THE CHINESE IN THE WEST INDIES 1806-1950:

A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY

Walton Look Lai

______________

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction The Chinese in the Caribbean region 1

Chapter I Early efforts at importing Chinese labour into the West Indies (1802-
1806): the Fortitude experiment in Trinidad 22

Chapter II Events leading up to organised emigration from China to the British West
Indies (1811-1852) 47

Chapter III General picture of emigration from China in the 1850's 70

Chapter IV Beginning of the emigration process (1852-1854) 93

Chapter V The emigration years (1859-1866) 122

Chapter VI Social adjustment to plantation life and society 163

Chapter VII The diplomatic impasse over the 1866 Convention, and the last years of
the West Indian migration (1866-1884) 189

Chapter VIII Life after indenture: indentured servants to traders (1870-1918)

206

Chapter IX Life in the inter-war period: social mobility, assimilation and the new
migration (1918-1950) 231

Appendix I Tables of Statistics 278

Appendix II Biographies of Chinese families (to the 1990's)

21
Chapter I. Early efforts at importing Chinese labour into the West Indies (1802-
1806): the Fortitude experiment in Trinidad

(1) Excerpts from Captain William Layman's "Hints for the Cultivation of Trinidad" (1802)

(2) Secret Memorandum from the Colonial Office to the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East
India Company (18 February 1803)

(3) Instructions from Secretary of State Lord Hobart to Mr Kenneth MacQueen on the proposed China
Mission (21 April 1803)

(4) Kenneth MacQueen to John Sullivan, UnderSecretary of State (1803)

(5) Letter from Kenneth MacQueen to Rt Honourable Earl Camden (10 February 1806)

(6) Articles of agreement between the Governor and Council of Prince of Wales Island on the part of the
British Government, and Affat and Awar, Chinamen, on the part of several Chinese settlers (7 January
1806)

(7) Statement of disbursement made at the Presidency of Fort William [Calcutta] on account of the
Chinese settlers who proceeded to Trinidad on the ship FORTITUDE (10 September 1806)

(8) Letter from Governor of Trinidad to Government of India announcing the arrival of the FORTITUDE
in Trinidad (26 October 1806)

(9) Proclamation by His Excellency Thomas Hislop Esquire, Brigadier General of His Majesty's Forces
and Governor of the island of Trinidad and its Dependencies, etc. (18 October 1806)

(10) Two letters on the FORTITUDE experiment:

(i) Governor of Trinidad to the Governor General of Bengal (14 March 1807)
(ii) Attorney-General Gloster to Marryat (3 April 1807)

(11) Further report on the state of the FORTITUDE experiment : extracts from the minutes of a meeting
of His Majesty's Council held at Government House on 20th July 1807

(12) Two contemporary judgments on the FORTITUDE experiment:

(i) Captain William Layman: Excerpt from "Outline of a plan for the better cultivation, security and
defence of the British West Indies, etc." (1807)
(ii) E.L.Joseph: Excerpt from History of Trinidad, Ch.XIV (1838)

_____________________________

Chapter II Events leading up to organised emigration from China to the British

West Indies (1811-1852)
(1) Report from a Parliamentary Committee appointed in 1811 to investigate the prospects of an
organised emigration from China to the West Indies

(2) Letter from a British Guiana Planter to the Standing Committee of the West India Planters and
Merchants, after a personal visit to the East in 1843

(3) Queries respecting Chinese immigration into the West Indies, sent to J. Crawford, Esq., China expert,
from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission (30 August 1843)

22
(4) Memorandum respecting Chinese Immigration into the West Indies from J. Crawford, replying to
enquiries from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission on the subject (1 September 1843)

(5) Report from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission in 1843 on the prospects for an
organised migration from China to the West Indies

(6) Regulations issued by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission in October 1843 for proposed
Chinese emigration to the British West Indies

(7) List of Licences granted by the Colonial Office in 1843 for the Conveyance of Chinese Labourers
from the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca to Jamaica, British Guiana and Trinidad

(8) Exchange of letters between a West Indian Planter, the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission,
and the Colonial Office on the Bounty Rules of 1843
(i) Letter from R.F.Davis to G.W. Hope (7 November1843)
(ii) Letter from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners to James Stephen (21 November
1843)
(iii) Letter from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners to James Stephen (21 November
1843)
(iv) Letter from R.F.Davis to G.W.Hope (14 December 1843)
(v) Letter from G.W. Hope to R.F.Davis (20 December1843)

___________________________

Chapter III General picture of emigration from China in the 1850's

(1) Official enquiries from the Colonial Office addressed to the British Consuls in Chinese ports in 1852
about Chinese emigration patterns and prospects for an organised migration to the West Indies

(2) Official answers to questions outlined above on emigration prospects in China

(i) Canton-based Consul A. Elmslie (25 August 1852)
(ii) Amoy-based Consul Charles A. Winchester (26 August 1852)

(3) General Remarks on Chinese Emigration: Report by Harry Parkes, [then] British interpreter
(September 1852)

(4) Three accounts of popular Chinese hostility to early British recruiting efforts at Amoy, as expressed
in the disturbances of November 1852
(i) Acting Consul Backhouse to Dr Bowring (27 November 1852)
(ii) Mr Harvey to Dr Bowring (22 December 1852)
(iii) Proclamation issued by the inhabitants of the eighteen wards of Amoy against the
British in 1852

(5) Memorandum of the Coolie Ships on board of which Mutinies have occurred, or in which the vessels
or passengers have met with disaster, from the year 1845 up to the year 1872, as compiled by a British
official in 1874

____________________________

Chapter IV Beginning of the emigration process (1852-1854)

23
(1) Letter from China Emigration Agent James White to the Colonial Land and Emigration
Commissioners notifying them of the reasons for his decision to establish an Emigration Agency at Hong
Kong (26 December 1852)

(2) Excerpts from Ship Surgeon Dr Ely's Journal of the Voyage of the SAMUEL BODDINGTON from
Amoy to Demerara, August 1852 to March 1853

(3) Two letters on the departure and arrival of the CLARENDON from Canton (Whampoa) to Trinidad
in 1853:
(i) Letter from James White to the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission (8 January 1853)
(ii) Report from Governor Lord Harris on the arrival of the CLARENDON in Trinidad (7 May 1853)

(4) Letter from James White to the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission, at the close of the 1852-
53 recruiting season (9 April 1853)

(5) Report on the arrival of the LADY FLORA HASTINGS to Trinidad from Swatow in July 1853

(6) Report by Emigration Agent J. White on the departure of the EPSOM from Hong Kong for Jamaica
in 1854

(7) Two reports on the progress of the Chinese in British Guiana:

(i) Report from Governor Barkly of British Guiana (26 February 1853)
(ii) Report from the Manager of Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara (24 June 1853)

(8) Three reports on the progress of the Chinese in Trinidad:

(i) Report from Immigration Agent-General Henry Mitchell of Trinidad in November 1853
(ii) Report from Immigration Agent-General Mitchell on the Chinese from the AUSTRALIA at the
end of their first year (19 April 1854)
(iii) Report from Immigration Agent-General Mitchell on the Chinese at the end of their term of
service (1 June 1858)

(9) Request from the British Guiana Legislature in 1853 for the Colonial Office to consider Chinese
emigration from Java (10 March 1853)

(10) List of passengers on the MERWEDE, the first vessel to transport Chinese to Surinam from Batavia
(now Jakarta), 2 July to 20 October 1853

(11) Termination of the China recruitment in 1854:

Mr Merivale [Colonial Office] to Mr Hammond [Foreign Office], with enclosure:
(i)The Duke of Newcastle to the Governors of Jamaica, British Guiana, Trinidad, Mauritius, etc (12
June 1854)

_______________________________

Chapter V The emigration years (1859-1866)

(1) Excerpt from official proclamation on emigration issued in October 1859 by the Governor of
Guangdong (Kwangtung) province

(2) Public notice displayed in China to intending emigrants

(3) Comments from Emigration Agent J.Gardiner Austin on the contrasts between the British and
Cuban recruitment procedures in China, and on the success of the 1860 West Indies emigration effort

(4) Comments on the arrival of selected vessels in the 1860, 1861 and 1862 seasons

24
 (i) WHIRLWIND from Hong Kong to British Guiana in 1860
(ii) DORA from Hong Kong to British Guiana in 1860
(iii) RED RIDING HOOD from Canton to British Guiana in 1860
(iv) Emigration Agent J. Gardiner Austin on the success of the 1860 emigration effort
(v) SEA PARK from Canton to British Guiana in 1861
(vi) AGRA from Canton to British Guiana in 1862
(vii) WANATA from Hong Kong to Trinidad in 1862

(5) Reverend William Lobscheid, a passenger on board the MYSTERY from Hong Kong in 1861,
records his observations

(6) Remarks and suggestions on the subject of Chinese immigration to Demerara by Dr J.A.Chaldecott,
Surgeon Superintendent on the WHIRLWIND voyage of 1861 from Hong Kong (13 August 1861)
(i) Family Emigration
(ii) Opium Smoking
(iii) The Voyage
(iv) The Chinese in Demerara

(7) Two reports from Governor Francis Hincks on the Chinese immigrant arrivals of 1861 and 1862

(8) Account of the troubled voyage of the PERSIA from Hong Kong to British Guiana in 1862

(9) Report on a Mutiny on a British Guiana-bound vessel, the JEDDO, from Amoy, in March 1866

(10) Two adverse reports on vessels despatched from Amoy in 1866, the DUDBROOKE and the RED
RIDING HOOD to Trinidad, and the LIGHT BRIGADE to British Guiana, and a discussion on the fate of
the Amoy agency
(i) DUDBROOKE and RED RIDING HOOD
(ii) LIGHT BRIGADE

(11) Correspondence surrounding an abortive attempt to settle 2,500 Hakkas in British Guiana in 1866
(i) Vice- Consul (Canton), William Fred Mayers to
Sampson, 27 October, 1866
(ii) Sampson to Vice-Consul Mayers, 27 October, 1866
(iii) Vice-Consul Mayers to Sampson, 29 October, 1866

(12) A Cuban Chinese exile seeks employment in Trinidad in 1866

(13) The issue of female emigration from China: four documents

(i) Sections 47-48 of British Guiana Law No.4 of 1864
on Chinese female immigrants
(ii) Contract of residence of Chinese female emigrant
(Specimen authorised by British Guiana Ordinance
No. 4 of 1864, section 48, as outlined in Form
No.8, Schedule B)
(iii) Comments from Governor Francis Hincks in 1864 on
the issue of Chinese female emigrants
(iv) Correspondence from Emigration Agent Theophilus
Sampson in 1866 on the issue of female
emigration (29 October 1866)

(14) Specimen of Chinese Contract of Indenture (1862 version)

(15) Receipts and expenditure on immigration in British Guiana for the year 1862 (in B.W.I. dollars)
Expenses of Superintendence etc
Expenditure on immigration from China

25
 Expenditure on immigration from India
Expenses of Immigration from Madeira
Expenses connected with the introduction of Africans
Total expenditure in China for the 1861-62 season

(16) Costs of importing Chinese Labour to Trinidad and Cuba compared

(17) Newspaper report from British Guiana in 1863, commenting on Dutch and French government plans
to import Chinese immigrants into the West Indies

__________________

Chapter VI Social adjustment to plantation life and society

(1) Plantations and districts in British Guiana employing Chinese indentured labour, 1853-80

(2) Plantations and districts in Trinidad employing Chinese indentured labour, 1853-71

(3) Official description of Chinese adjustment to British Guiana plantations by 1871

(4) Excerpts from ex-Chief Justice Joseph Beaumont's critique of the pre-1870 indenture system in
British Guiana

(5) Accounts of physical violence against Chinese labourers in British Guiana

(6) Report on the immigrants of 1853 in Trinidad society ten years later

(7) Two reports on the adjustment of the Chinese arriving in Trinidad in 1862
(i) Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1862.
(ii) Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1863

(8) Two reports on the adjustment of the Chinese arriving in Trinidad in 1865
(i) Port-of-Spain Gazette (21 June 1865)
(ii) Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1865

(9) Two reports on the adjustment of the Chinese arriving in Trinidad in 1866
(i) Annual Immigration Report for 1866
(ii) Letter from a Trinidad planter on the performance of the 1866 Chinese on his plantation
(10 October 1866)

(10) A labour disturbance in Trinidad in March-April 1866

(11) A missionary recalls an incident of deception and physical violence in Trinidad

_______________________________

Chapter VII The diplomatic impasse over the 1866 Convention, and the last years
of the West Indian migration (1866-1884)

(1) Account by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission of the diplomatic impasse after 1866
which led to the effective termination of the emigration from China

(2) Text of the 1866 Convention to regulate the engagement of Chinese emigrants by British and French
subjects

26
(3) Official comments on the state of the Chinese emigration experiment in 1870

(4) Informal eyewitness account of the arrival of the CORONA, and the last indentured immigrants to
British Guiana in 1874

(5) Records of the arrival of a Chinese vessel, the CLARA, in Antigua in 1882
(i) Minutes of the Legislative Council of Antigua (24 November 1881)
(ii) Excerpts from Antigua Times (February 1882, January 1883)
(iii) Excerpt from Colonial Correspondence (Leeward Islands): Governor Sir J.H. Glover to the Earl of
Derby (10 February 1883)
(iv) Minutes of the Legislative Council of Antigua (January-February 1883)

(6) Abortive attempt by West India Committee planters to revive the Chinese emigration to Trinidad in
1883
(i) Letter to the Governor of Trinidad, 1 September 1883
(ii) Resolution of the Immigration Committee of Trinidad passed on 2nd October 1883
__________________________________

Chapter VIII Life after indenture: indentured servants to traders (1870-1918)

(1) The Chinese in Trinidad in the 1860's

(i) W.H.Gamble : Trinidad, Historical and Descriptive: a narrative of 9 years' residence in the island
(London 1866)
(ii) Daniel Hart: Historical and Statistical View of the island of Trinidad (Port of Spain 1866)
(iii) Charles Kingsley: At last- a Christmas in the West Indies (London 1871)

(2) The Chinese in Trinidad in the 1880's

(i) Abbe Armand Masse: Diaries 1878-1883 (trans. Port of Spain 1988)
(ii) R.P.M. Cothonay: Trinidad, Journal d'un Missionaire Dominicain des Antilles Anglaises (Paris
1893)
(iii) Kenneth James Grant: My Missionary Memories (Halifax, Nova Scotia 1923)

(3) The Chinese in British Guiana in the 1860's: the Hopetown Settlement
(i) Report on the origins of the Chinese settlement from the Port-of-Spain Gazette (Trinidad) of 25
February 1865
(ii) Report on Chinese Settlement at Hopetown by Mr Stipendiary Justice Des Voeux (September
1865)
(iii) Edward Jenkins: The Coolie - his rights and wrongs (New York 1871)

(4) The Chinese in British Guiana in the 1880's

(i) Henry Kirke: Twenty-Five Years in British Guiana 1872-1897 (London 1898)
(ii) Rev. H.V.P. Bronkhurst, Wesleyan Missionary: The colony of British Guiana and its labouring
population (London 1883)
(iii) A Chinese Christian catechist writes from Demerara to his Protestant Missionary superior in Hong
Kong in
1880

(5) The destruction by fire of British Guiana's Chinatown in 1913: an eyewitness recollection
_________________________________

Chapter IX Life in the inter-war period: social mobility, assimilation and the new
migration 1918-1950
(1) A visiting Chinese journalist looks at the West Indian Chinese in the late 1920's

27
(2) Trinidad Chinese Community in the 1930's and 1940's

(3) An English resident in Jamaica assesses the Chinese contribution up to 1940

(4) Chinese entrepreneurs in Jamaica in the 1940's and 1950's

(5) A prominent Chinese writes on the Chinese of British Guiana up to 1940

(6) A Guyanese Chinese Institution: St Saviour's Church

(7) Chinese women in the West Indies in the late 1930's:

three articles

(i) Chinese women of Guiana by Chen Leen (Mrs Evan Wong)

(ii) Our women are an integral part of the community (Jamaica) by Cleata James Tam
(iii) Trinidad Chinese dancer performs in New York in 1938

(8) Two documents on Chinese attitudes to assimilation

(i) Captain Cipriani addresses the Trinidad Chinese on the occasion of a dinner in honour of Alfred
Richards, Deputy Mayor of Port of Spain, in 1936
(ii) Chinese of Trinidad present loyalty address to British Crown in 1937

(9) A prominent Trinidad Chinese political figure dies in China in 1944

(10) Anti-Chinese Sentiment and Policy in the West Indies

(i) The anti-Chinese riots in Jamaica in 1918
(ii) The Press in British Guiana complains about Chinese immigration in the 1920's
(iii) Restrictions in Trinidad in the 1930's: two documents
(a) Report of the Committee appointed by the
Governor to enquire into the conditions,
and effect upon the island, of alien and
other immigration, 4 May 1931 (excerpts)
(b) Debate in the Legislative Council on a proposed
amendment to the immigration laws,
moved by Captain Cipriani, 17 May 1935
(excerpts)
(iv) A White Creole writer critiques the Chinese in Trinidad

_____________________________________________

Appendix I Tables of Statistics

1. List of Vessels travelling to the British and Dutch West Indies from China between
1853 and 1884
2. Natives of China in the British Caribbean, 1861-1946
3. Area Distribution of China-born Chinese Residents of British Guiana, 1861-1946
4. Number of Chinese emigrating legally from British Guiana, 1872-1910
5. Destinations of Chinese travelling legally from British Guiana, 1880-1905
6. Area Distribution of Chinese Community of British Guiana 1960-1991
7. Area Distribution of China-Born Chinese Residents of Trinidad, 1861-1931
8. Area Distribution of Chinese Community of Trinidad-Tobago 1946-1990
9. Area Distribution of Chinese Community of Jamaica (local and China-born),

28
 1881-1943
10. Area Distribution of Chinese Community of Jamaica 1960-1991
_______________________________________________

Appendix II Biographies of Chinese Families (to the 1990's)

GUYANA
George Fung On (1921- )
Wilfred Phang Hing (1916- )
Randolph Choo Shee Nam (1936- )
Denis Yeung (1953- )
Leslie Chin (1937- )

TRINIDAD
James Lee Lum (1925- )
Father Arthur Lai Fook (1919- )
James Albert Chow (1916-94)
Edisel Choong-a-Fung (1925- )
Carlton Mack (1911- 95)

JAMAICA
Lincoln Williams (1912-87)
Easton Lee (1935- )

SURINAME
Afoeng Chiu Hung (1915-)

TRINIDAD AND CHINA

Dai Ailian (1916-)

PREFACE

This book was produced in several stages . In the first place, it is

the product of a Rockefeller Foundation Research Fellowship granted

in 1990-91 soon after the completion of my earlier study on Asian

indenture, which has since been published under the title Indentured

Labor, Caribbean Sugar: Chinese and Indian Migrants to the British

West Indies 1838-1918. Unlike the first work, this one is devoted

exclusively to the Chinese, and is thus a work on Chinese ethnic

history as well as on Caribbean nineteenth century immigration and

29
labour history. During my research for the first study, I encountered

a range of original primary documents on the Chinese experience

which have never been adequately utilised by scholars of either the

region or the Chinese diaspora . I made as much use as I could of

what was available for my first study, but the complexity and range of

the material demanded that some attempt be made to gather them

together in a format which would be useful to present and future

researchers into the West Indian Chinese experience. Hence the idea
for this book, which is a documentary history above all else. After the

completion of my Rockefeller Fellowship period, I spent the next 2

years collecting further materials, mainly connected with the life

histories of Chinese families alive in the region today. These selective

but representative accounts, I felt, would give a flesh and blood

contemporary ethnic dimension to the historical documents which

constitute the body of the book. All of them are collected in the

Appendix.

I suspect that readers, especially those reared in the North

American tradition of wanting to know something not just about the

academic content of a book (especially an ethnic book), but also about

its author (the messenger as well as the message being equally

important to this way of seeing), will expect to be informed a bit about

my own background. What follows is a modest attempt to satisfy this

kind of enquiry.

I was born in Trinidad, the second of three children and the only

son of Chinese immigrant parents who came to the island in the

1930's. Actually, my mother was born in Trinidad in 1918 of a Chinese

immigrant merchant father and a mother who was half Chinese, half

30
of Trinidad-Venezuelan origins (from the Montserrat -Tabaquite

district). Six children of this union were sent to China as infants in the

1920's, where they grew up with their father's Chinese wife and his

mother in his home village (On Tang) in Chungshan district (county).

