wong Hor
- Summary
Wong Hor arrived in Beechworth in the 1860s and remained there till after the closure of the Chinese township. He lived on the outskirts of Beechworth on Dingle Road at Silver Creek in a house built for him by the Shannan family. The Shennan family apparently built two huts for him; a second after the first hut burnt down.
Wong Hor lost his sight in the 1890s. Beechworth residents remember him using a stick to navigate while he shopped in town. They also remember him collecting manure for his vegetable garden and him smoking a pipe (possiblyan opium pipe or water pipe).
The 'Ovens and Murray Advertiser' reported in May 1924 that he was living near the site of the old Chinese camp and supplemented his diet by growing vegetables, some of which he sold. A photograph shows the weatherboard hut on Chinamans' Flat that he lived in. By December 1840 he was unable to look after himself and was admitted to the Ovens Benevolent Assylum. He died in March 1946 at the age of 89. He is buried in the Chinese section of the Beechworth cemetery (though a cemetery visiting guide states the last Chinese buried in the cemetery was Henry Ah Yett on 31 July 1932).
Published Resources
Books
- Griffiths, Tom, Beechworth: An Australian Country Town and its Past, Greenhouse Publications, Richmond, Vic, 1987. Details
- McWaters, Vivienne, Beechworth's Little Canton: The History of the Spring Creek Chinese Camp and its Residents, Vivienne McWaters, Beechworth, 2002. Details
Edited Books
- Williams, Jennifer (ed.), Listen to What They Say: An Oral History of Beechworth in the Twentieth Century, Robert O'Hara Burke Memorial Museum, Beechworth, 2002. Details
Images
-
-
- Title
- 'Blind Tommy' in his hut on Chinamans' Flat
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1914 - c. 1941
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Beechworth
- Details
See also
-
-
- Title
- 'Blind Tommy's' hut on Chinamans' Flat
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1914 - c. 1941
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Beechworth
- Details
-
-
- Title
- Blind Tommy's vegetable garden
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1914 - c. 1941
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Beechworth
- Details
Sources used to compile this entry: Griffiths, Tom, Beechworth: An Australian Country Town and its Past, Greenhouse Publications, Richmond, Vic, 1987; McWaters, Vivienne, Beechworth's Little Canton: The History of the Spring Creek Chinese Camp and its Residents, Vivienne McWaters, Beechworth, 2002; Williams, Jennifer (ed.), Listen to What They Say: An Oral History of Beechworth in the Twentieth Century, Robert O'Hara Burke Memorial Museum, Beechworth, 2002; Information held by the Burke Museum (Beechworth).
Created: 8 March 2006, Last modified: 9 May 2006