Four of them, one male and three females, later returned to Trinidad

as married adults in their twenties. All of them actually had their first-

born children in China, before remigrating with or without these

children in the 1930's. My own elder sister, who now lives in

California, an American citizen, was almost 5 years old when she came

from China to Trinidad with my mother in 1939. My grandfather later

took a second Trinidad wife (a distant relative of the first) and had

another large family of six, all of whom grew up as Trinidadian

Chinese (as distinguished from China Chinese).

On my father's side, I came to learn a few years ago of an original

migrant, my paternal greatgrandfather, who apparently lived in

Panama and possibly in Jamaica before arriving in Trinidad sometime

at the turn of the century, where both he and his eldest son

apparently died within a year of each other in 1911-12. My own

grandfather, the second son, arrived from China in 1913 to take their

place in the village shop at Freeport, Central Trinidad, leaving his

entire family of 3 sons and a wife, my grandmother, behind. A fourth

son was born in the 1920's during one of his return trips to China.

The second and third sons (one of them my father) later joined him in

Trinidad in the late 1920's, and after a few years he himself retired

back to his native village (Yung Chun Po) in Chung Shan district, where

he died in 1945, a wellknown local landowner and rice farmer. (Most of

31
these properties were confiscated during the turmoil of the early post-

1949 land reforms, but that is another story.)

Both I and my younger sister were born in Couva, Central Trinidad,

where the family partly lived until the mid-1960’s. No one in the

immediate family has been to China or the East since the late 1930's

(but relatives on both sides, old and young, have been). I was

educated at St Mary's College, a Roman Catholic private school

founded in the nineteenth century. In 1960 I migrated to England to

study law at St John's College, Oxford, and later at the Middle Temple

in London, where I qualified as an Attorney (Barrister) in 1967. After

a short stint at activist journalism in Trinidad and abroad, I settled

down to history lecturing in the USA from 1973. I did my graduate

work in history at New York University. In 1986 I returned to Trinidad,

originally to work on my doctoral dissertation, and have remained

here since, apart from one academic year as a Rockefeller Fellow in

New York . The past 10 years have seen the production of two

books, the first of which was published in 1993.

This second book was primarily made possible by the grant of a

Rockefeller Foundation Research Fellowship in 1990-91, and my first

acknowledgement is to the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship

program. I wish to thank the Asian American Studies Center at

Queen's College in the City University of New York, under whose

auspices this Fellowship program was administered, for providing the

research facilities, office space, personnel assistance and overseas

travel funds which enabled me to complete a substantial part of this

project. Many others assisted in the completion of this work, but I

would like to especially mention those who helped me in the collection

32
of the family biographies in the Appendix. Marlene Kwok Crawford,

herself a competent historian of the Guyana Chinese, was responsible

for collecting the 5 Guyana biographies on my behalf. Easton Lee and

Edward Muller assisted with the Jamaica and Surinam biographies,

respectively. To all the family members directly involved in supplying

the biographical information and materials (including the family

photographs), we owe a special debt of gratitude. Some of them

actually wrote the biographies themselves. A few have passed away

since the completion of these biographies, and we offer condolences

to the families involved.

In New York, where much of this project was originally organised

and collated, I wish to mention John Kuo Wei Tchen and Roger Sanjek

of Queen's College; Madhulika Khandelwal, Lori Kitazano, Wu Hong

and Ruby Danta of the Asian American Center; and Ervand

Abrahamian of Baruch College for helpful comments and general

assistance. My gratitude to Laura Hall , Jan Lo Shinebourne, Marlene

Kwok Crawford and Joseph Chin Aleong for supplying me with

selected documentary materials which I have included in the final

text. In Baltimore, I acknowledge the encouragement and blessings of

those who published my first book at Johns Hopkins University Press.

In Trinidad and Jamaica, I acknowledge the interest shown by

members of the University community, and by the Director of the

University Press, Linda Cameron, which has made the publication of

this book possible. I wish to include also my own extended family

members, who have helped in tangible and intangible ways. I

acknowledge my gratititude to my own immediate family by including

33
in the photograph section one of our own cherished family

photographs.

Finally, I am grateful to the following for kindly allowing me to

reprint copyright or personal material: Margery Kirkpatrick for the

following excerpt from her book FROM THE MIDDLE KINGDOM TO THE

NEW WORLD - ASPECTS OF THE CHINESE EXPERIENCE IN MIGRATION

TO BRITISH GUIANA (1993): "The Charlestown fire of December 22,

1913 - Memories of K.I.R. Kirkpatrick, 1898-1990", pp. 53-59; (the

late) Maureen L. De Verteuil (translator), for excerpts from her book

THE DIARIES OF ABBE ARMAND MASSE 1878-1883 (Port of Spain

1988); Laura Hall, for excerpts from her personal collection of the

Lechler letters of the Basel Missionary Archives; and finally the

National Library of Jamaica, West India Reference library of the

University of the West Indies (Trinidad), Joseph Chin Aleong, the Chens

and the Amows collectively for all the photographs and illustrations in

the text.

Port of Spain, Trinidad.

December 1995.

34
 I N T R O DU C T I O N

The Chinese in the Caribbean Region

The Chinese entry into Latin America and the Caribbean in the nineteenth century

took place against the background of larger historical changes occurring in the region.

The nineteenth century was a century of transition in the Americas, as it was indeed in

the entire global economy. This transition was reflected in politics, economics, and

social relations. Politically, it was the era of the first anti-colonial movements of the

modern world, following closely after the independence of the United States in the late

eighteenth century: from the liberation struggles of 1791-1804 among the Black slaves of

French St Domingue (later Haiti), to the independence movements of 1808-1824 of

mainland Latin America, to the climax of the Cuban independence struggles of 1895-98.

Many territories in the Caribbean region did not make the political transition in this era,

and entered the new industrial age as old European colonies: all the British, French and

Dutch islands (other than Haiti), the three Guianas on the South American mainland, and

British Honduras (Belize) in Central America. Some islands exchanged one coloniser for

another: Puerto Rico after the USA invasion of 1898, the Danish Virgin Islands sold to

the USA in 1917.

35
 The nineteenth century transition was also an economic transition. The Industrial

Revolution in North Western Europe, led by Britain, produced new Europe-America

economic relations. The United States created its own industrial revolution, partly

complementing, partly competitive with, its European counterparts. Independent Latin

America, after several years of internal turmoil, produced a variety of neo-colonial

primary producing enclaves dependent, not on the Iberian, but on the North West

European connection. In the Caribbean region, the classic sugar plantation system

founded since the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries continued to prosper in the midst

of increasing competition from new international producers of this important commodity.

However, new island producers advanced into prominence (Cuba and Puerto Rico,

British Guiana and Trinidad), and some old producers experienced a drastic decline

(Jamaica, Haiti). Some of the old producers maintained or improved on their old levels

of production (Barbados, St Kitts, Antigua in the British West Indies, Martinique and

Guadeloupe in the French West Indies).

The century also stimulated throughout the Americas a transition in the nature of class

relations, new forms of labour- capital relationships. Those economies which had

depended, wholly or partially, on African slave labour for 200 years or more, began to

move slowly away from slavery, and towards various new kinds of labour system, both

free and semi-free. The main reasons for this transition in labour system had as much to

do with the economics of the African slave trade, and the economics and politics of local

slave production, as with the liberal- humanitarian abolitionist crusade of the nineteenth

century. In the final analysis, responding to a variety of complex local conditions,

slavery was gradually abolished: 1804 in Haiti, 1823 in Chile, 1824 in Central America,

1829 in Mexico, 1834-38 in the British West Indies, 1848 in the French West Indies,

1854-58 in Peru and the rest of independent Latin America, 1863 in the Dutch Caribbean

(and the United States), 1873 in Puerto Rico, 1886 in Cuba, 1888 in Brazil.

36
 With the new political and economic challenges, therefore, came new problems of

labour supply and labour organisation. This applied especially to those economies which

underwent, for one reason or another, a vigorous expansion of local production in the

new era. From California in the United States, to Argentina, Brazil or Peru in Latin

America, to Cuba, British Guiana, Trinidad or Surinam in the Caribbean region, new

labour needs were met by the encouragement of a new migration. This migration came

firstly from Europe, but increasingly from those countries in Asia being brought into the

orbit of Western imperialism in this century (India, China). This was an age of

unprecedented economic expansion in the Americas and elsewhere, and correspondingly

unprecedented movements of peoples. Where the specific Europeans or Asians went,

and in what numbers, would be determined by the specific circumstances surrounding

each migration movement. But in the process, whole new multi-racial and multi-ethnic

societies came into being, whose legacy remains with us to today.

The entry of Asian labour into the Caribbean plantation system, beginning soon after

the end of British Caribbean slavery in 1838, has to be seen against the backdrop of the

changed conditions surrounding the regional sugar industry in the nineteenth century.

Up until the end of the previous century, the Caribbean islands were the protected and

pampered sugar producing centres of the early British Empire. Their production had

been protected from competition by the traditional mercantilist arrangements, and their

cheap and captive labour supply from Africa had ensured a questionable stability in the

plantation economies of Jamaica, Barbados, and the Leeward islands since the mid-

seventeenth century.

After the American Revolution, new factors began to emerge. Sugar production costs

began to escalate, largely as a result of the colonies' inability to procure needed supplies

directly from the new republic, and having to do so from the metropole proper.

Increased costs of production led to increased prices for sugar in the metropolitan market,

just at the same time that sugar consumption was escalating into a mass consumption

37
commodity, and just at the time that new sugar producing centres both inside and outside

the British Empire were beginning to proliferate. Already in the eighteenth century,

especially in the period between the American Revolution and the outbreak of the

French Revolution, the French Caribbean island of St Domingue had risen to surpass

Jamaica as the region's largest sugar producer, a status which it maintained until the

French Revolution indirectly helped to produce the social and racial explosion in that

island, which climaxed in the creation of Haiti in 1804.

Sugar production in the early nineteenth century flowered in several new productive

regions, both within the region itself - as in Cuba, Puerto Rico, British Guiana and

Trinidad - as well as in Louisiana, Australia, Hawaii, Java, Mauritius, the Philippines. It

also expanded in traditional producing regions, like Brazil and even British India. The

strength and influence of the West India sugar lobby in British political circles began to

diminish correspondingly, and the combined agitation of humanitarian abolitionists and

free trade advocates worked eventually to bring an end to their monopoly over the British

sugar market.

The two major props of the West Indian sugar industry - cheap and regular slave

labour, and guaranteed protection in the British market - came to an end with three pieces

of legislation: the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807, the Emancipation Act of 1833,

and the Sugar Duties Act of 1846. The 1846 Act ended the West Indian preference

system by equalising duties on all sugar entering Britain, regardless of source, and this

included, paradoxically, even sugar produced in other slave societies, like Cuba and

Brazil. Old societies like Jamaica and Barbados, as well as new producers like British

Guiana and Trinidad, were thus thrown into the changed environment of world sugar

production minus the traditional supports.

These difficult conditions were exacerbated, moreover, by the behaviour of the ex-

slave labour force itself, under the new conditions of freedom. Not only were the sugar

planters deprived of new inflows of cheap slave labour, but even the Black labour force

38
already resident in the islands began to move away from the plantations in large

numbers, seeking independence as a new peasantry on lands acquired by purchase or

(more frequently) by squatting on public lands or on abandoned private lands. Where

they did not abandon sugar plantation labour entirely, they developed new bargaining

powers in the aftermath of Emancipation which the old plantocracy reluctantly had to

recognise. Higher wages and irregular work habits constituted the main planter

complaints against the existing labour force in the 1840's. The natural solution to the

problems of insufficiency and irregularity of labour was that of immigration, and

between the 1840's and 1860's, various kinds of immigration experiments were initiated,

with varying levels of success. These were sometimes of a free voluntary nature, but

more often, a contract or indentured immigration.

British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica, which experienced the heaviest hemorrhages in

the supply of regular labour, imported Europeans, Maltese, Portuguese-speakers from

Madeira, Cape Verde and the Azores, Africans "liberated" from slave ships of foreign

countries, African-Americans, Chinese and East Indians, in addition to allowing a

spontaneous (and sometimes not so spontaneous) inter-island flow of West Indian

Blacks, mainly from the smaller islands to the North (including Barbados). By the end of

the 1860's, the main source of immigrant labour for the sugar plantations had settled

down to one: British India, and was to remain so until the end of the indentured

immigration experiment in 1918-20. Between 1838 and 1918, just over half a million

new immigrant labourers (536,310) had entered the British West Indian plantation

system, 80 per cent from India alone, 7.5 per cent from Madeira, and 3.5 per cent from

China. British Guiana received 56 per cent of the total immigration, 55.6 per cent of the

430,000 Indians, and 76 per cent of the approximately 18,000 Chinese. Trinidad

received 29.4 per cent of the total migration, 33.3 per cent of the Indians, and 15 per cent

of the Chinese. Jamaica received 10 per cent of the total migration, 8.5 per cent of the

Indians, and 6.4 per cent of the Chinese.

39
 Meanwhile, in the French Caribbean sugar-producing islands of Martinique and

Guadeloupe, and the Dutch mainland sugar colony of Surinam (in the latter of which

there was a large British planter elite), similar post-Emancipation processes were at

work, on a more minute scale. After 1848 in the French enclave, and 1863 in the Dutch,

Black labour shortages stimulated multi-ethnic, and ultimately Asian indentured labour

immigration. Up to 1889, just over 87,000 immigrants from South India entered the

French territories; between 1873 and 1916, approximately 34,000 into Surinam. A

handful of Chinese (about 1,000 to the French 1 , about 2,640 to Surinam) also found

their way into these plantation systems in the 1860's.

The Asian migrations to the Caribbean region were but a small fraction of a much

larger global dispersal of Asian labour in the nineteenth century. The Chinese in fact

continued their own steady stream of migration to the countries of South East Asia,

traditionally the major destinations. But in the nineteenth century they flocked in large

numbers to new destinations: to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands (Hawaii,

Tahiti, New Guinea, Western Samoa), to Mauritius, Reunion, the Seychelles and

Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, to South Africa , and to the Americas. Unlike the

Indians, their movements into the Americas were totally dispersed, covering North

America (USA and Canada), Spanish America (mainly Cuba and Peru, and later in the

century, Mexico), Portuguese Brazil, in addition to the French, Dutch and British

Caribbean plantation societies. The Indian migrations to the Western Hemisphere, by

contrast, remained confined in this period to the Caribbean plantation societies, and only

to the non-Latin ones at that. (The Cubans made abortive attempts to acquire Indian

labour in the 1870's and 1880's.)

1 In 1862 there were 800 Chinese in Martinique, and 112 in Guadeloupe, along with
8,000 and 98,389 Indians, respectively. See Paul Leroy Beaulieu, De la Colonisation
chez les peuples modernes (1902), Vol.1, p.233. A 1955 study states that between
1852 and 1887, 1,300 Chinese and 500 Annamites arrived in the French West
Indies. See Eugene Revert, La France d’Amerique (Paris 1955), p.54. See also
Appendix 1, Table One. Revert’s figures for Indians in the same period are 77,000.

40
 There are a number of trends in the general Chinese migrations which deserve special

mention, before we go on to discuss their significance to the West Indian plantation

systems. Alone of all the new groups arriving in the West Indies after Emancipation, the

Chinese had been emigrating into the life of the Western Hemisphere as early as the

sixteenth century. Long before the mass migrations of the 1840's and 1850's, small

numbers of Chinese had been appearing in various Latin American societies, in the wake

of the Spanish conquest and colonization. So that their arrival in the mid-nineteenth

century was not so much a new introduction, as a continuation, on a more massive scale,

of something that had been taking place on the fringes of Hemispheric colonial life since

the late sixteenth century.

The trade nexus which had been established between Manila in the Phillipines and

Acapulco in New Spain in the sixteenth century had facilitated the arrival of small

numbers of Chinese sailors and labourers to New Spain. There are authorised reports of

Chinese servants, textile workers, farmers and barbers in Mexico City, Acapulco, and the

state of Michoacan in the early seventeenth century. Chinese emigrating via the

Phillipines also found their way into the woollen textile mills of Peru in the seventeenth

century. Chinese were recorded as engaged in shipbuilding in Spanish controlled

Lower California as early as the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and they

accompanied the Spanish in their early northward expeditions to upper California in the

late 1700's. Even in the gold mines of Minas Gerais in Brazil, there were reports of

Chinese in the early 1700's, brought there no doubt via Portuguese-controlled Macao.

The writer Alexander von Humboldt who travelled to Latin America between 1799 and

1804 also encountered Chinese in Cuba who had gone there on the Manila galleons. This

was a full 50 years before the mass migrations to Cuba and the West Indies of the 1850's

and beyond.

Another striking fact is that, up to as late as 1860, there were actually more Chinese in

the Latin America/ Caribbean region than there were in North America. According to

41
the national Census statistics, there were 34,834 Chinese in Cuba alone in 1861,

compared with 34,933 in the USA. When this is weighed against the 15,000 already

arrived in Peru, and the 4,000 already in the British West Indies by that time, it is clear

that the Chinese dispersal to the Americas was far more complex and manysided than

previously acknowledged by either Caribbean or North American analysts. For the

whole period up to the 1880's, in fact, Latin America and the Caribbean region received

as many as 45 per cent of the approximately 600,000 Chinese who departed for the

Americas, with about 51 per cent (142,000) leaving for Cuba, 36 per cent (100,000) for

Peru, 7 per cent (19,000) for the British West Indies, and the remaining 6 percent

dispersed through Central America (Panama and Costa Rica), Dutch Surinam, the French

West Indies, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador. This tally does not include the post-1874

movements of free migrants into Latin America, especially Northern Mexico during the

Porfirio Diaz regime(1876-1911), a fraction of whom entered via California, but most of

whom constituted an independent stream towards the end of the century (about 2,000-

3,000 by 1900, and over 13,000 by 1910).

Another feature about the emigration to the Americas was the manner in which they

were dominated in the main by Cantonese-speakers, or people of the Hakka dialect who

lived in the Cantonese-speaking areas. These people came from about a dozen districts or

counties comprising no more than about 7,000 square miles in the region surrounding

Macao, Canton and Hong Kong on the Pearl River Delta. Traditional migrations to

South East Asia, even during this period, had always been dominated by the emigrants

from southern Fujian (Fukien) province and north east Guangdong (Kwangtung),

migrating out of Xiamen (Amoy) and Shantou (Swatow) respectively. The Cantonese

only came to dominate the migration flows during the 1850's, and this mainly to the

Americas, rather than to South East Asia proper, where they were a substantial but

minority element. As many as 96 per cent of the America-bound migrants came from

these southern Guangdong regions.

42
 The major districts were the Sze Yup or Four Districts area consisting of Toishan

(Hsinning before 1914), Hsinhui (Sun Wui), Kaiping (Hoi Ping) and Enping (Yan Ping)

to the west of Macao; the Sam Yup or Three Districts area consisting of Nanhai (Nam

Hoy), Shunde (Hsun Tak) and Pan Yu just south of Canton, and the large area south of

the Sam Yup down towards Macao known as Chungshan (Hsianshang before 1925). 2 A

number of migrants also hailed from a region on the eastern bank of the Pearl River, to

the north of Hong Kong: mainly the districts Tung Kuan, Pao An and Hui Yang, where

many people who spoke the Hakka dialect lived. All Western Hemisphere Chinese

communities therefore have until only very recently (post-1965 USA and Canada) been

largely transplanted "Cantonese" communities, with only a very tiny input from Fujian

and the other provinces.

The ratio of free voluntary migrants to contract or indentured migrants also bears

noting. It is clear that the phenomenon of indentured migration played a much greater

role with the Indians than they did with the Chinese, in the general global dispersal.

While the Chinese who arrived in the Latin America/ Caribbean region were

overwhelmingly indentured immigrants, the total percentage of this category of migrant

in the larger Chinese dispersal probably came up to no more than about 12 per cent, with

Latin America and the Caribbean receiving the largest - though by no means the

exclusive - share of this brand of immigrant labour. 3

Male-female ratios among the Chinese also deserve some comment. The

phenomenon of the bachelor migration from China applied just as strongly to the Latin

America and Caribbean migrations, as it did to the North American. This was especially

the case with the Cuban and Peruvian migrations, where the general instability,

2Birthplace in 1866 of the future nationalist leader, Sun Yat Sen.

3Hawaii in the Pacific was also a major recipient after 1852 of indentured Chinese
sugar labourers, peaking mainly in the 1870s and 1880s,and mediated by both
American and Chinese importers. By 1884 they were 25 per cent of the population.
The Cantonese origins were in the same proportion as most America-bound
migrations, with Chungshan district forming the majority in this case.

43
insecurity, and downright illegalities surrounding this immigration experiment did not

militate in favour of female migration. The records tell us that no more than about 62

women went to Cuba in this 28-year period of migration (1847-1874), and a mere 6 to

Peru. The British and Dutch efforts were marked by a slightly more deliberate effort to

encourage family migration. Missionaries assisting in the relocation of families affected

adversely by the political disturbances of Southern China in the 1860's, combined with

British policy of paying a small sum to prospective migrants (about $20) for wives

brought along with them, worked to lift the numbers somewhat in the British Caribbean.

About 3,053 women accompanied the Chinese migrants to the British, Dutch and French

Caribbean, with about 2,669 of these going to the British Caribbean region alone. The

percentages for the non-Latin Caribbean amounted to something like 14.7 per cent,

whereas if the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean were to be seen as one unit, the

female migration percentage would come up to no more than one per cent of the whole.

Looking now a little more closely at the West Indian-bound migrations, we might say

something about

(a) the chronology of their arrival in the region; and

(b) the specific characteristics of the indenture system.

The Chinese arrival in the British West Indies actually dates back as far as 1806,

during the period when slavery still existed. There was an experimental colony of sugar

workers and small farmers who were imported into Trinidad in that year from Macao,

Penang (Prince of Wales island) in Malaya, and Calcutta in India. This solitary colony of

just under 200 men was in fact the first recorded Chinese settlement in the Americas in

the nineteenth century, predating the other early settlement of tea growers in Brazil who

arrived in 1810 by a few years. It was a response to growing demands from some West

Indian planters for labour from other than traditional sources, particularly for the newly

acquired territories like Trinidad, which had only been annexed into the British Empire at

the end of the eighteenth century, a few years before the abolition of the slave trade. The

44
experiment, however, was not a success. Most of the immigrants returned to Asia after a

few years, a handful remained, and the experiment was not repeated [chapter 1].

The organised Chinese migrations did not begin until the aftermath of the Opium

Wars (1839-42, 1858-60) led to a greater exposure to Western labour demands in

general, particularly in the Americas. The general exodus beginning in the 1840's and

1850's included the Latin America and Caribbean region [chapter 3]. Between 1847 and

1884, roughly 700 vessels made the journey from South China to this region, 347 of

them going to Cuba, 276 to Peru, 51 to the British West Indies, 9 to Dutch Surinam (plus

a few from Java), and about 3 to the French Caribbean (some of these from the Shanghai,

rather than the Canton, region).

After an abortive attempt in 1843, the British West Indian migrations commenced in

1852-54 to British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica [chapters 2 & 4]. Then there was a

five-year lapse, caused by difficulties in stabilising the recruitment end of the operation.

It started again in 1858/59, and continued on an annual basis up to 1866, after which

there was an even more decisive lapse, from which the migrations never really recovered.

40 of the 51 West Indies-bound vessels arrived during that 8-year period between 1859

and 1866, 32 of them to British Guiana alone [chapter 5]. Only 4 single vessels arrived

after 1866: in 1874, 1879, 1882 and 1884, the first two to British Guiana, the third to

Antigua, and the last to Jamaica [chapter 7].

The Dutch-controlled migrations began before abolition, first from Java in 1853 (one

small vessel with no more than 18 Chinese), then through a State-sponsored scheme in

1858 (two vessels out of Macao with 500). When slavery ended, the private sector

Surinam Immigration Company conducted operations out of Hong Kong between 1865

and 1869, with 7 vessels bringing just over 2,000 Chinese (about 346 of them women) to

the New World [Appendix 1, Table One]. This arrangement ended after the British

Government at Hong Kong banned contract labour migration to non-British territories in

that year.

45
 The Chinese migrations to the British West Indies terminated because of a dispute

over a treaty concluded in 1866 between China, Britain and France known as the Kung

Convention. According to the terms of the treaty, the immigrants would be entitled after

their 5-year term of indenture was over to a free return passage back to China, or a cash

grant in lieu of passage. The West Indian planters, backed by the Colonial Office - who

had not endorsed the treaty provisions, which had been negotiated by a representative of

the Foreign Office - argued that this would have made the cost of Chinese immigration

too prohibitive, compared with the indenture experiment from British India already in

progress. The diplomatic negotiations over this provision led to a stalemate of many

years, and a stagnation in the migration outflows to the West Indies, and when a

compromise of sorts was finally reached in the mid-1870's, giving the migrants a $50

cash grant towards their return passage costs, the enthusiasm had already been taken out

of the immigration experiment, as far as the West Indian planters were concerned

[chapter 7]. By that time, the option of indentured immigration from India had already

taken firm root within the West Indian plantation system, and this pattern was to remain

fixed until its final years.

The winding down of Chinese emigration to the British territories did not impact

upon the general Latin American exodus, however, and after 1866 more than 93,000

Chinese continued to pour into Cuba and Peru from Macao, always under highly

controversial conditions. This dimension of the Latin American migrations finally

terminated in 1874, after it was officially banned by the Portuguese authorities at Macao,

responding to intense pressure from China and the major Western powers over the

irregularities surrounding much of this branch of the China immigration. The colonists

in Surinam, meanwhile, had also turned to Indian immigration under an arrangement

with the British effected in 1870. However, a handful of small vessels arrived from Java

with about 115 Chinese emigrants between 1872 and 1874 [Appendix 1, Table One].

46
 The system of labour under which all of the Asian immigrants functioned in Latin

America and the Caribbean was a version of the indenture system. Indenture was

nothing new to the Americas, or even the West Indies. It had preceded the introduction

of slavery, and was the primary mode of labour organisation in the mid-seventeenth

century West Indian plantation system. What was new about its revival after

Emancipation was the source of the indentured labour (overwhelmingly, if not

exclusively, Asian), and the more elaborate mechanisms surrounding its operation. What

was also unique was the great diversity in theory and practice among the different

national-colonial systems utilising the indenture system in this period, from the Spanish

Cuban/Peruvian experiments to the British, French and Dutch systems in force on the

Caribbean plantations.

The British system was markedly distinct from the other systems in the level of

formal attention it paid to the rights of the indentured labourers (at least in theory),

created as it had been in the aftermath of the vigorous British abolitionist campaign

against slavery. Its main formal features can be summarised under four headings:

(1) A 5-year contract of indenture, binding the labourer to a specific plantation for

that time period at a fixed rate of wages, with severely limited rights of physical mobility

outside of the workplace environment. A strict pass law system kept the worker within a

two-mile radius around the plantation unless he had a formal pass permitting him to

move out of this milieu for specific purposes. This stringent pass law system made the

labourer a de facto prisoner of his specific plantation, and was to be the major

distinguishing mark of difference between an immigrant contract labourer and a free

labourer. Regardless of how the pass law system operated in practice - and there were

wide de facto variations from period to period, from plantation to plantation - the fact

was that the laws gave the planter-employer a formal power over the immigrant labourer

and his physical movements which clearly violated his abstract status as a free agent, and

which could be utilised either for the paternalistic protection of the immigrant in a new

47
and strange environment, or for the abuse of his labour power by unscrupulous plantation

officials.

(2) An elaborate system of regulations in addition to the pass law system, contained

in Immigration Ordinances passed by the local legislatures (and sanctioned by the

Colonial Office, and, for the Indians, the British Government in India), outlining the

reciprocal rights and obligations of planters and labourers, all of them backed up by

criminal sanctions (fines and imprisonment) in the event of contract violations, or

violations of work discipline regulations. These offences included absenteeism,

desertion, improper performance, habitual idling, various levels of insubordination,

neglect of plantation property, etc. The penalties could range from a simple fine to

several months in prison, where work offenders and criminals of the more serious type

were always thrown together in the same milieu, without regard to the nature of the

offence. Until 1874, the Dutch system in Surinam even permitted the punishment of

putting the labourer in irons for some offences, similar to the Latin American system.

At the heart of the indenture system, whether in Latin America or the Caribbean, was

the contradiction that what was technically a civil contract or labour agreement between

equal parties was enforceable primarily by criminal sanctions - fines and imprisonment.

There was virtually no violation of work discipline which was not punishable with a fine

and/or a brief period of incarceration. The West Indian employer and his representatives,

on the other hand, while often technically open to being fined for breaches of duty

relating to provision of proper housing, medical care, regular rations and wages, were not

exposed to the threat of imprisonment except in one situation, that of physical brutality

towards labourers. However, in the whole history of the indenture system in the British

territories, there are not many recorded instances of that penalty ever having been

enforced, despite many scandals and exposures of such abuse. The payment of a heavy

fine was the heaviest penalty imposed in such situations.

48
 Those who argue that the indentured immigration was voluntary in nature (and

therefore fundamentally distinct from slavery) neglect to ask why the existence of this

elaborate system of penalties contained in the local Immigration Ordinances, not to

mention the pass law system, was never referred to in the formal contracts drawn up in

Asia. It would have been interesting to find out how many migrants (Chinese or Indian)

would have actually signed up for labour, had they known in advance that occasional

failure to perform their work properly would almost always land them in gaol (or irons in

Surinam) - a labour practice which was alien to their own traditions. 4

(3) A third feature of the British indenture system was the active involvement of the

state in all aspects of recruitment and transportation in the East, as well as at points of

arrival and distribution in the Caribbean, and the total exclusion of all privately

sponsored indentured immigration schemes. This overwhelming state regulation and

supervision was the primary distinction between the British and the Latin American

systems of indentured immigration. The latter was completely in the hands of private

enterprise speculators (including a large number of British private recruiting and

shipping firms), and the manner in which they arranged and sold labour contracts in the

New World was often indistinguishable in practice from the slave trade proper. The

British were relatively successful in avoiding the kind of rampant abuse which

accompanied these private operations, utilising the services of missionaries in the East in

conjunction with their state appointed officials, and in collaboration with South China

officials after 1860 (a collaboration made possible by Allied military occupation of

Canton after the Second Opium War). The reputation acquired by the Macao-based

operators was nowhere duplicated in the British efforts, although occasional abuses and

irregularities did come to light.

4 See the comments of ex-Chief Justice Beaumont of British Guiana in Chapter 6,

section 4.

49
 (4) State subsidisation of the financial expenses involved in operating the indentured

immigration was the fourth aspect of the British system. Two-thirds of the financial

costs were generally borne by the planters. This was done through indenture fees for

individual migrants, plus export taxes on sugar (and even other produce, like cocoa in

Trinidad). There were variations in each island system, but the general burden of two-

thirds of the expense remained fairly standard. The state subsidised the balance, mainly

through taxes on consumer imports and various forms of licensing arrangements for

small traders and operators. Throughout the indenture period, complaints were voiced

from the public (and even from those sectors of the plantocracy who did not rely too

heavily on immigrant labour) to the effect that the public subsidy was too large, and that

the sugar barons should be made to stand the entire expense themselves, but this system

of financing remained, with minor variations over time, all the way to the end of the

indenture system.

Compared with the Latin American system of indenture, the British system (and to a

certain extent the Dutch after 1874) strove to achieve a measure of objective regulation

not always present in the former. The state agencies in the East and in the Caribbean

islands operated under strict regulations. The Immigration Departments in the islands

oversaw the conditions of the immigrants from the time of distribution to the time of

expiry of their 5-year contracts. Complaints were handled by both the Immigration

Departments and the local courts, and while immigrants often charged the officials with

harbouring bias and prejudice towards them, the 70-year history of Chinese and Indian

indenture was marked by less controversy than in the Latin countries. If there was any

expose of brutality in the British territories comparable to those made by the 1874

Commissions of Enquiry into conditions in Cuba and Peru organised under the initiative

of the Chinese Government, ex-Chief Justice Joseph Beaumont's controversial report on

British Guiana, published in 1871 under the title The New Slavery : An account of the

Indian and Chinese Immigrants in British Guiana., would be the closest British

50
equivalent. The 1870-71 official commission report in British Guiana , which had

rejected Beaumont's report as too radical, also produced a milder version of some of

these criticisms, but the accusations within them were nowhere comparable to those

within the Cuba Commission Report of 1874-76. Moreover, the widespread bribery of

officials by planters designed to cover up abuses, which was commonplace in Cuba, was

never paralleled in the British West Indies. A small minority of immigration officials

even gained reputations among the Asian immigrants for being humane administrators,

and a minority of magistrates also acquired reputations for being judicial rebels and

enthusiastic champions of immigrants' rights vis-a-vis the system.

Nevertheless, the day-to-day practice of the indenture system, as distinct from the

formal laws, was always full of contradictions and technical violations and abuses

[chapter 6]. While it is true that in the history of the British indenture system, they often

impacted on the Indian immigrants more than on the Chinese, whose stay on the

plantations was largely a phenomenon of the 1860's, it is also true that the 1860's,

especially in British Guiana, was the decade in which most of these abuses were rampant.

Some of the major irregularities can be briefly catalogued:

(a) misrepresentation at the point of recruitment of the actual level of wages a

prospective immigrant could earn in the new environment - a complaint frequently made

by the Chinese in the 1860's;

(b) arbitrary wage delays or deductions for minor violations, a practice not sanctioned

by the laws but widely utilised;

(c) abuse and intimidation from plantation officials like drivers and overseers, as well as

managers, ranging from physical brutality to bribery and extortion for favours rendered;

(d) frequent resort to prosecutions for minor offences, as a way of disciplining the

rebellious, with the result that the gaols were often full of immigrants imprisoned for

minor as well as major offences against the labour regulations (more often the practice

51
was resorted to as an act of intimidation to force the labourer to reindenture himself at

the end of his 5-year term in exchange for a pardon on these offences);

(e) violations of minimum wage stipulations;

(f) court partiality towards planters in the dispensation of justice.

Despite the hardships of indenture, many of the Chinese labourers survived in the new

environment, striking out on their own at the end of their contractual period. In Trinidad,

the Chinese were living beyond the plantations by the early 1870's. Beginning often as

small peasant food cultivators, they quickly gravitated into the rural and urban small

merchant activity that a small sector had been engaging in since the 1860's. We get brief

glimpses of them in the writings of missionaries who lived or travelled in Trinidad in the

1880's and 1890's: the Abbe Masse, the Reverend Cothonay, the Reverend Kingsley

[chapter 8]. In British Guiana, where reindenture was a common practice up to the mid-

1870's, many remained on the plantations for up to ten years and beyond. But the

exploration of post-indenture options in the late 1870's and beyond was multifaceted. A

few hundred actually returned to China at their own expense, having amassed small

savings during their stay in the colony. Many chose to relocate within the Caribbean

region itself . About 3,000 left British Guiana by the mid-1880's for Trinidad, for

Surinam and Cayenne, for Jamaica and Panama. Contemporary reports spoke of a

restlessness among the Guiana Chinese between the 1860's and 1880's due to the

inability of many to get past the hurdle of Portuguese domination of the small scale retail

merchant sector. This restlessness reflected itself in the migration statistics for this

period [Appendix 1, Tables 5 & 6]. The immigration reports spoke of them heading in

large numbers for Trinidad, where the Chinese had in fact gained a foothold in the retail

trade sector. Many wellknown and not so wellknown Chinese families in Trinidad owe

their origin to some of these early enterprising Guianese migrants. The reports also

described the Chinese as attracted to the Surinam and Cayenne gold mines, and spoke of

some who received bounty to reindenture themselves in the Nickerie district of Surinam.

52
A few hardy souls made it across to Jamaica, and one of Jamaica's oldest Chinese

families owes its origin to a Chinese, Thomas Leahong Senior, who migrated with his

family from Guiana in 1872, at a time when there were hardly more than half a dozen

established Chinese families in Jamaica. (Horton 1944: 81,97). Many remained in

Guiana, and opted for various forms of small trader (or initially, small farming) activity

in the urban and rural areas of the colony. One small farming community of Chinese in

British Guiana in the 1860's and 1870's, the Hopetown Settlement, was the largest

collective effort in this direction. Many Guiana Chinese amassed their initial savings

within the activities of the Hopetown Chinese Settlement, which is described in several

contemporary accounts, like Edward Jenkins's [chapter 8], and in Clementi's 1915 study.

By the late 1880's, the Chinese had become identified as a largely small trader class

within the interstices of the colour/class social hierarchy of Caribbean plantation society,

jostling side by side with other ethnic groups in the same middleman occupations: the

Portuguese in British Guiana, many Indians and Creoles. Inter-marriage with locals

(Black and Coloured) or other immigrants (Portuguese or Indian, even Venezuelan

mestizo/mestiza immigrants in Trinidad) led to the emergence of a mixed Chinese

community with roots which were often more Creole than Chinese, but the intact China-

born element continued to co-exist side by side with their more Westernised kinfolk, both

the mixed and the ethnically homogeneous, and this element was later reinforced by the

new migrations which effectively began in the last decade of the nineteenth century.

During the late 1880's and after we begin to see a deflection of Hemispheric Chinese

migration away from the USA to various areas within Latin America. Part of the reason

for this may have been the closing of the traditional outlet to the USA, which passed the

first of several Chinese Exclusion Acts in 1882 and was to maintain a steady ban on

Chinese immigration right down to 1943, when the ban was partially lifted. From the

1880's, down through the 1920's and 1930's, Chinese migration - this time mainly free -

headed towards Mexico, Peru, Cuba , the West Indies, and marginally to Central

53
America, Brazil and other places. The main flow was towards Mexico beginning around

1899, during the last years of the Porfirio Diaz regime (1876-1911) and just after, where

up to the 1920's there was a systematic effort to welcome them into that country. By

1910, there were 13,000, and by the mid-1920's, over 24,000 Chinese in Mexico.

Approximately 12,000 agricultural labourers also entered Cuban society between 1917

and 1921 under a special program of temporary agricultural labour migration from China

designed to meet wartime shortages, and another 5,000 entered in the 1920's and 1930's.

During this period, a small number also found their way into the three main West

Indian territories and Suriname. In the late nineteenth century, and especially between

1910 and 1940, during the disturbed years following the fall of the Ch'ing Empire

(1911), a trickle of free immigrants developed into a virtual second migration, this time

mainly towards mercantile-related occupations, rather than agriculture. In this voluntary

migration of some 6,000 to 7,000 newcomers from China, most went to Jamaica and

Trinidad, with British Guiana taking third place, or often acting as a transit point to

other destinations, including Surinam. Eventually the demographic distribution of

Chinese between the islands came to be altered, and by the late 1930's Jamaica's had

become the second largest of the Chinese communities in the Caribbean, after Cuba. 5

The Chinese of Jamaica rose from 2,111 in 1911 to 6,879 in 1943; those of Suriname

rose from 784 in 1920 to 2,293 in 1941. The foreign-born Chinese alone of Trinidad

rose from 832 in 1901 to 2,366 in 1946. The Chinese of British Guiana rose from

2,622 in 1911 to 3,567 in 1946, although there is evidence of a slight decline in the

foreign-born component. [See Appendix 1, Table 2 ].

The majority of the new migrants continued to come from the traditional Cantonese

districts of the mid-nineteenth century arrivals (Sze Yup, Sam Yup, Chungshan). Most

of the Jamaica arrivals, and many of those who went to the older islands, also hailed

5 The Cuban Chinese community itself later went into a decline after the
1959 Revolution.

54
from the Tung Kuan - Pao An - Hui Yang axis. They and their descendants, mixed and

homogeneous, Westernised/ Creolised or traditional, constitute the core of the modern

Chinese communities in the Caribbean region. The Hemispheric connections of the

Chinese described earlier often resulted in many arriving in and eventually settling in the

West Indies by a very circuitous and often accidental route. Some of the best known

Chinese families in Trinidad started with immigrants who arrived on the island in this

way. One family began with the travels of an emigrant who left his village in Hsinhui

(Sun Wui) district in southern Guangdong (Kwangtung) in the 1870's, worked in the

mines of California and the trans-Pacific railway of Canada, and lived in Brazil and

British Guiana before landing in Trinidad in the 1880's [Appendix Two: Lee Lum].

Another family began when a migrant from Hsun Tak district on his way to Peru in 1920

passed through Trinidad and decided to remain on the island (Millette 1993: 206). Yet

another family began when 4 brothers left China in the 1890's, 2 of whom went to San

Francisco, one to Guiana, and one to Trinidad, with the Guianese brother eventually

remigrating to Trinidad [Appendix Two: Lai Fook]. These stories can be multiplied

many times. A great many Guianese Chinese, for instance, have ancestors or relatives

who originally migrated to (or are still living in) Surinam, and many Trinidadian Chinese

have Guianese Chinese roots.

Functioning as they have since their arrival as a minority trading element, often on the

fringes of the colonial economic system, the internal group dialectics of the Chinese, and

the challenges of their external relations with the larger society, are similar to the

experiences of kindred middle-layer immigrant groups in other Third World societies. In

this respect, the Chinese adjustments to Caribbean society illustrate a wider modern

theme, the "middlemen minorities" syndrome. But beyond that, the diasporal linkages

with the wider world of Asian America are also clearly there, given their similar districts

of origin in the Canton region, their mutual exposure to rapid Westernisation in the New

World, and their need to adjust to a modern polyethnic American milieu quite unlike the

55
more traditional Old World societies. This existential linkage is only casually recognised

even by the Chinese themselves, given the diversity of colonial experiences and

traditions in the Americas under which the migrants have found themselves evolving

[chapter 9].

In addition to the broad ethnic group identity vis-a-vis the larger society, there are

differentiations within the community revolving around varying levels of wealth and

internal influence within the community; varying levels of social achievement in the

West Indies or the metropolis (Britain, Canada,or the USA); varying degrees of

sentimental mixture between traditionalist and Western-Caribbean loyalties (not to

mention different loyalties among the traditionalist-inclined). Within the territories

themselves, moreover, the social institutions of both traditionalist and local Chinese

orientation vary considerably in vibrancy, reflecting the unique development path of each

community. Modern Guyanese ethnic Chinese middle class institutions like St Saviour's

Christian Church and the Freemasonic Silent Temple Lodge , for example, date back to

the 1870-1900 period. (The phenomenon of the ethnic Christian church of Anglican and

even Baptist denominations, conducting services by Chinese-speaking catechists, indeed

originated in the 1860's, and is uniquely Guyanese.) In Trinidad, the classic immigrant

district associations formed after the 1900's (Chungshan, Toishan, Sun Wui, Sam Yup,

and the Hakka Fui Toong On) continue to function, but in the middle of widespread

Westernisation and indifference from many local Chinese, while the local ethnic Chinese

associations themselves do not carry the same social weight as their counterparts in

Guyana. Jamaica's Chinese institutions maintain a balance between the traditionalist

and local Chinese ethnic influences (Chinese Benevolent Association, Chinese Christian

Church, Chinese Home for the Aged). The influence here is primarily Hakka, and the

district origins less numerous, making for greater relative cohesion.

There are also differing attitudes towards race relations issues between and among the

traditionalists, on the one hand, and the Westernised and Creolised, on the other;

56
different levels (and directions) of actual interracial socialisation (and/or marriage)

patterns among even the Westernised and Creolised; differing degrees and interpretations

of Caribbean civic commitment. Like most immigrant groups, especially to the

Americas, the local-born Chinese carry within their social personalities several layers of

identity, sensibility, and loyalty. Further studies on the assimilation and West

Indianisation process need to approach this question from a broad theoretical

framework , one which recognises internal community complexity, and sees the Chinese

as autonomous and self-transforming Subjects rather than simply a new social dimension

to be fitted en masse into preexisting categories of national self-definition. This is a

challenge not only for the Chinese, but indeed for most of the multi-ethnic mosaic of

West Indian society. (This is a complex and complicated subject, and we have hardly

said the last word on the matter.)

The following chapters attempt to piece together, from original documentary sources,

a history of this small Chinese community in the Western Hemisphere, from the time of

their first arrival in 1806 to the years just after the Second World War (1950). Chapters

One to Seven document the nineteenth century indenture experience. Chapters Eight

and Nine trace the emergence of the modern Chinese community, beginning with the

transition from the plantations in the 1870's, and closing with a brief look at the progress

of the twentieth century free migrants up to the 1950's. The statistical tables in the

appendix attempt to reinforce the primary documents, summarising their history from

1806 to 1950 from a different perspective.

Their continued assimilation into the economics, politics and social life of post-

colonial (post-1962) Caribbean society, is not discussed in this book. However, two

increasing social trends since Independence in the 1960's affect all the territories, and

may be mentioned briefly: on the one hand, increasing professionalisation and visibility

within the managerial sectors of the local public and private sectors, and on the other, the

parallel trend of increasing migration (temporary and permanent) to the metropolitan

57
countries, mainly Canada and the USA. This latter movement is partly the result of

upper middle class affluence and the metropolitan orientation of all Caribbean people

(elites and mass), partly a defensive ethnic response to the rise of left nationalism during

the specific period of the 1970's (Black Power unrest in Trinidad, Burnhamism in

Guyana, Manleyism in Jamaica).

The post-1960's community evolution is an aspect of the Chinese experience which

clearly needs further study. However, in Appendix Two we trace the histories of a few

selected Chinese families in the West Indies whom we interviewed in the 1990's, in an

attempt to illustrate the flesh and blood progress of some of the community's more

representative elements since the time of their parents' and grandparents' arrival, mainly

between the 1880's and 1940's.

Table: Estimated Chinese Population in Selected Countries, 1946-1990

1946 1960 1970 1980 1990

Jamaica 6,879 10,267 11,781 5,320 5,372

Trinidad 5,641 8,361 7,962 5,562 4,314

Guyana 3,567 4,074 3,402 1,842 1,338

Suriname 2,384 5,339 6,029 5,492 3,048 (est.)

Belize 214 748

Cuba 15,822 11,834 5,892 14,024 7,000 [?]

(1943) (1953)

16,657

(1953)

Source: Census Data. Jamaica census dates are 1943, 1982, 1991. Surinam census dates

are 1950, 1964, 1972, 1994. The 1994 data are estimates limited to the urban areas of

Paramaribo and Wanica, which contain 60 per cent of the Surinamese population.

58
N.B. These figures refer mainly to ethnically homogeneous Chinese, local and China-

born. The large mixed Chinese populations in all the territories are sometimes

enumerated as a distinct group, sometimes classified with the “Mixed” category, and

often also counted as Chinese.

59
 CHAPTER ONE

EARLY EFFORTS AT IMPORTING CHINESE LABOUR INTO THE WEST

INDIES (1802-1806): THE FORTITUDE EXPERIMENT IN TRINIDAD

Apart from an unconfirmed account which claims that five Chinese

sailors landed in Trinidad in 1796, the year before the British capture

of the island from the Spanish, and that one of them remained on the
island, the earliest recorded attempts at introducing Chinese

immigrants into the Caribbean region began with a solitary

experiment in the 1800's, while slavery and the slave trade were still

officially in force, and Chinese immigration to the Western Hemisphere

generally non-existent. The idea was originally conceived in 1802, by

Captain William Layman of the Royal Navy, although he was not the

one to put it into effect. One vessel of the East India Company, the

FORTITUDE, arrived in Trinidad in October 1806, with 192 of an

original 200 Chinese recruited in Macao and Penang (147) and in

Calcutta (53), in an attempt to establish a settlement of free peasant

cultivators and labourers.

The original motivation for the idea of a Chinese settlement

stemmed from the need to populate an island which was a newly

acquired British colony (1797), and to find a substitute for the African

slave traffic, then on its last legs within the British Empire. But other

motivations also emerged in the discussions. In reading the policy

recommendations of some of the officials involved in this experiment,

bear in mind that these were the years of the French Revolutionary

and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), and the restlessness stirred up

60
among the slaves in many islands by French revolutionary

propaganda, and nowhere more evident than in French St Domingue

itself - which became independent Haiti in 1804 - was clearly one

factor in the minds of those contemplating this experiment in Chinese

immigration.

This project, the first New World Chinese settlement of its kind in

the nineteenth century (there was an abortive one in 1788-89 on

Vancouver Island off British Columbia, and a later one in Brazil in the
1810's), was not successful. Within three years, all but 20-30 had

returned to the East. The documents record the original proposals

and expectations for the Chinese experiment (sections 1-2), the

process of recruitment and transportation to Trinidad (3-7), the initial

favourable reception (8-10), and the early disillusionment with the

experiment (11-12).

_________________________

[1]

Excerpts from Captain William Layman's "Hints for the Cultivation of

Trinidad" (1802)

The accession of the valuable island of Trinidad to our colonial

possessions has opened a fresh field for the employment of British

industry and capital. The benefits likely to result from this important

conquest depending in a great measure upon the proper cultivation of

the soil, it becomes a matter of great consideration to Government to

ascertain in what manner this object can best be carried into

execution. The most obvious means of bringing this island into a state

of cultivation seems to be by an adequate importation of slaves from

the coast of Africa, but to this plan there are so many material

61
objections that if any other quite as effectual, and free from those

objections, can be suggested, it [behoves] that they need only be

mentioned to be adopted.

The House of Commons stands pledged that the slave trade shall

gradually decline, and this resolution together with the motives which

gave rise to it form the greatest objection to the plan of cultivating the

island by slaves, which would require an importation of as many

negroes as have been imported from Africa into the whole of our West
Indian colonies in the course of seven years....

If therefore a plan could be pointed out for increasing the produce

of our West India colonies by introducing an example of industry and

good management in first cultivating the island of Trinidad with free

men inured to a hot climate, and combining indefatigable labour with

particular skill in the husbandry and preparation of not only every

article now produced in the West Indies, but of many other things that

if cultivated in our colonies would be greatly beneficial to this country,

[this] it is presumed would give the projector a strong claim to the

attention of government.

Agriculture by the policy of the Chinese Government is encouraged

in preference to commerce or manufactures, and the consequence is

that China has always been the most fertile and best cultivated

country on the face of the globe. The great ambition of a Chinese is to

obtain a piece of ground no matter how barren, his labour and

ingenuity soon making it wear the face of plenty. The indefatigable

industry and habits of frugality of the Chinese, with their being the

most fitted for the cultivation of the soil, seems to point out that of all

people in the world they are the best calculated to transform the

62
woody wastes and drowned parts of Trinidad into rich, fertile and

productive land.

To persons not acquainted with the Chinese the idea of importing

them into our West India colonies may probably not appear feasible,

but a thorough knowledge of these people and the Indian settlements

to which they are in the habit of emigrating will convince any

unprejudiced mind that such a plan .... [can] be carried into

execution .... without any material difficulties and at a comparatively

small expense, by the ships which carry out convicts to Port Jackson.

And after landing the Chinese at Trinidad they might [also] return

from thence with naval timber for England....

Notwithstanding the degree of perfection to which agriculture is

arrived at in China, yet from the immense population and consequent

low price of labour, the means of subsistence are extremely difficult to

be procured. And although the inhuman custom of parents exposing

their children is sanctioned by their laws, thousands of the Chinese are

obliged to emigrate to other countries for support. The islands of Java

and Luconia are in a great measure indebted to their industry for the

superior production of sugar, indigo, cotton, coffee, etc. , and Penang

or Prince of Wales Island has in a short period been converted from a

jungle or wood into valuable plantations of pepper, betelnut, nutmegs

and other spices, by Chinese, who from the strong motive of acquiring

property have been induced to colonise there, a junk arriving annually

from China with 250 settlers. And there is no doubt that with proper

encouragement the Chinese would extend their voyages to Ceylon,

where they could furnish sugar to the Arabs at a much lower rate than

what the Arabs pay to the Dutch on the Malabar Coast. By this means

63
not only the trade but the produce of Ceylon would be increased and

might hereafter become a depot for supplying Chinese for the

cultivation of our West India colonies, which in point of climate must

be acknowledged superior to what they are accustomed to at Batavia,

where, as mentioned in Captain Cook's first voyage, the merchants

carry on their business with less trouble perhaps than in any other

part of the world. Every manufacture is managed by the Chinese.

(It is singular that now the Dutch are paying £80 per head for
negroes at Demerara they should not have thought of importing

Chinese from Java, which could be done for £16 each. The chief

consul who is more enterprising may see the advantages of

introducing Chinese cultivators and manufacturers into the French

West India colonies, where before the late war they brought slaves

from Mozambique).

Should this plan be thought worthy to be adopted, the writer of this

paper, an officer of His Majesty's Navy who has been many years in

the East and West Indies, and several times at China, from where he

brought Chinese, is willing to communicate further information on the

subject, and with the countenance and support of Government will

have no objection to carry the scheme into execution, at least so far

as to show by experiment that it is perfectly practicable, in doing

away [with] the disgraceful traffic of enslaving thousands in Africa,

and in great measure, preventing the barbarous destruction of

children in China, to materially benefit both individuals and the public,

by holding out to the Chinese and other Asiatics the means of not only

acquiring subsistence, but property, by their labour and ingenuity in

our West India colonies, which would greatly increase the articles at

64
present produced there, and with the arts and civilization might be

imported into the West Indies the many valuable things .... which are

as yet unknown there and would, if introduced in Trinidad, extend our

commerce and navigation, enrich our manufactures and considerably

increase our revenue.

Clapton, July 16, 1802.

Supplement
..... Should government deem it eligible to adopt these suggestions, I

will undertake to make a voyage to India on this service, and in 1804

land Chinese cultivators upon the island of Trinidad, and introduce

most of the valuable articles particularised in the schedule ..........

The object of the voyage should be considered principally Botanical

as this would give great facility to the immediate object of the

undertaking, which it would be highly desirable not to make entirely

public. To render effective the means of obtaining a regular supply of

Chinese emigrants it would be necessary to fix upon some settlement

in the East Indies as a depot for China goods, in order to induce the

Chinese to send their junks thither regularly as they do already to

Java, Luconia, Malacca, Prince of Wales Island etc to which places they

constantly carry a great number of settlers. For this purpose, both in

a political and commercial point of view, Ceylon claims the preference,

as a settlement that government must be desirous to improve, and

the Chinese habits of industry must in some measure correct the

material indolence of the [Singalese]. The sloop should leave England

in September so as to arrive at Ceylon in January 1803....

65
 As to settling them upon the island, I should strongly recommend

sufficient ground to be allotted for their subsistence, as encouraging

the progress of population. Whether their industry was put in motion

by Government or individuals, it appears most eligible to follow, as

nearly as circumstances will admit, the mode practised at Java. I

therefore propose that the proprietor of the land should erect the

mills, boiling and curing house, etc, and find the necessary stock of

cattle, parcel out the ground amongst the Chinese for a term, and on
condition that they shall plant it in canes, and receive a portion of the

produce for their labour. I am so well convinced of the superiority of

this plan over the mode in use in the West Indies, that if Government

think it proper to grant me a square mile and half for the 150 Chinese

I import in the sloop to Trinidad, I will after allowing 3/5 acre for each

man's subsistence, establish a sugar plantation with them for £26,435

, which from the best information would cost with negroes £35,955 ,

and that allowing the produce to be equal the annual expense of

labour and stock, would be £2782 per annum less with Chinese than

slaves..... From these data (which I have been at much pains to

ascertain) as there are 1360 square miles fit for cultivation and

ungranted in Trinidad it would require £48,898,800 capital to cultivate

it with negroes, and only £35,951,600 with Chinese.....

I now beg leave to add that should His Majesty's Ministers deem it

expedient to retain the Government of Trinidad in their own hands,

and confide to me the superintendence, as has been so recently and

successfully tried .... at Prince of Wales' Island, I will undertake, under

their immediate direction, to establish a colony of Chinese at Trinidad,

and to manage the depot in India, so that a regular and considerable

66
number shall be annually obtained, and that the expense attending it

shall be amply repaid to Government by those who employ them, and

this country furnished with naval timber.

Clapton, August 28, 1802.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.2

[2]

Secret Memorandum from the Colonial Office to the Chairman of

the Court of Directors of the East India Company

18 February 1803

The events which have recently happened at St Domingo

necessarily awakes all those apprehensions which the establishment

of a Negro government in that island gave rise to some years ago, and

render it indispensable that every practicable measure of precaution

should be adopted to guard the British possessions in the West Indies

as well against any future indisposition of a power so constituted as

against the danger of a spirit of insurrection being excited amongst

the Negroes in our colonies.

It is conceived that no measure would so effectually tend to

provide a security against this danger, as that of introducing a free

race of cultivators into our islands, who, from habits and feelings

would be kept distinct from the Negroes, and who from interest would

be inseparably attached to the European proprietors.

The Chinese people are represented to unite the qualities which

constitute this double recommendation .... This character of the

Chinese has been supported by the various colonies which they have

been encouraged to establish in the island of Java, of Manilla, of Soloo,

67
and within these few years, under the Government of the India

Company at Prince of Wales Island, where a population of upwards of

14,000 Chinese are said to be at this time settled.

The disposition which this people have shewn to form

establishments in all countries where incitements have been held out

to their industry, renders it not improbable that under adequate

encouragement, some of those who are now settled at Price of Wales

Island may be induced to extend their migration to Trinidad, and that

by a well concerted plan, numbers of their countrymen may hereafter

be led to establish in that island, and afterwards to spread themselves

into our other colonies.

With a view towards the attainment of an end so desirable for the

future security as well as for the improvement of the British

possessions in the West Indies, it is thought adviseable that a person

who, from frequent intercourse with the Chinese settlers, has become

conversant with their manners and customs, should proceed to Prince

of Wales Island for the purpose of endeavouring under the direction of

the Company's governments to prepare the way for carrying this

measure into execution; and Mr MacQueen, who for several years was

employed upon the Naval Station at Prince of Wales Island, has in

consequence been selected for this service.

It will be necessary that secret instructions should be sent to the

Governor General in India, directing that the Officer in Command at

Prince of Wales Island should be enjoined to give every facility in his

power to Mr Macqueen, with the intent of his being enabled to engage

as large a number of Chinese families as possible to accompany him

to Trinidad.

68
 Should Mr MacQueen succeed to any extent in this undertaking, so

as to render it necessary that a ship should be taken up for the

conveyance of these people, the Government in India should be

instructed to provide him with whatever tonnage may be requisite for

the comfortable accommodation of them and their families, and to

regulate the extent of this, not only by a consideration of the length of

the voyage and of the novelty of the undertaking, but by a due

attention to the importance which is attached to the introduction of

this industrious and useful class of settlers into the island of Trinidad.

This object, which abstractly must be considered as of great

national concern, will derive a strong additional recommendation,

when it shall be seen that the immediate interests of the India

Company and of our extensive Empire in the East might be connected

with the plan to the advantage of our navigation and to the

improvement of the Revenue of the United Kindgom.

It is a well known fact that until the enterprising people of the

North American states were induced to open a direct intercourse of

trade with India and with China, the manufactures and productions of

those regions could be introduced into South America by only two

channels, namely, the circuitous and highly chargeable one of Europe,

or the tedious and scarcely less expensive one of the Phillipine Islands.

The speculation of the Americans was easily directed to this

valuable commerce, and the extent to which they have engaged in it

is made sufficiently manifest by the number of their ships that have of

late years cleared on from the different ports of India, as well as from

that of Canton.

69
 There cannot be a doubt but that the India Company might, by a

well regulated intercourse of trade from India and China, to Trinidad,

render that island a depot for this commerce. That we might thereby

be enabled to supply the Continent of South America with the

manufactures and productions of India and China, instead of leaving

that source of wealth in the hands of the Americans. That the

clandestine trade which they carry on to a great extent with the

British West India islands in those articles, might in a great measure

be suppressed, and that specie which is so essential in our China trade

might in this manner be collected upon the most favorable terms, and

the India Company be thereby enabled to import their investments

under very considerable advantages.

It will be necessary that the views of Government upon this subject

should be communicated to the Secret Committee of the super

cargoes at Canton, and that they should be called upon to take into

immediate consideration, how far it may be practicable to forward

these views by any means, which it may be in their power to adopt.

The frequency with which the crews of European ships have

frequently been recruited by Chinese seamen, and more especially the

number of persons by that nation who accompanied Captain Meares

from Canton to Nootka Sound 6, with the intention of forming an

Establishment in that distant region, are circumstances which cannot

have escaped the observations of the supercargoes, and from which

the strongest presumption may be drawn that under their directions,

and without any ostensible act which could give umbrage to the

Chinese Government, measures might be taken for encouraging

6 Vancouver Island, off British Columbia (1788-89). Editor's Note.

70
Chinese cultivators and mechanicks to embark for Prince of Wales

Island as a place of rendezvous where they may be employed and

taken care of, until opportunities should offer for conveying them to

the island of Trinidad at the expense of Government.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.17.

[3]
Instructions from Secretary of State Lord Hobart to Mr Kenneth

MacQueen on the proposed China Mission

21 April 1803

The Chairman of the Court of Directors having communicated to

the Governments in India your appointment to act under the orders of

the Governor General, in the execution of the business for which you

have been selected, and a passage upon one of the Company's ships

now proceeding to India having in consequence been ordered for you,

I am to desire that immediately upon your arrival in Bengal, you do

deliver the accompanying letter to the Governor General, and that you

carefully attend to such instructions as he may think proper to furnish

you with.

The objects of your mission are throughly explained in the

accompanying paper , which you are to consider as of a confidential

and secret nature. The manner in which you are to proceed for the

attainment of these objects will be regulated and prescribed by the

Governor General. It is therefore only necessary for me to inform you

that very considerable importance is attached to the undertaking

intrusted to your management, and that from your experience and

71
habits of intercourse with the Chinese, a sanguine expectation is

entertained that you will be enabled to engage many of those who are

now settled at Prince of Wales Island, to enter into the views of

Government, and that a plan may be concerted with them for drawing

numbers of their countrymen from Malacca, Batavia and China to

Prince of Wales Island, or such other place of rendezvous as may be

fixed upon for the purpose of their being embarked at the proper

season for the island of Trinidad.

If, with a view of giving more effect to such a plan, it should be

thought adviseable that you should proceed to Canton, or to any other

of the before mentioned places, it will be necessary that you should

conduct yourself with the greatest circumspection in order to prevent

the real object of your voyage from being discovered, and that you

should be particularly careful not to give umbrage, either to the

Chinese or the Batavian Governments.

You are authorised to draw a salary of 500 rupees a month, to

commence from the date of your embarkation, for the payment of

which, and of any contingent expenses you may find it absolutely

necessary to incur in the prosecution of the service committed to your

care, you are to apply to the Governor General, to whom the accounts

of such contingent expenses are to be submitted and who will

prescribe the form of receipt which it may be proper you should

execute for whatever money may be advanced to you upon these

accounts.

When you shall have succeeded in engaging such a number of

Chinese as may render it necessary that a ship should be provided for

their conveyance to Trinidad, a small investment will be prepared by

72
order of the Governor General, and consigned to you, consisting of

such articles as may be thought best calculated to find a demand at

the market of Trinidad. The Government at that island will be directed

to take such previous measures as may be judged most favourable

towards assisting the sale, and you will be authorised by the Governor

General to draw a commission of five per cent upon the amount....

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.14.

[4]

Kenneth MacQueen to John Sullivan, UnderSecretary of State (1803)

Mr MacQueen takes the liberty of submitting to Mr Sullivan the

following reflections on the subject of his mission to the East.

(1) The Chinese being naturally a cautious and jealous people the

prospect about to be held forth to them should be highly encouraging

and at the same time specified in explicit and unequivocal terms.

They should be told, for instance, that Trinidad is a large fertile island

ceded to Gt Britain at the late peace, but hitherto little cultivated, that

it is the wish of the British Government to have it inhabited not by

slaves but by a free people; that the Chinese are preferred to all

others, as being natives of a warm climate, and still more as being an

industrious, sober, orderly people and that they may assure

73
themselves of receiving every encouragement and protection, under

the mild influence of the English laws.

(2) The first migration to Trinidad ought not to be very numerous,

certainly not more than can be accommodated immediately on their

arrival, with such comforts as will remove their apprehensions and

secure their confidence, for in the reports sent back by the first

adventurers to their friends in the East, the subsequent success of the

undertaking will very much depend. Letters will pass between them
as the greatest part of them can read and write.

(3) The most desirable accommodation to a Chinaman is good eating

especially solid animal food, as beef or pork animal food in short is

their greatest luxury and a liberal supply of that article is more likely

than anything else to reconcile them to their new situation.

(4) They are sober, patient, industrious people fond of agriculture,

and generally very skilful in it; yet at the outset, I should think it

adviseable to allot for them such lands as they could manage without

extraordinary effort, and which might make them sure and

encouraging returns the first season. The healthiness of the situation

should also be considered, since disease and death encountering them

soon after their arrival could not fail of damping their hopes and

prospects. In short, with due arrangements in the beginning, they are

perhaps the fittest people under the sun to answer the object now

proposed.

(5) As the first consideration with these settlers will naturally be to

raise a plentiful supply of food, it will be wise to afford them every

help in that pursuit, such as implements of husbandry, grains to sow,

pigs and other stock to rear, etc. Their own industry, perseverance

74
and ingenuity joined to their ardent love of wealth, will soon enable

them to extend their views to objects of commerce.

(6) As Prince of Wales Island is considered as the most proper place

of rendezvous, Mr MacQueen is of opinion that he ought to repair

thither first in order to make the necessary arrangements. He is much

more inclined to this as he is already intimately acquainted .... with

[Captain] Tikoo .... a Chinaman of good understanding, probity and

independent [judgement] and warmly attached to the interest of

government. With this man Mr MacQueen would wish to confer freely

and confidentially, and derive from him that assistance which his

influence and extensive communications among his countrymen

enable him to give.

(7) Mr Macqueen thinks it absolutely necessary to have an

interpreter who can speak the Portuguese and Chinese languages

fluently, for though he himself understands a good deal of the former

such as it is spoken in that country, he knows scarce anything of the

Chinese tongue.

(8) In regard to his own personal expenses in the prosecution of this

business, Mr Macqueen submits himself wholly to the pleasure of H.M.

Ministers and the Court of Directors. At present it is impossible to

form any judgment of the thing, as it will necessarily depend on the

extent of his travels and description of agents he may be obliged to

employ, and a variety of contingencies which can neither be foreseen

nor calculated.

Mr Macqueen begs with all due submission to suggest the benefits

he would probably derive from carrying with him a strong and pointed

recommendation from this country to the Governors and their superior

75
agents of the different settlements he may be obliged to visit, as

these would not only defend him from the possible effects of jealousy,

but also secure to him such aid and cooperation as he may

occasionally require, besides the respectability they would necessarily

attach to the person that may be honoured with the mission.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol. 18.

[5]
Letter from Kenneth MacQueen to Rt Honourable Earl Camden

Calcutta, 10

February 1806

In my last despatch from Prince of Wales Island, under date 1st

November 1805, I acquainted Your Lordship with the measures that

had been pursued by Mr Farquhar, late Lieutenant Governor of that

island, under the orders of the Marquis Wellesly, towards collecting

Chinese for the purpose of embarking them for Trinidad. I have now

the honour of reporting to Your Lordship, that I arrived here on the 4th

instant in charge of 147 Chinese, who have entered into, and signed

an agreement with the Governor and Council of Prince of Wales Island,

a copy of which I enclose....

I waited on the Chief Secretary to the Government immediately on

my arrival in Calcutta, who told me that the letter which I had written

from Kedgeree to the Honourable the Governor General in Council had

been received and would be laid by the Council on the following day,

that I should then be made acquainted with the intention of the

Government relative to the future disposal of the Chinese, that in the

meantime the magistrates had been instructed to supply them with

76
every necessary accommodation. They are now lodged on shore,

under my superintendence; and I have pleasure in saying, they have

conducted themselves hitherto with the greatest propriety and

decorum. They seem perfectly reconciled to their present situation,

and so well satisfied with the engagement they have entered into,

that the head man tells me he could easily procure 100 more of his

fellow men in Calcutta, who would willingly engage on the same

terms. I shall acquaint the supreme government with the above

circumstance, and shall use my endeavours to persuade them to take

up a ship immediately to convey these men from hence to Trinidad

instead of sending them in an Indiaman by the circuitous route of

England, as I've great reason to fear that the length of the passage,

and the viccissitudes of climate, will disquiet them with the voyage,

and be a means of deterring others from embarking on similar

expeditions.

I am firmly persuaded that, had the original plan of His Majesty's

ministers been followed, and a fair experiment made, by conveying a

few men of the natives of China direct from this country to Trinidad, a

favourable report to their countrymen of their reception would induce

thousands to follow their example, with little or no charge to the

Government excepting that of their passage.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.15..

[6]

Articles of agreement between the Governor and Council of Prince of

Wales Island on the part of the British Government, and Affat and

Awar, Chinamen, on the part of several Chinese settlers

77
 Whereas there has lately come into the possession of the British

Government a large and fertile island in the West Indies named

Trinidad, possessing a climate similar to that of the British settlements

in the East, and affording most productions in common with them.

And whereas the British Government being desirous of giving every

encouragement to industrious settlers there, and introducing into that

island a race of free cultivators and mechanics similar to those at

Prince of Wales Island, and other settlements of the East India

Company, they have agreed with Affat and Awar, who have been

selected to represent and act for the several Chinese stated in the

annexed list 7
, to proceed to Bengal and Trinidad with Kenneth

MacQueen Esq. under Articles of Agreement with the Honourable the

Governor and Council of Prince of Wales Island as hereafter mentioned

...

The Honourable the Governor and Council agree on the part of the

British Government that the said Chinese shall be forthwith sent to

Bengal, to be embarked from thence to Trinidad under the orders of

the Government General, and that they shall be provided with a

passage till they are landed at Trinidad free of expense to themselves,

and that after their arrival there, they shall be allowed wages at the

rate following viz. to Affat and Awar, head men, 15 dollars per month;

to each of the others who proceed, 6 dollars per month. The above

wages to be paid them for one year after their arrival at Trinidad, and

until such time as the said Chinese shall be enabled to procure

subsistence on their own account.

7 List of Chinese not included here. Editor's Note.

78
 And the Honourable the Governor and Council further agree on the

part of the British Government that such of the undersigned Chinese

as may be desirous of returning to their native country after their

arrival at Trinidad shall be provided with a passage for that purpose,

and that means shall be afforded them from time to time for the

conveyance of letters and money which they may wish to remit to

China. And as the British Government have no doubt that from their

favourable report of the island, a great number of Chinese will

annually be desirous of proceeding thither, every reasonable aid and

accommodation shall now be granted them in a similar mode to what

now obtains at this settlement.

The Honourable the Governor and Council further agree, that on

the arrival of the Chinese at Trinidad, one chief or headman shall be

selected for each 25 men, and that such headman shall be allowed the

further sum of one dollar per month in addition to the wages above

mentioned, for his trouble.

And the Honourable the Governor and Council being further

desirous of adding to the comforts of the Chinese settlers who shall

proceed to Trinidad, agree to advance them the sums

undermentioned viz. to Affat and Awar 15 dollars each, to the other

Chinese 6 dollars, on the terms undermentioned (the weight of which

sums is hereby acknowledged by the several Chinese whose names

are hereunto annexed).

And the said Affat and Awar, on the part and at the desire of the

said Chinese, hereby agree to proceed to Bengal, on board the ship

Carmo, and to embark there for Trinidad, under the orders of the

Government General, and to conduct themselves in an orderly and

79
proper manner during the voyage, and that in case the Governor

General on their arrival at Bengal should not wish to send them to

Trinidad, then they agree to return to Prince of Wales Island, the

Honourable the Governor and Council agreeing to furnish them a

passage free of expense to themselves.

And the said Affat and Awar further agree, on the part of

themselves and the said Chinese parties to this agreement, that they

will on their arrival at Trinidad repay to the British Government the

above sums agreed to be advanced, out of the growing wages; and

they hereby acknowledge that they received the above mentioned

sums.

Signed by the Honourable the Governor and Council, on the part of the

British Government; and by the above-named Affat and Awar, on the

part of the undermentioned Chinese this 7th day of January 1806.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.15.

[7]

Statement of disbursement made at the Presidency of Fort William

[Calcutta] on account of the Chinese settlers who proceeded to

Trinidad on the ship FORTITUDE

10

September 1806

Amount of sundries shipped on the Fortitude for the island of

Trinidad, as per invoices transmitted to the Honourable Court of
Directors, viz:

dated 21st April 1806 2,768 0 0

dated 21st April 1806 102,126 3 10
104,894 3 10

80
Paid Coitano de Campos on account of 2,210 0 0
advances made to the families of
Chinese settlers:

Paid his salary for

January and February
1806 1,000 0 0

Advanced to him on
account 3,000 0 0

3 months advance to
147 Chinese 5,656 0 6
4 months advance to
53 Chinese 2,740 0 7
Lodging, Diet and
servants' wages, etc 2,449 8 1

14,845 9 2
1/2 Freight of the
ship Fortitude 34,000
Table allowance to Mr
Macqueen to
and from Trinidad 3,000

37,000 0 0
Expense of Provisions and Water
shipped on the Fortitude for the use of
200 Chinese per statement furnished
by the Military Paymaster General
23,509 13 1
TOTAL RUPEES 182,459 10 1

(Signed) Accountant General

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.17.

[8]

Letter from Governor of Trinidad to Government of India announcing

the arrival of the FORTITUDE in Trinidad

81
 26th October 1806

I beg to inform you that the East India ship Fortitude, [under] Captain

Hughes from Calcutta, having on board 192 China men, under the

charge of Mr Kenneth MacQueen, came to anchor in this port on

Sunday the 12th instant after a voyage of 5 months from Bengal and

30 days from the island of St Helena. The whole number of settlers for

this island originally embarked was 200, out of which eight died on the

passage, and one since their arrival here, he having landed in a sickly
state. The short time which intervened after the receipt of your letter

of the 22nd August and their appearance here had not permitted any

previous arrangements to be made for their reception, but

nevertheless suitable accommodation was in a short time found and

they were accordingly disembarked on the Wednesday following....

.... measures are [being taken] for establishing the settlers as

much as possible according to their own wishes, which lead them

mostly to hire themselves out to the planters on terms arranged for

them by government, and which are explained in the proclamation, a

copy of which is subjoined. It is further proposed to rent a small

estate for a year, at a sum not exceeding £300 to fix all those who

may be desirous of forming themselves into a society or township,

where they may work at their different trades and cultivate garden

grounds for the supply of the capital of the island, the town of Port-of-

Spain, from which the place in question is not distant more than two

miles and a half, and is immediately connected with the King's lands

on which is situated the strong defensive position of the colony "Fort

George"....

82
 The total want of funds and of the means of raising the smallest

supply (a power which this government is alone restricted from) does

not enable me in any respect to meet the desire, expressed by the

Governor General and Council of Bengal, to make the advances which

Mr Macqueen's wants and those of the new settlers may require. I

shall therefore with the advice of the Council, draw upon the Lords

Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury for the sum of £500 to be

separately accounted for under the head of "Chinese Settlers at

Trinidad", transmitting with the accounts the voucher of expenditure

at the proper period.

It cannot be supposed that in the few days which the Chinese have

been among us, a just idea can be formed of the advantages or

otherwise, which may eventually ensue from the introduction of this

description of settlers in the West Indies, but as far as I can venture, at

the present moment, to hazard an opinion, I feel very favourably

inclined to the project, judging from the dispositions which are so

generally manifested among them to regular order, obedience, and

industry, together with the perfect degree of reconciliation, confidence

and happiness which they have evinced from the first moment of their

landing to the present....

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.14, Thomas

Hislop to William Windham.

[9]

Proclamation by His Excellency Thomas Hislop Esquire, Brigadier

General of His Majesty's Forces and Governor of the island of Trinidad

and its Dependencies, etc.

83
[Excerpts]

.... it is publickly enjoined to all classes and descriptions of persons

within this government, to conduct themselves towards these new

settlers with kindness, so as to conciliate their good opinion, and

reconcile them to their new abode, whence will ensure their

favourable report to their friends, by the return of the ship to Bengal,

and promote future migrations, which in course of time will produce

the most important advantages to this colony....

Proper regulations will be formed for their police; they will,

however, be subject to the existing laws in all cases, civil and criminal,

in common with the rest of the community, but it has been deemed

expedient to order and direct.... that in all cases of dispute or litigation

between Chinaman and China, or between them and others of every

class or description of the inhabitants, the Judge, Magistrate or

Commandant before whom such dispute or litigation shall be carried

shall immediately remit the same to the cognizance of His Excellency,

with a summary report; who will administer justice according to the

nature of the case, assisted by the headmen and interpreters of the

China men that they may see impartial justice is done, and that

punishment is not inflicted without proper cause.

The taking up portions of land for immediate cultivation, or hiring

themselves out as labourers, having been submitted to their choice,

they preferred the latter for the present, to acquire a knowledge of the

soil, and of the various productions of the country, before they

establish themselves as proprietors. His Excellency and the Council

are accordingly ready to agree with such planters as may be inclined

84
to employ them for a term of six months at least, at the monthly

wages that may be agreed on, which shall not be less than six dollars.

And as it is represented that these people are very scrupulous of

performing whatever agreement they make, and of having it as

strictly observed by the party with whom they contract, it has been

deemed expedient by His Excellency and Council, that all bargains

between the Chinamen and their employers shall be specified in

writings, signed by the parties in presence of His Excellency, or of two

members of the Council, and to be recorded in a book to be kept by

the Clerk of the Council for that purpose only, the expense of which

enregisterment shall be defrayed by the employer. It is also to be

promised in the agreement, that good and sufficient lodging shall be

furnished them, proper care and medical assistance in case of

sickness, and a regular allowance of wholesome food, especially of

rice which is an indispensable article of their subsistence, and must be

furnished them together with meat and fish in such quantity daily or

weekly as shall be specified in the contract....

The wages earned on all occasions by the Chinamen must be

contracted to be paid in gold and silver money, and not in produce,

unless the Chinamen should consent to take produce at cash price;

and in all dealings or bargains it is particularly recommended that

they be treated fairly and equitably, so as not to occasion murmur or

discontent, which would tend to defeat the intentions of Government,

and frustrate the plan which it appears to have so much at heart in

promoting the establishment of this valuable description of settlers in

the island.

85
18th October 1806. Thomas Hislop,

Governor.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.14.

[10]

Two letters on the FORTITUDE experiment:

(1) ..Governor of Trinidad to the Governor General of Bengal

14 March
1807

As far as it has fallen within my observation, I am of opinion that

to render these people really useful and to derive a permanent benefit

from their industry and labour it is indispensably necessary that they

should, for some time to come, be accompanied from India with the

women of the country, such as they are accustomed to form

connections with; as there is no class of females here who (in their

present low condition) will intermarry with them, and consequently

they find only among the slaves opportunities of indulging in illicit

amours. Thus circumstanced no advantage to the free population can

ensue....

Thomas Hislop,

Governor

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.16.

(2) Attorney-General Gloster to Marryat

Trinidad, 3 April 1807

For my part, I think it one of the best schemes possible; and if

followed up with larger importation, and with women, that it will give

86
this colony a strength far beyond what the other colonies possess. It

will be a barrier between us and the negroes, with whom they do not

associate; and consequently to whom they will always offer a

formidable opposition. The substituting their labour instead of negro

labour is out of the question, as to the common business of a

plantation. They are not habituated to it, nor will they take to it in the

same way, nor can we force them by the same methods; but their

industrious habits, and constitutional strength, will I think greatly aid

the planters. They will cut and weed canes. They will attend about

our mills. They will act as mechanics. They will dig ditches, are

excellent gardeners. They will, and actually are, on some estates,

planting provisions for the negroes. These you know to be great

objects in a new colony, and a useful if not necessary employment in a

country where labour is so dear. The climate agrees with them

perfectly; indeed they are very like in countenance our peons, or

native Indians; and did you not know them as natives of China by their

dress, you would conclude them to be mulattoes or mestees.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.17

[11]

Further report on the state of the FORTITUDE experiment : extracts

from the minutes of a meeting of His Majesty's Council held at

Government House on 20th July 1807

.... Mr Black as charged with the direction of the Chinese settlers

stated to the Board that three months wages fell due to them on the

first July which they had applied for the payment of, and that it would

require $2,800 to discharge the quarterly account including the

87
contingent expenses of which he would render a detailed account with

the proper vouchers. He also informed the Board that a number of

settlers, perhaps as many as 30 or 40, had applied to return to Bengal

or China with the Fortitude which they claimed a right to do by virtue

of the agreement entered into with Mr Macqueen at Prince of Wales

island and at Calcutta on the supposition that the ship would return

direct from this island to Bengal.

Mr Black further stated to the Board that he had long observed with
concern that the habits of these people and their peculiar mode of

living precluded the hopes of their answering in any respect the

advantages proposed by Government to accrue to this island and to

the West Indies in general by their emigration, but that on the

contrary that they would prove an eternal expense to Government

and probably perish in misery and want whenever the support hitherto

afforded them be withdrawn. Mr Black therefore declared it his

decided opinion that Government would be benefitted by shipping

away all that were willing to go by the present opportunity, especially

the sick and convalescent who are now a dead weight on Government

and not likely to recover in this climate, and that His Excellency be

advised by this Board to recommend to His Majesty's Ministers the

removal of the whole of them to Bengal as soon as the term of their

agreement expires which will be on the 12th October next, or give

directions how they are thenceforward to be disposed of, as it appears

to him evident that their industry will not be equal to their

maintenance according to their style of living, with however a few

exceptions but not so many as to militate against a general rule, all

88
which he now submitted to His Excellency and the Board for their

determination.

The Board having heard the opinion of Mr Black, and coinciding

therewith from their own several observations, it was resolved that His

Excellency be advised to permit the Chinese settlers to embark on the

Fortitude, as many as wish to go, and that Mr Black be directed to put

on board, rice from the store, and such other small necessaries as

may be requisite to maintain them on their voyage to England in the

Fortitude.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.295, Vol.16.

[12]

Two contemporary judgments on the FORTITUDE experiment:

(1) Captain William Layman: Excerpt from "Outline of a plan for the

better cultivation, security and defence of the British West Indies, etc."

(London 1807)

.... [To] the success of this undertaking [Chinese colonisation]

several things are absolutely necessary. First, that the intended

colonists should be properly selected, as to their habits and

acquirements, with a view to their future employments. Secondly,

that a proper proportion of women should be procured to insure the

means of increase. Thirdly, that they should not be separated from

each other on their arrival in the West Indies, but settled on the same

spot, so as to form a distinct colony, and by that means be enabled to

retain their own manners, customs, civil regulations, and police,

without which it would be almost impossible to preserve their peculiar

89
habits, which fit them so admirably for the purposes proposed. And

lastly, that they should be employed on the principle of receiving a

compensation, in proportion only to the labour performed, and the

produce raised by them.

A short review of the manner in which these people [of the

Fortitude] were procured and employed will serve to show how far

these necessary points were attended to. It was in the year 1803,

whilst the writer's original suggestions were under the consideration of

government, that without any communication to him, a private agent

by the name of Macqueen was sent out by the then ministers to Prince

of Wales Island, with orders founded upon those suggestions, for the

procuring a number of Chinese cultivators, and sending them to

Trinidad. By means of a Portuguese agent at Macao, about 200 China

men (without a single female) were procured, having nothing of

Chinese about them but the name, and obtained from the diseased

and profligate refuse of the indolent and degraded population of a

Portuguese town, unaccustomed to the habits of their industrious

countrymen, and total strangers to the qualifications requisite for their

future employments in the West Indies.

These people were conveyed from Macao to Prince of Wales Island

in a Portuguese vessel, and from thence were sent to Bengal, where

they were obliged to remain till they were cured of the leprosy, and

other diseases which they had contracted, and from thence were

embarked on the Fortitude, a ship freighted for £ 7,500 (£7,500 for

193 [sic] Chinese, which was the number landed in Trinidad, is near

£40 for the conveyance of each person from Bengal only), to carry

90
them, with a contraband cargo of piece goods, to Trinidad, where the

ship and cargo were seized by our cruisers on that station.

On the landing of these people, no preconcerted plan having been

arranged by government for their establishment and employment,

instead of being settled together, so as to form one colony (which, in

consequence of their being without women, was scarcely practicable),

they were hawked and distributed about to various planters, who were

to engage to pay them at the rate of six dollars per month (exclusive
of provisions) without any inducement or excitement to industry by

making their remuneration depend upon the produce of their labour.

So far from an arrangement being made with these people to

encourage a spirit of colonization, they were engaged to the planters

for the short period of six months only; and by their original

agreement were to have the option of returning to China at the

expense of government, after the expiration of 12 months.

Thus, not united in one community, total strangers in a foreign

land, without females, and consequently without any domestic

establishments - freed from every restraint to which they might before

have been accustomed as to their moral and civil conduct, and not

only without any excitement to industry, but with every inducement to

idleness and dissipation, which extravagant allowances could hold out

to them, it would have been little short of miraculous if men, even the

most judiciously selected for their necessary habits and qualifications,

had not under those circumstances, disappointed the hopes which

might have been formed of them. Still more wonderful would it have

been if the people above described, under such circumstances, had

not given occasion to the planters, already deeply prejudiced in favour

91
of the slave system, to condemn the experiment, and to judge of the

Chinese character from this ill-selected and ill-managed assortment.

(It is but justice to H. M. Ministers, as well as to the Governor of

Trinidad, to acknowledge that the proclamation issued at that island

after the landing of the Chinese, contains many judicious observations

and regulations, and shows the best intentions and wishes for the

success of the experiment; but no exertions could possibly countervail

the radical errors which had been committed in the whole progress of
the undertaking).

(2) E.L.Joseph: Excerpt from History of Trinidad, Ch.XIV (London

1838)

These Tartars [sic], it is said, were convicts, or men of bad

character; be that as it may, it appears strange that it never occurred

to the projectors of this scheme to bring hither women as well as men,

for in this island, owing to the irregularities of the slave trade,

amongst the labouring population the males outnumbered the females

by a large proportion. On the other side, it was said that the women

of Macao, having their feet crippled, could have been of little use in

Trinidad. If people are to be brought hither for any purpose but to be

wrought to death like barren mules, women must emigrate as well as

men, or no immigration will be of permanent benefit to the colony.

This was overlooked by the ministry....

.... The Tartars soon got dissatisfied with their situation in

consequence of this want [of women], and of the scantiness of opium

here. The greater part of them returned with the Fortitude ; about 23

92
remained.8 These people at first commenced cultivating gardens

after the fashion of China: they worked in a singular manner; while

one laboured, his companion held a parasol over him; yet these poor

foreigners were remarkably industrious.

The local government, not to be behind the general government in

absurdity , gave these Tartars lands at Cocorite, one of the most

pestilential spots in the colony: mortality, of course, soon thinned and

disgusted these Asiatics, and they turned fishermen and pork

butchers; still, they were remarkable for industry, and by no means

indigent.

They soon taught the lower order of people gaming, and were

rather too frequently detected as receivers of stolen goods; nor could

they conceive the justice in punishing them, as they called it, "for

making good bargains", as long as they themselves did not steal,

which they never did. I am not sufficiently versed in the laws of China

to state whether receiving with a guilty knowledge stolen property, is

there considered a crime; the Tartar emigrants here seemed to think it

by no means disgraceful.

At present there are but two or three of these people alive; a few of

their descendants by negro and coloured women form a part of the

people of Trinidad. They were exemplary parents, and never suffered

a child of theirs to be born in slavery - they always bought the

mothers, and sent their children to English schools....

I am by no means convinced, that had it been fairly tried it would

not have succeeded, and I am fully persuaded that were emigrants of

8 Not accurate. About 60 returned with the Fortitude. By 1809, however, there
were only about 30 left on the island. Editor's Note. .

93
both sexes brought from Macao, and judiciously treated, now slavery

is abolished, they would become most useful members of society....

CHAPTER TWO

EVENTS LEADING UP TO ORGANISED EMIGRATION FROM CHINA TO

THE BRITISH WEST INDIES (1811-1852)

The 1806 settlement in Trinidad left a mere handful of Chinese

settlers in the island, most having returned to the East within a

decade after arrival. Between then and the 1850's, when the idea was
actively revived, this time in an environment of intensifying Chinese

emigration to the Western Hemisphere in general, the British

conducted one parliamentary investigation on emigration prospects

from China to the West Indies in 1811, and made another stillborn

effort at recruiting Chinese labour for Jamaica, British Guiana and

Trinidad in 1843. The documents record the formal and informal

investigative reports submitted between 1811 and 1843 (sections 1-

5), and the failed 1843 effort (6-8).

________________________

[1]

Report from a Parliamentary Committee appointed in 1811 to

investigate the prospects of an organised emigration from China to

the West Indies

12 June

1811.

[The Committee] have proceeded to investigate the subject

submitted to their consideration; and having examined such persons

and documents as appeared most likely to furnish them with the best

94
information upon the different points connected with it, they are of

opinion....

(1) That there prevails amongst the male population of China, a great

disposition to emigrate; but that they almost universally emigrate with

the intention of returning to their own country; and that a

considerable number do actually return.

(2) That the Chinese emigrants have uniformly conducted themselves

with the greatest propriety and order, and have been peculiarly
instrumental in promoting the improvement of those countries to

which they have emigrated.

(3) That such emigration, however, is contrary to the laws of China;

although its existence to a great extent seems to imply, that those

laws are not strictly enforced.

Such being the general outline of the circumstances connected

with the subject which have been brought before the Committee, they

see no reason to suppose that the Chinese might not be inclined to

extend their emigrations to the West Indies, either directly from China,

or from other countries where they have already established

themselves; and Your Committee are fully impressed with the

important advantages which might, under proper arrangements, be

expected to result to those islands, from the introduction of a class of

free people, so distinguished by their orderly and industrious habits.

Your Committee however cannot but feel that the execution of any

project of this description would be attended with no inconsiderable

difficulties; the most important of these would be the procuring of

females to accompany the male emigrants; a condition which Your

Committee consider absolutely indispensable, on account of the

95
nature as well as the limited amount of female population in the West

Indies.

In the East, the Chinese have always found, either in the countries

to which they have emigrated, or in countries bordering upon them, a

female population, to which similar objections do not apply; but Your

Committee have not sufficient means of judging how far it would be

practicable to induce females of those countries to accompany the

Chinese, in their more distant emigrations to the West Indies.

Another difficulty would arise, if the jealousy of the Chinese

Government should be excited by any systematic attempt to promote

the evasion of the laws of that country; which jealousy, if excited,

might produce consequences very injurious to the interests of British

commerce: nor could Your Committee recommend any measures

calculated to encourage the evasion of the laws of a friendly country.

It is to be observed also, that as the introduction of a new class of

inhabitants into our colonies could hardly meet with success, if the

Colonial legislatures were indisposed to favour it; it would, in the

opinion of Your Committee, be expedient that those legislatures

should be consulted, previous to the adoption of any measure for such

purpose.

Your Committee do not represent these difficulties as insuperable;

but they conceive it must be left to the Executive Government to

ascertain how far they can be removed or overcome. Whilst therefore

Your Committee would suggest that it would be very desirable that the

Executive Government should bear in mind the advantages which

might follow in the West Indies, from the introduction of a new class of

free people, they do not consider themselves as authorised, in the

96
present state of the question, to recommend any specific plan to the

consideration of the legislature.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1810-11, II (225): West India Free

Labourers - Report from the Committee appointed to consider the

Practicability and Expediency of supplying our West India Colonies

with Free Labourers from the East; and to report their opinion

thereupon, to the House.

[2]

Letter from a British Guiana Planter to the Standing Committee of the

West India Planters and Merchants, after a personal visit to the East in

1843

Calcutta, 12 May 1843

The object I have in view in this letter is to draw your attention, and

through you that of others, to the Chinese who yearly come down

from Amoy to the Straits of Malacca, seeking employment. At

Singapore, Malacca, and Prince of Wales Island, there are 100,000

Chinese, and these people are the labouring portion of the

community. At Prince of Wales, Isle Penang, there are 2,000 acres of

land cultivated exclusively by them, and during the heat of the day I

have seen them cutting canes, digging canals, carrying canes, etc.

and I can state, without hesitation, going through all the work as well

as the best picked men (Creoles) would do. The climate is much the

97
same as in British Guiana. The men are strong and powerful, and from

infancy accustomed to toil; industrious and eager to acquire money. I

have seen all classes of Coolies, and the different tribes of Asia; but

nowhere have I seen a people who would suit us and our purposes

better. They are, however, more independent than the Coolies, and

would, of course, have to be treated in every respect as an English

labourer. One thousand have already been shipped to the Mauritius,

and answer well. These people come down in the junks in January;
they are all about the age of 18 to 30. I have written Mr Anderson and

sent him copies of agreements made with them. Any number may be

had, and you may easily pick the number you require. Messrs Barclay

Brothers, of London, engaged Messrs Brown and Co., of Prince of

Wales Island, and Spottiswoode and Connolly, of Singapore, to ship

them to their agents at Mauritius. They live on rice and salt fish, and

as this is to be had low on the spot, and freights are low, I think they

might be landed in Guiana at £10 to £12 per head.

Grant to Lord Stanley, 24 July 1843, enclosure. Gt Britain,

Parliamentary Papers 1844, XXXV (530): Papers re Emigration of

Chinese Labourers to the West Indies, Despatch No. 2.

[3]

Queries respecting Chinese immigration into the West Indies, sent to J.

Crawford, Esq., China expert, from the Colonial Land and Emigration

Commission

August 30, 1843

98
1. Is it likely that agricultural labourers could be picked up among the

Chinese emigrants, or does a large proportion of them consist of

artisans and small hucksters?

2. Would there be a prospect of meeting in the Straits of Malacca with

such labourers of a class who have been used to sugar cultivation?

3. What may be the risk that the Chinese would not be persuaded to

work kindly with negroes?

4. Women not being exported from China, besides the expense if they
were, what weight should be attached to the fear that Chinese

labourers would grow dissatisfied when they find themselves in a

country where there are no women, either Chinese or Malay, but only

those of African race?

5. Might it be expected that they would understand and practically

carry out in the sequel an agreement for a fair stoppage of wages to

repay the planters the cost of their passage?

6. Would they be likely to stipulate for back passage, which must

entail a corresponding abatement of wages, or prefer saving the

means of it out of their own earnings?

The Government have resolved that should Chinese immigration

into the West Indies be permitted, the people should for the present

only be hired and shipped at the British settlements in the Straits of

Malacca. If the colonies would pay the whole expense as a bounty,

and leave the labourer quite free after arrival, this would be the

simplest course. But failing this, such of the above questions as

contemplate individuals repaying themselves by stoppage out of

wages are inserted, and at any rate the colonies could hardly be

expected to make a free gift of the passage both out and home.

99
Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1844, XXXV (530), Papers re

Emigration of Chinese Labourers to the West Indies: Colonial Land and

Emigration Commissioners to G.W.Hope, September 8, 1843,

Despatch No.12, enclosure No.1.

[4]

Memorandum respecting Chinese Immigration into the West Indies

from J. Crawford, replying to enquiries from the Colonial Land and

Emigration Commission on the subject

Blackbrook, Monmouth,

September 1, 1843

The Chinese within the Straits Settlements, that is, Singapore,

Maland, and Penang, amount probably in all to about 50,000, but to

these must be added those in the Dutch settlements of Rhio, about 60

miles from Singapore, and who, as far as emigration is concerned, are

just as available as those living under our own rule, for there is a daily

uninterrupted intercourse between the parties, and in fact no

distinction. I do not think there are fewer than 20,000. These Chinese

settlers are not, as represented [in an earlier letter] all from Amoy,

that is from the province of Fokien or Hokien, but from this province

and that of Canton, and the great majority from the latter. They were

of course chiefly from the maritime ports of these provinces. A good

many are from the island of Hainan, a poor but populous place. From

the localities from which they issue, a great proportion are boatmen

and fishermen; and the kind of agricultural labour that the emigrants

have been used to in their own country is the rearing of culinary

vegetables and the culture of rice. The artisans among them consist

100
in general only of carpenters and blacksmiths. They become

hucksters, shopkeepers and merchants only as colonists, and I fancy

few of the emigrants have been of this class in China. Nearly all of

them can read and write, and many are expert accountants with the

aid of the San-pan. I know one very enterprising merchant who had

been for years a common porter. Having lived handsomely he died

the richest man in Singapore.

Children and women never leave China, in fact never leave their
own localities, even when the men emigrate from one province or

district of China to another. All the men are in the prime of life. No

man brings capital any more than Irish labourers coming to England.

Most of the emigrants come by the junks, and I have known a single

junk bring 800. The number of junks which arrived at Singapore (they

never go to Penang or Malacca) from the 27th of December to the

20th of April, 1843, and this embraces the whole season, was 111 of

17,000 tons burthen, and they brought 6,391 immigrants. Eighty-

eight junks of 14,580 tons had the year before brought 6,156

immigrants. Now these junks come from no less than 19 different

parts of China, and nearly every one brought passengers, which

indeed constitutes the most valuable part of the outward investment.

European vessels occasionally bring Chinese immigrants, but the

number is inconsiderable. In my time, some 16 years ago, the number

of junks coming from China was about 12. The great increase has

taken place since our occupation of the island in the bay of Amoy.

The Chinese settlers form matrimonial connexions wherever they

go, and whenever they can, and in those countries to which they have

been long accustomed to resort. In Java, Siam, and Cochin China, a

101
very considerable mixed population has been the result. Those in the

Malay language are called Peranakan, the nearest translation of

which, although not quite a correct one, is "Creole". All the Creoles

are brought up as Chinese, and intermarry either with Creoles or

genuine Chinese. They are considered as somewhat less industrious

than the true Chinese, but over those they have the advantage of

knowledge of locality, and the possession of two languages.

At Prince of Wales Island and Singapore there are a few sugar

plantations in which the Chinese are the labourers; but to get

labourers who will cultivate the cane, manufacture sugar, and distil

rum, will not be a matter of the smallest difficulty, for the Chinese may

be described as a sort of ambidextrous people who can turn their

hands to anything. The provinces from which the immigrants chiefly

come, Canton and Fokien, are the chief sugar producing ones of the

Chinese Empire. Besides this, the large sugar cultivation of Java, of

Cochin China, and of the Phillipines, is understood by them. In Siam,

and, I suppose, in the other places also, very high wages are

occasionally given to foremen skilled in claying sugar, as much as

1,000 dollars a year, that is, £ 225. In the Straits' settlements

generally, the culture of pepper is wholly in their hands; and at

Singapore and the Dutch settlements the culture and manufacture of

gambir, that is, a kind of terra japonica, which is largely produced for a

masticatory among the eastern islanders, and of late years still more

largely for exportation to this country to be used for tanning and

dyeing. The same may be said for the manufacture of sago in the

shape in which this article is now brought into the European market.

Indeed, pearl sago was the discovery, about twenty-five years ago, of

102
a Chinese of Malacca. Now the cultivation and preparation of every

one of these three articles is unknown in China, and they are

consequently acquisitions made by the Chinese as colonists. In the

same way they have become miners of gold to a large extent in

Borneo, and of gold and silver in Tonquin; and both miners and

smelters of tin in the Archipelago, of which last article the annual

produce is at present probably equal to that of the mines of Cornwall,

while it is a good deal better in quality.

From the teeming population of China there can then be no

difficulty in getting labourers in the prime of life, unencumbered by

families, and fit to turn their hands to any employment, and this to

any extent. But then comes the most difficult part of the subject; how

their services are to be secured and remunerated. .... They are a

sober, diligent, industrious, intelligent and money-loving people,

without being a miserly one. From all the inconvenient prejudices of

Hindoostan they are wholly free. They like to make money, but they

have not the faculty of hoarding it that distinguishes the penurious

Hindoo, for they live more comfortably, and, when they can, more

luxuriously than any other Asiatic people that I am acquainted with.

They must be paid the full value of their labour, or otherwise there will

be no making anything of them. In a word, they must be treated with

the same consideration as any class of British labourers; if they are

not, they become inevitably discontented, disorderly, and roguish.

In Singapore a Chinese labourer will earn as much as two natives of

Coromandel, as three Bengalese, and as four Malays. In my time the

wages of a Chinese day labourer .... used to be about 15 Spanish

dollars a month, which, at 4s.4d. per dollar, is 65s., or £32 . 10 s. a

103
year. But the labour market is now far better supplied, and wages are

considerably lower. I shall suppose that good labourers may now be

had at 10 dollars a month, which is equal to £21 .2 s. 4 d. a year. Can

the West Indian planter pay such wages? By one of the [proposed]

agreements, I perceive that a Chinese labourer engages to serve for

two years at the average wages of 5 1/2 dollars a month; this is about

£13 .9 s. 4 d. But we have to add lodging, salt fish, salt, and 45 lbs of

rice a month, with 20 dollars of passage money and loss of labour

during sickness. But all this is for the Mauritius, and not for Guiana or

the West India islands, three times as far from the Straits of Malacca,

and where the principal article of subsistence, rice - must be higher

priced.

I confess I entertain considerable doubts of the expediency of

bringing Chinese labourers for the colonies, on the principle of an

apprenticeship. My notion of the Chinese is, that they are industrious

and diligent only when they are working for themselves, and see profit

in the face at every hour of their labour. An experience of their

character in this respect, hinders them from being employed on fixed

daily or monthly wages in the Straits settlements, wherever it can be

avoided. The Chinese labourer who, working on his own behalf or by

job work for another, would earn 15 dollars a month, I am confident

would not produce to an employer 10 dollars a month on day wages.

But the experiment has been tried, or is under trial in the Mauritius,

with 1,000 labourers, and the result will be worth all the opinions on

the subject that can ever be given.

There is another drawback against the employment of the Chinese

in the colonies, or at least one that will exist for a number of years -

104
the want of a common language for communication, and the necessity

for employing interpreters. There are two distinct languages spoken

by the Chinese ordinary colonists, not mutually intelligible. These are

the languages of Canton and Fohkien, and in our courts of justice in

the Straits settlements we must have two interpreters. These are

always Creole Chinese, and communicate with us through the easy

Malay, a language known more or less to all resident foreigners. In

the West Indies there can be no such channel of communication, and

until the Chinese shall have acquired a smattering of English, as they

have at Canton, the expense and incumbrance of interpreters cannot

be got rid of.

I perceive .... that the cost of an emigrant's passage from the

Straits of Malacca to Guiana is estimated at about £12 , which is about

57 Spanish dollars. Now, to the best of my recollection, the cost of a

passage in a Chinese junk from Canton or Amoy, which in the right

season is usually made from the one in seven or eight, and from the

other in ten or twelve days, is not above five dollars. It is evident

therefore that the Guiana planter in some shape or other, must pay

the difference.

Filial attachment is one of the laudable qualities of the Chinese;

indeed it is a religious and political duty. All those who quit China as

emigrants, do so in hopes of returning to their families, and to the

tombs of their forefathers, although but a small proportion do so. In

all the countries in which they have heretofore settled, they have the

easy means of doing this, of hearing from their families, and of

remitting funds to them through the junks. Of those facilities they

must necessarily be deprived in the West Indies.

105
 The Commissioners are of course aware that the experiment of

Chinese labour was once tried at Trinidad about 30 years ago and

failed, but this was during the period of slavery and in war time, when

it was impossible that the experiment could have had in any respect a

fair trial. Chinese labour was then much higher than it is now, and the

means of procuring labourers not comparable to the present.

I agree entirely with one of the opinions which seems to be implied

by the Commissioners in their queries, that by far the most eligible

plan will be for the Colonial Governments to take the matter wholly

into their own hands, paying the passage money of the emigrants and

leaving them on their arrival in the colony at perfect liberty to engage

in any kind of labour, and on any terms they think proper. It is not

necessary that the whole expenditure made on this account should be

sacrificed. Each emigrant before embarkation may be called on to

sign a personal bond payable within a reasonable stated time, for

reimbursement of at least a portion of the fund advanced for his

passage. As to the Government or private parties paying for the

return passage, I think such an arrangement, except in very peculiar

cases, will be inexpedient. The Chinese will certainly in great

numbers, should the project as a labour scheme succeed, settle

permanently in the West Indies, and a passage money of £10 or £12

back would only be a premium held out to leave the country and

abandon the families they will certainly have.

Contracts with private parties for servitude at specified rates, and

on the principle of an apprenticeship, will have the appearance of

compulsion, while they will also, from their very nature, be unequal as

to conditions. Thus in the two contracts respectively from Penang and

106
Singapore for servitude in the Mauritius, I find that one labourer is to

have four dollars a month only, and the other five and a half. One

man is satisfied with 45 lbs of rice a month and 6 lbs of fish, while the

other is to eat 60 lbs of rice and 15 lbs of fish in the same time. In

diet, as in everything else, the Chinese ought to be left to themselves,

and no people in the world know better how to look after their own

interests. I repeat, then, that the Chinese immigrants must be left at

perfect liberty, and that there are no other means of securing the
efficient labour of which they are capable. If in any way constrained

they will inevitably defraud their employers, and no people know

better how to set about doing this artfully and systematically.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1844, XXXV (530), Papers re

Emigration of Chinese Labourers to the West Indies: Colonial Land and

Emigration Commissioners to G.W.Hope, September 8, 1843,

Despatch No.12, enclosure No.2.

[5]

Report from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission in 1843 on

the Prospects for an Organised Migration from China to the West

Indies

Another resource to which the West Indian Committee have

directed attention consists of the Chinese emigrants who are

understood to frequent the Straits of Malacca in search of

employment. It is proposed that none should be taken except from

the British settlements in the Straits, and that any agreements formed

with them should be witnessed by the proper magisterial authorities

there. The details are still under discussion at your Lordship's office,

107
with the gentlemen who have interested themselves in the scheme. If

the labourers could have been landed free to engage with whom they

pleased, and a public bounty have been at once paid upon them, this

probably would have been deemed the simplest and best course of all;

but it is expected that the Chinese, who are described as very

cautious and fully alive to the protection of their own interests, would

probably refuse going to such distant countries without the security of

some certain engagement. Under these circumstances, it is

contemplated that the importers may enter into contracts which shall

be binding as against themselves, but of which the labourers shall be

at liberty at short successive periods to declare their relinquishment,

the importer being in that case compensated by the public, under a

scale varying according to the length of time during which he has had

the benefit of the labourer's services. The inconvenience of such an

arrangement would appear to be, that the employer must, for his own

reimbursement in case the people remain with him, name a lower rate

of wages than probably could be paid by his neighbours. But, on the

other hand, the labourer will thus have had a certain minimum, as it

were, assured to him beforehand, and if, on becoming acquainted with

the colony, he should wish to relinquish it and make an entirely fresh

contract, it will still be equally open to his original employer as to any

other person, to deal with him on a new basis.

We made some enquiries, as was wished, of gentlemen acquainted

with China, and the result would seem to show that there is no reason

to doubt the number or the competency of the Chinese labourers who

might be met with in the Straits of Malacca.... The prudence of as far

as possible giving them the stimulus of direct and immediate

108
advantage is much dwelt upon, and we are informed that it has been

found expedient always to endeavour to employ them at job-work

rather than for fixed wages.

Something must depend on the means for making good selections

at Singapore, and much, probably, upon the nature of the original

agreements entered into with the emigrants. It can also only be

determined by experience how far they may become discontented

with places so remote from all other people of their own race, or
whether difficulties may arise in using them in conjunction with

labourers of African origin. But seeing the numerous motives for

wishing to satisfy in every proper way the demand for labour in the

West Indies, and considering that the more intelligent the class of

people introduced, as well as the better able to protect their own

interests, the more beneficial it must be to all concerned, it seems

very desirable that the present experiment should be tried, and that it

should be practically ascertained whether China may be added to the

fields from which to attempt to furnish means for the successful

cultivation of sugar by free labour.

General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners

(1843): Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish

University Press), Vol.10.

[6]

Regulations issued by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission in

October 1843 for proposed Chinese emigration to the British West

Indies

CHINESE EMIGRATION TO THE WEST INDIES

Bounty Rules

109
 27 October

1843

1. Parties desirous of introducing Chinese migrants must previously

apply for permission to the Office

of the Secretary of State of the Colonies.

2. The emigrants are only to be taken from some one of the three

principal British settlements in the Straits of Malacca.

3. They are to be conveyed in strict conformity with the terms of the

Imperial Passengers' Act, as applicable to colonial voyages.

4. Whatever may be the number of the passengers, there must be on

board the vessel a surgeon, and a proper supply of medicines,

instruments, and other requisites for the surgeon's use.

5. The between-decks and the under part of the upper deck and

beams must be either whitewashed or painted white.

6. No gunpowder is to be on board on freight.

7. The emigrants must be possessed of a reasonable supply of warm

clothing to protect them from the cold in doubling the Cape of Good

Hope.

8. The length of the voyage to any of the West India colonies is to be

assumed at 18 weeks.

9. The allowance of provisions under the Passengers' Act will be

declared by the governor at the place of departure.

10. The proper officer of his government will be named by the same

authority to see that the several requirements of the Act, and of these

rules, so far as regards the preparations for the voyage, are complied

with.

110
11. This officer will on departure grant a certificate in the form hereto

annexed, showing the numbers embarked, and recording an approval,

without which bounty will not be claimable.

12. The amount of bounty is fixed for each colony at 65 dollars for

every adult, male or female, and half for children between 1 and 14

years of age. No bounty will be payable on adults above 40 years of

age, nor on infants under one, at the time of embarkation.

13. No advances of money can be sanctioned subject to a repayment

in the colony; but considering that emigrants commonly have small

debts to discharge, or require aid in providing an outfit, there will not

be an objection to any moderate gratuities which it may be thought

proper to give them, not exceeding 15 dollars for each adult.

14. If the emigrants be introduced without any contract at all, and

free to engage themselves to whomsoever they please, the whole

amount of bounty will at once be claimable.

15. If contracts are employed, they must be executed before such

magistrate as the governor may name for the purpose, and be

attested by his seal and signature.

16. They must not be for any longer time of service in the colony than

five years, and must contain a proviso that it shall be competent to

the labourer, upon making one month's previous declaration to that

effect before a stipendiary magistrate, to terminate the contract at the

end of the first six months in the colony, and of every succeeding

period of six months. The magistrates will have suitable instructions

to apprize employers of any such declarations.

17. In these cases bounty will be paid, minus one-fifth for each six

months the labourer remained.

111
18. In pursuance of the 13th regulation, the contracts must also

contain a stipulation that no claim is to be made out on the emigrant

for repayment of any money given to him before his importation.

19. The terms of the contracts will in other respects be left a matter of

private agreement between the employer and his labourers; but if

reason shall appear to consider that any fraud is practised on the

latter, or that they are wilfully deceived as to the distance and

circumstances of the countries they are going to, or not truly

informed of the purport and effect of their contracts, the magistrate

will withhold his attestation to the contracts and the departure of the

people will not be approved.

Such being the conditions on which the Government is willing that

parties who may desire that it should enter on the undertaking of

procuring a supply of Chinese emigrants, it is necessary to remark

that the complete fulfillment of the scheme is subject to two

contingencies which cannot be determined by executive authority:

First, by the existing law of British Guiana and Trinidad, and

probably by the next Immigration Act in Jamaica, contracts with

labourers made beyond the limits of each colony will not be binding.

The Government undertakes to recommend such a modification of this

law as is necessary for the purposes of the present plan, but the

result, of course, must rest entirely with the respective legislatures.

Secondly, the payment of bounty must depend on the existence of

sufficient funds lawfully appropriated to the purpose. On this subject

the present state of the facts is as follows: in Trinidad a permanent

grant of £14,000 per annum has been made for general purposes of

immigration. In Jamaica a sum of £30,000 has been placed at the

112
disposal of Government for such purposes for the present year; the

provision to be made next year will depend on the legislature. In

British Guiana no more than 30,000 dollars has been appropriated to

general purposes of immigration for the year ending 1st July 1844; but

there has been transmitted to trustees in England a separate sum of

100,000 dollars, applicable to African emigration, of which a

comparatively small proportion will be found to be wanted for that

object.
Without implying any doubt of the liberality of the respective

legislatures, or of their favourable disposition towards immigration,

the object of these remarks is merely to distinguish that which the

Government can positively undertake from that on which it not

competent to offer a pledge, but can only leave parties to exercise

their own judgement.

By Order of the Board,

S.Walcott, Secretary.

General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners

(1844), Appendix No.13. Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration

Series (Irish University Press), Vol.10.

113
 [7]

List of Licences granted by the Colonial Office in 1843 for the

Conveyance of Chinese Labourers from the British Settlements in the

Straits of Malacca to Jamaica, British Guiana and Trinidad

Date of Licence To Whom Colony No. of

Granted Labourers
1843
Nov. 3 Messrs Cavan
Bros & Co, Trinidad
Messrs Reid, 300
Nov. 3 Irving & Co B. Guiana
400
Nov. 4 Messrs Cavan B. Guiana
Bros & Co 500
Nov. 4 G. Anderson Jamaica
Esq. 400
Nov. 13
Neill Malcolm B. Guiana
Esq. 250
Nov. 13 B. Guiana
Messrs Cavan 500
Nov. 30 Bros & Co B. Guiana
250
1844 G.
Labalmondiere
Jan . 1 B. Guiana
H. Barkly Esq 250

____
Messrs 2850
Bosanquet & ____
Naghton __

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1844, XXXV (530): Papers re

Emigration of Chinese Labourers to the West Indies, Despatch No.27,
March 6, 1844.

114
 [8]

Exchange of Letters between a West Indian Planter, the Colonial Land

and Emigration Commission, and the Colonial Office on the Bounty

Rules of 1843

(1) Letter from R.F.Davis to G.W.Hope

London, 7

November 1843

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the

4th instant, addressed to Neil Malcolm, Esq., enclosing a Licence for

that gentleman to convey 400 labourers from the Straits of Malacca to

Jamaica.

In connexion with this subject, I take the liberty of calling your

attention to Clauses 13 and 18 of the Bounty Rules issued by Her

Majesty's Land and Emigration Commissioners on the 27th ultimo.

Doubtless it was not so designed, but, in practical effect, I believe

those rules will be found to prevent the capitalist giving that aid to the

labourer to emigrate which, under other circumstances, he may be

disposed to afford.

The bounty granted of $65 will not, I beg to submit, be found

sufficient to defray all the expenses of deporting a labourer from the

East to the West, including the providing him warm clothing for the

passage round the Cape of Good Hope.

115
 Experience teaches that, as in the case of those who go to the

Mauritius, the Chinese are willing to pay a portion of their outfit, if

they can obtain the necessary funds upon loan.

I would beg, therefore, to suggest for your consideration the

propriety of amending the Bounty Rules so that the present course of

law may not be contravened; but that, if A advances money in

Singapore, he may recover it in Jamaica in the usual manner.

(2) Letter from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners to

James Stephen

21 November 1843

We have the honour to acknowledge your letter of the 20th instant,

accompanied by one from Mr Davis, dated the 7th of November,

representing that the bounty of $65 will not suffice to pay for the

importation of a Chinese labourer from the West Indies, including a

provision of warm clothing for his passage, and requesting that no

objection may be offered to rendering advances of money in China

repayable after arrival.

As this subject has been so repeatedly urged by Mr Davis

personally as well as in the letter, we must begin by submitting that

we cannot fairly be held responsible for the bounties actually proving

to cover all expenses. In the present, as in all other speculations,

there must be uncertainty and some risk; many contingencies have to

be considered, and the hazard of the business must be weighed by the

same parties who look to the advantage. All we can undertake is to

state correctly the effect of existing data. If indeed we were at liberty

to make a mere conjecture, we might very probably wish to guess

rather a higher than a lower sum than $65; but when the question was

116
referred to us officially, we considered we were bound to proceed

upon some evidence.

Now the proposed rate of bounty was known to Mr Davis himself, as

well as several other gentlemen interested in the question, some

weeks before it was finally announced. All seemed to agree in its

propriety beforehand, and none have complained of it since except Mr

Davis. He has taken exception to it on the ground that some of the

provisions of the Rules were not foreseen.

We must, however, explain that Mr Davis fell into a mistake in

supposing that gratuities or other local disbursements had been left

out of account in the estimates, and that this was a clear additional

charge by the effect of the Bounty Rules. On the contrary, by the very

estimate tendered on behalf of the West India body, $65 would cover

all charges, including the maximum gratuity of $15. By an estimate

which we made on distinct grounds, the same result was arrived at.

And such being the calculations beforehand, it next followed that

when the offer was thrown into the market, several parties at once

sent out to obtain labourers at this rate of bounty. It is difficult

perhaps to conceive a more complete body of evidence that the

amount was not ill considered, and that, as far as private persons'

present information goes, they consider it one on which it is prudent

to act.

But Mr Davis further argued that the Bounty Rules introduced a

novelty by requiring a Surgeon. We have pointed out to him that,

under the Passengers' Act, he could not have taken so many as 50

emigrants without a surgeon: and it certainly could not be seriously

contended that persons contemplated the carriage of Chinese in petty

117
numbers falling below that limit. Again, Mr Davis alludes to the

provision of warm clothing; but it has been distinctly explained by the

authorities that the shippers are not to be necessarily required to

furnish this article, and from what is stated of the customs of the

Chinese, it seems very probable that they will have a sufficient stock

of their own. With regard to another argument employed by Mr Davis,

that if a ship goes to the parish for which he is concerned, and not to

Kingston, there would not be the means of selling her cargo of rice, we
will merely observe that the general calculations must assume that

vessels will proceed to principal ports, and if parties should feel it for

their own convenience to deviate, it must be for them to balance the

consequent profit and loss.

And yet, as already said, we do not think we can fairly be called

upon to pledge ourselves to the result, which must necessarily depend

on various contingencies. For example, in the West Indian estimate,

and also in ours, which adopted theirs in that particular, credit is taken

for £600 , to be gained by a cargo of rice. Now, we confess that we

should doubt whether an emigrant ship with a full complement can

have room for such a cargo; and the rate of profit must also be

uncertain. But on this point we have only followed the opinion of

merchants who are themselves interested in the bounty. We ought

also to observe that no direct allowance is made in the estimates for

mortality on the passage, although the bounty will only be payable on

those passengers who are landed alive.

Having thus once more reviewed this often discussed question, we

would request leave to submit all the data to the higher discretion of

Lord Stanley; and if, adverting to the various elements of uncertainty,

118
His Lordship should come to the conclusion that a moderate addition

can with propriety be made to the bounty, we shall be very glad to

find the importers gain this indulgence. But we have explained the

grounds on which, as referees on the point, we do not see how we

could suggest a higher rate of bounty than that which was universally

agreed to before it was announced, and which has since been

voluntarily acted on by those who are best qualified to judge of it, and

who will be the losers should it prove insufficient.

The other rule against rendering advances of money in China

repayable after arrival, was inserted in accordance with a general

principle, from which we understand that Lord Stanley would admit of

no departure. On this point also we can only now leave Mr Davis's

representation for the discretion of the Secretary of State.

(3) Letter from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners to

James Stephen

21 November 1843

In another report of this day's date, we have adverted to the

grounds on which the bounty of $65 was named to cover the

importation of Chinese emigrants into the West Indies. Several

parties, as Lord Stanley is aware, have sent, under those terms, for

Chinese labourers if they can be procured without contracts, but none,

it appears, have sent for them with contracts. And yet it is feared

that, unless under actual engagement, the labourers will not embark

at all, and so the entire experiment fail for this season. It seems

119
worthwhile, therefore, to enquire whether, whatever may be the

proper amount of bounty on merely importing labourers, some further

means may not be found of indemnifying those who are obliged to

incur the additional expense, risk, and anxiety which must attach to

introducing them under contract.

On this subject we believe that the principal objection is felt to the

rule which abates the bounty one-fifth for the first 6 months the

labourers remain with their employers. It has been represented to us

that, while the importer without contracts only runs the risk of such

mortality as may unavoidably happen on the voyage, the other party

loses the whole cost of passage on such emigrants as may die at any

time during the 6 months afterwards. He is also exposed to the loss of

services by any sickness during that period, being precisely the one

when newly imported labourers must be most liable to that

misfortune. There may be supposed to be some expense in the

houses and provision grounds which employers would prepare, in

order to make their people comfortable and induce them to remain.

And the chief consideration of all, perhaps, is that the best labourers

are precisely those most likely to be tempted away by advantageous

offers from other parties, and the worst the most likely to remain and

enforce the continuance of contracts which, in their case, will afford no

compensation to the importer.

With respect to the additional period during which the risk of

mortality is to be incurred, we apprehend that it will probably be

deemed objectionable to make a direct payment for parties who may

die during that time; but, adverting to the general tenour of the

foregoing arguments, and considering the unavoidably onerous

120
character of agreements which are to be permanently binding on the

employer, but may be cancelled at repeated intervals by the labourer,

it seems worthy of Lord Stanley's consideration whether the general

benefit of the emigrant's services, during the first half-year, might not

be left as a kind of premium to cover the extra risks attendant upon

contracts, and the whole bounty be paid upon such of them as may

leave their employers at the end of this period. There would still be a

graduated scale of bounty, as at present, but commencing from the

end of 6 months instead of from the day of landing.

Another point to which our attention has been requested is the

inconvenience and the unsettling effect of making the agreements

terminable at such short successive intervals as 6 months. We think

that, in the first instance, the labourers should not be bound for more

than half a year; but after that time it will probably be deemed not

unreasonable that the agreements might be allowed to run for

successive periods of 12 instead of 6 months.

In order to place the practical effect of these views in a clearer

light, we take the liberty of appending, for consideration, the sketch of

a memorandum which might serve to convey the proposed alterations

to the West India body, or any individuals who have hitherto taken an

interest in the subject.

T. Frederick Elliot.

John G. Shaw LeFevre.

Enclosure

27th November 1843

121
 The Secretary of State having seen reason to consider that

additional expense and risk must be thrown upon parties who may

find it necessary to procure Chinese labourers with instead of without

contracts, and therefore that the same bounty which may be a proper

indemnity for one proceeding would not compensate the other, has

thought it advisable to modify, in the following particulars, the rules

announced on this subject in a notice from the Commissioners of Land

and Emigration, dated the 27th of October last.

(1) Instead of an abatement of 1/5 of bounty for every 6 months the

labourer may remain with his employer, no abatement will be made

for the first 6 months; and the whole bounty will be paid on such

labourers under contract as may rescind their contracts at the end of

that period.

(2) The successive abatements afterwards will reckon from the end of

the first 6 months instead of from the date of landing.

(3) Considering the inconvenience that may attend too frequent

liabilities to a termination of engagements, the following rule is

substituted for the 16th of the former rules on bounty:

- The contracts must not be for any longer time of service in the

colony than 5 years; and must contain a proviso that it shall be

competent to the labourer, upon making one month's previous

declaration to that effect, before a stipendiary magistrate, to

terminate the contract at the end of the first 6 months in the colony,

and of every succeeding period of either 6 or 12 months, as the

contracting parties may insert in the agreement. The magistrates will

have suitable instructions to apprize employers of any such

declarations.

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(4) Bounty will continue, as before, to be payable only on labourers

who rescind their contracts at the respective periods, and not upon

any who may die pending the contracts.

By Order of the Board,

_____________, Secretary.

(4) Letter from R.F. Davis

London, 14

December 1843

..... my letter [of the 7th November] has been somewhat

misunderstood.

It was not my intention to solicit at Lord Stanley's hands an

increase of the bounty which His Lordship had fixed to be paid upon

the importation of Chinese labourers from the Straits of Malacca into

the West Indies, but rather to submit for His Lordship's consideration

the propriety of allowing labourers, if so disposed, to receive aid in the

East from parties who may be inclined to grant it.

Experience teaches that labourers going from Singapore to the

Mauritius require, over and above their passage money, an advance of

15 or 18 dollars to enable them to provide clothing, etc. for the

voyage.

If for the short voyage of 30 days, within the Tropics, from

Singapore to the Mauritius, 15 or 18 dollars are required, I beg most

respectfully to submit that, for the long passage of 100 days to

123
Jamaica, passing through two zones, and in most cases rounding the

Cape of Good Hope during winter, where extra and warm clothing,

useless in the West Indies, will be needed, $25 advance to the

emigrant will be no immoderate sum.

Viewing the question in this light, the bounty being $65 and the

advance to the emigrant $25, there remains, to convey him from East

to West, $40; or supposing even he has only $20 advanced, then $45:

a sum which I believe will be found totally inadequate to the object

proposed.

I know a less advance from the bounty has been suggested by

others, but I would with all deference submit, if those parties did not

imagine the colonies could not be asked to pay more than the sum

they proposed, the emigrant should defray the rest: a view of the

matter ably set forth in Mr Crawford's report.

I believe it has never been supposed that any one Chinese could,

de lieu-meme, provide even a portion of his outfit; for in the words of

Mr Crawford, "No man brings capital any more than Irish labourers

coming to England", and the same high authority confirms all others,

that "no people in the world know better how to look after their own

interests".

I would therefore, most respectfully, and yet most earnestly

submit, that the interests of all parties would be best consulted by the

capitalist being allowed to advance the labourer, who knows so well

how to look after his own interests, such sums of money as the latter

may require. With all submission I would add, the law allows him to

do this, the Bounty Rules forbid him, and I fear thwart the best

interests of each party.

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 The capitalist would naturally make his advances as small as

possible. Chinese labourers would be aught but desirable debtors.

The man who in England would advance £2 or £3 each to 300 or 400

Irish labourers, would, in a business point of view, be smiled at; but

the sad necessities of the West India proprietor prompt him to

jeopardize yet a little more, in the hopes of saving a wreck out of his

last fleeting property.

.... I trust you will excuse my adding, that if the bounty rules are
not made to agree with the law, it is to be feared the spirit of the

former will be evaded, the letter of the latter be acted upon. A will

import the labourers and receive the bounty; B will advance them

money, and recover in the West Indies the debt contracted in the

Straits of Malacca; or A will give the labourer $10 in hand, and engage

him for 6 months at $4 instead of $6 a month, and at the end of the

term receive the full bounty; thus obtaining a decided advantage over

the party who lands the labourer free to engage with whom he

pleases....

(5) Letter from G.W.Hope to R.F. Davis

Downing Street, 20 December,

1843

I am directed by Lord Stanley to acknowledge the receipt of your

letter of the 14th instant, and to acquaint you in reply, that His

Lordship must decline at present to make any further change in the

regulations to be observed in the conveyance, etc. of Chinese

125
labourers from the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca to the

West Indies.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1844, XXXV (530), Papers re

Emigration of Chinese Labourers to the West Indies: Despatches 28-

36

CHAPTER THREE

GENERAL PICTURE OF EMIGRATION FROM CHINA IN THE 1850'S

Despite the failure of the British West Indian effort in 1843, overall Chinese emigration
began to escalate in the late 1840's beyond the traditional destinations of Southeast

Asia, coinciding with increasing domestic social pressures, greater Western penetration

after the Opium War (1839-42), and new labour opening up in Western and Western

colonial countries.. The emigrants were both indentured and free, and they went to the

Pacific Sandwich Islands (laterHawaii), the non-Asian Old World (e.g. Australia,

Mauritius, Reunion) as well as to the New World (USA, Cuba, Peru). In 1851 and 1852,

a number of further investigations into emigration prospects, this time from the China

126
mainland proper, were conducted by a number of British officials, some with direct West

Indian connections.

The following excerpts from their reports illustrate the way in which these officials

assessed the emigration atmosphere in China in the 1850's. There are reports from

British consuls based at the treaty ports of Canton and Amoy (sections 1-2), and an

important report from Harry Parkes, who later became the British Consul and Head of

the Allied Commission in occupied Canton (section 3). Finally, the documents in section

4 record details of the first popular anti-emigration and anti-British outbursts among the

people of Amoy in late 1852, while section 5 graphically reveals the atmosphere of

violence which surrounded many of the voyages, particularly to Latin America, in the

1850’s and 1860’s.

__________________________

[1]

Official Enquiries from the Colonial Office addressed to the British Consuls in Chinese

Ports in 1852 about Chinese Emigration Patterns and Prospects for an Organised

Migration to the West Indies

1. Has any emigration taken place within the last few years from the port of [Amoy,

Canton, Shanghai, Ningpo]? If so, to what extent?

2. Is the emigration from _______ sanctioned or connived at by the local

authorities? Are any

obstacles thrown in the way of intending emigrants?

127
3. Are the inhabitants of the districts adjoining to _________, in your opinion, well

fitted for labour in

a tropical climate like the West Indies?

4. What is the average rate of pay per diem for agricultural labour in or near

____________ ?

5. What is the general character of the people of _______ as regards industry and

capacity of labour?

6. In the event of an emigration taking place on a large scale, is it likely that men of

respectable character and industrious habits would join it, or only the refuse of the

population?

7. In the same event, is it likely that emigrants would take with them their families, and

settle altogether out of China, or would they go alone, and with a view of returning?

8. What would be the expense, at present rates, of shipping male adult emigrants for the

West Indies via Cape Horn, per man?

9. Would emigrants going out enter into contracts pledging themselves to work at certain

rates for the same parties, or, in your judgement, would it be more desirable to leave

them wholly free and unfettered?

10. What would be the average time required for a passage from _____________ to
the West Indies?

11. State generally any facts bearing on the question of Chinese migration to the West

Indies which may occur to you as important, and which are not mentioned in the

preceding queries.

Gt. Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII, (1686): The Earl of Malmesbury to
Dr Bowring, 12 June 1852, Questions for Circulation among the Consuls in China.

[2]

128
Official Answers to Questions outlined above on Emigration Prospects in China

(1) Canton-based Consul A. Elmslie

25th August 1852

1. Emigration has within the last few years taken place from the port to a considerable

extent; but although the emigrants are shipped at Whampoa, Cumsing, Macao and Hong

Kong, I shall consider them as belonging to Canton and the surrounding districts. In

1848 about 10 Chinese emigrated to California; in 1849 about 900; in 1850 about 3,118;

in 1851 about 3,508; and during the first six months of 1852, 15,000 left Whampoa,

Cumsing, Macao and Hong Kong for California. In addition to these, about 2,025

coolies have emigrated to South America, where, on arrival, they are generally hived out

to the Peruvian government, and employed on various government works. A large

portion of the coolies, however, are sent to dig the guano on Chincha Island, where, from

the nature of the labour, they either die or undergo excessive misery and suffering. Many

have been known to commit suicide. The coolie traffic to South America seems now at

an end, for since the three successive outrages which occurred on board the Albert,

Victory and Robert Bowne, no vessel can be obtained to proceed on that service,

although many orders are on the market.

2. The authorities do not interfere in any way whatever with emigration; all measures
connected with the system are carried on openly. Placards are distributed all over the

country notifying the -ities thus afforded for proceeding thither. No obstacles are thrown

in the way of intending emigration.

3. The Canton people are the strongest, most intelligent and sagacious, and the most

industrious and thrifty of all the Chinese. They work hard, live orderly, and take care of

themselves, are more clannish than any other people in China, and are I should think the

very best adapted for labour in the West Indies.

129
4. The Chinese live in such a patriarchal manner that it is somewhat difficult to answer

this question: two dollars per mensem, with their rice, is the outside.

5. Is answered by No.3.

6. If to the West Indies, the emigrants would be agricultural labourers - by no means a

degraded section of the people; and they would from their saving and industrious habits

soon become landholders themselves, that is to say, if they liked the country.

7. Chinese women never emigrate. There is not a China woman in the Straits

Settlements, nor an honest one in Hong Kong. The emigrants, would, I presume, cohabit

with or marry the native females in the West Indies, as they do in the Straits, and educate

their children according to Chinese usages. The strong affection which the Chinese have

for their own country induces them to save all their earnings, and return home.

8. A fair remuneration for a ship would be £10 per man, besides the expense of fitting

and food, which would probably amount to about £2 . 10 s. or £3 more. The vessel

would of course proceed via the Cape of Good Hope, and not around the Horn.

9. Chinese emigrants will go under transferable indentures; but the Government should

interfere and see that the terms of these are similar: and none should be sent free and

unfettered; for a Chinese getting 4 dollars a month will not work with another receiving 6

dollars. The emigrants now shipping at Amoy for the West Indies do so on contracts

very favourable to themselves, viz. 4 dollars a month, good lodgings, and a sufficient

supply of wholesome food, besides medical attendance. The indentures are

transferable....

10. The passage from Canton to the West Indies would occupy from 90 to 100 days by

ordinary sailing ships via the Cape of Good Hope.

11. A ship coming to China for emigrants need bring neither water-casks nor other

fittings, for everything can be procured here much better and cheaper than elsewhere.

Considerable emigration is now going on at Amoy for the West Indies; 8,000 men are

shipping for Havana, and 2,000 for Demerara; a great many have already sailed.

130
Emigration should take place from November to the 1st of March; firstly, to secure the

favourable monsoon, and secondly, because the harvest-time is then over, and

consequently emigrants are more easily procured. The provisions of the Passengers Act

should be most stringently enforced, and the same protection extended to Chinese

emigrants going to the West Indies as is afforded to the Irish going to New York;

otherwise we shall soon see vessels sailing utterly regardless of any consideration except

the amount of freight money they may make from the mass of human beings huddled and

crowded together like slaves. Vast numbers of emigrants arrived in California last year

in a shocking state of filth and loathsome disease, the ships being insufficiently provided

with provisions and necessaries, and no care or attention whatever paid to the wants or

requirements of the passenger, who were fed upon badly cured fish, which soon became

putrid, and Whampoa water. Many of the ships, however, which sailed from Hong Kong

were fitted out at much expense, and supplied with good and wholesome provisions, and

such of the emigrants as had the fortune to embark in these vessels were landed at

California in health. No British ship should be permitted to leave a port in China unless

she obtain from the Consul a certificate that the number of passengers embarked is not

greater than the law permits, and also that she is well and sufficiently furnished with

provisions, wood and water, and is in all respects competent to undertake the voyage.

(2) Amoy-based Consul Charles A. Winchester

26th August, 1852

1. The emigration of Chinese from the port of Amoy is of two kinds, which may be

termed native and foreign contract emigration. The former is partly voluntary, as when

the parties leave to join prosperous friends who have established themselves as

cultivators or artisans in the countries of the Malayan Archipelago. It is partly conducted

by contract; supercargoes of Chinese origin, settled abroad, arrange with proprietors of

estates to bring a certain number of labourers on their return voyage, and publish in their

131
own family and neighbouring villages their readiness to provide passages for a certain

number of hands. The agreement usually is, that in consideration of a free passage, the

supercargo shall have the right to dispose of the services of the emigrant for a year. This

of course brings him a good profit on the amount expended for the passage, which varies

from 8 to 16 dollars, according as the voyage is to Singapore, Penang, or Batavia. The

right for one year to the services of boys arriving from China can be purchased by

Europeans in the Straits at a very small advance on the rates of passage money.

This system is, I believe, coeval with emigration from Fokien, and its existence must

have much facilitated the commencement of the emigration which has taken place under

contracts with foreigners. The first shipment of coolies under contracts with foreigners

was made from Amoy, in French vessels, to the Isle of Bourbon.

French supercargoes had been previously in the habit of engaging Chinamen in the

Straits for that colony; when, in 1845, a clever speculator thought he could obtain the

labour wanted at lower rates in the country of the emigrants, and accordingly, in 1845

and 1846, procured two separate shipments.

The total number of emigrants who have been induced to leave Amoy under foreign

contracts, I estimate at 6,255 souls, who have been distributed as follows: to Havana,

990; to Demerara, 469; to Isle Bourbon, 380; to Australia, 2,666; to Sandwich Islands,

380; to Batanhas, in the Phillipine group, 600; to California, probably for Peru, 350; to

Peru, 420....

The annual distribution of the emigration is expressed as follows:

1845 180
1846 200
1848 120
1849 280
1850 1,000
1851 2,066
1852, 8 months 1,739

132
2. It is one of the pleasant fictions of the Chinese Government that no child of the

Great Emperor can withdraw himself from the paternal rule; and that to leave his

dominions and settle elsewhere permanently is a crime. There is, therefore, a general

prohibition of emigration, flowing as it were from the common law of the Imperial rule

(I believe there is also a special enactment, but am ignorant of its date). There has

always been a practical limit to the practical authority of this Government, which is

especially felt when it is brought in contact with considerable masses of the people.... So

closely do village and clan ties unite considerable bodies of men, that general persecution

is not often attempted, and frequently is successfully resisted. The overpopulation of

China in years of scarcity occasions great anxiety to the local authorities, and often leads

to their disgrace; for any commotions which arise from famine are almost certainly

attributed to their neglect or mismanagement.... The mandarins, therefore, dare not put

any check on emigration; they also see that it is not for the public interests of their

districts to do so, not to speak of the pecuniary interest which, some way or other,

Chinese officers always contrive to find in the continuance of a forbidden practice. The

mandarins, therefore, do connive at emigration, knowing that any attempt on their part to

stop the flood of 50,000 hungry able-bodied men, who annually leave the province,

would probably lead to an insurrection. With the native emigration before them, they

will not attempt an interference with the foreign contract, which might bring with it the

additional inconveniences of official correspondence, and a collision with foreign

authorities. The only kind of interference to be apprehended from the local authorities is,

on the commission of any crime connected with the system, the arrest of the subordinate

Chinese crimps and agents, with the view of obtaining such a sum of money as will serve

to propitiate their own superiors in the event of the circumstances spreading beyond the

neighbourhood.

3. The inhabitants of Amoy are well fitted for labour in tropical regions. They endure

well the heat of their own sun, whose rays in summer are fiercer than in any of the

133
climates to which they have been removed. They are pinched up by the cold season here,

which they dread rather than welcome. The labourers working on the fields wear no

coverings to their heads even at midsummer.... I have not understood, from the

experience of the Straits, that there they are more subject to febrile diseases than the

Malays, while it has been noticed that they suffered proportionally much less from

cholera.... The not unreasonable conclusion is that they are a race well adapted for

labour in warm climates, and any comparison with the Indian coolies who have been sent

to the West Indies would be a gross injustice to the Chinese.

4. The average wages of all labour at Amoy are very low, and there is not much

variation between the rates paid for different kinds, skilled and unskilled. From 80 to

100 cash is the daily hire of an able-bodied man. The highest of these amounts is about

equal to 4 d.. Double these sums is the wage of artisans, such as masons, carpenters,

tailors, shoemakers, &c. A first class agricultural labourer is on the footing of a skilled

craftsman, and receives 160 cash or 6 d. per diem; he is expected to understand sowing

and reaping, ploughing and irrigating, the compounding of manures, liquid and solid

(which is the great triumph of Chinese agriculture), and generally the entire culture of

rice, wheat, millet, Indian corn, ground-nuts, peas, cabbage, ginger, sugar-cane, bringals,

gourds, etc, etc; his assistant labourers receive about 80 cash, or 3 d. per diem. All board

and lodge themselves. It ought to be observed that the holdings in China are much

subdivided, seldom exceeding a few acres in size, and are usually cultivated by the owner

or his sons.

5. The Chinese of this district are well made, and sufficiently robust and strong for

ordinary agricultural labour, and when substantially fed their muscular systems are

rapidly developed. They are slow over their work, but are proverbially industrious and

persevering. The ordinary labourer, sprung of an enterprising race, with daily examples

before him of men risen through emigration to affluence and comfort, is ambitious of

elevating himself in the social scale, and hence also not indisposed to remove to foreign

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climes.... Amongst no people does the transformation from the labourer to the artisan

class take place with more rapidity.

6. It is utterly improbable that under any circumstances men of respectable character, if

by that term is understood reputable persons earning at home an easy livelihood, will be

induced to join the emigration.... It is certainly only the very poorest and the refuse of

the population who have hitherto enrolled themselves in the emigration lists. The period

since contract emigration has commenced has been too short to allow the return of any

number of labourers with well-lined pockets.... It may be, however, that in the event of

the return of Chinese successful in their new spheres of labour, a more respectable class

will in the course of years be induced to emigrate, and that we may see the same class of

emigrants leaving under foreign contract as that which now annually flocks to the

Straits....

7. The Chinese never emigrate with their families. It is a current report respecting the

native emigration to the Company's settlements in the Straits, that though the annual

number of male emigrants is at least 5,000, only one woman during the present century

has gone there from China. Without affirming the report, its existence is sufficient to

prove the rarity of the case. The wives of the poorest labourers in Amoy are small-

footed women, so that the proportion of undeformed females is very small. Women with

large feet are usually slaves, and may be bought and sold. Of this class 100 or 200 might

be bought outright and shipped off annually, but such a practice would be an indelible

stigma in the eyes of the Chinese. There is therefore no chance of labourers taking their

families with them. One reason of the frequent return of Chinese from the Eastern

Archipelago is their anxiety to form matrimonial connexions, and leave descendants in

their native villages to maintain unbroken the chain of reverential honours paid to the

ancestral tombs. I believe no Chinese ever leaves without the hope of returning. After

the conclusion of the contracts, or when advancing years preclude the expectation of

continued labour on the part of the emigrant, some facilities should be given by the

135
colony for the return of well-conducted labourers, as the best means of improving the

character of the emigration. In Malay countries the Chinese readily formed connexions

with the native women on their first arrival; their descendants constantly intermarry; so

that in the course of years the mixture of alien blood rapidly disappears.

8. The expense of chartering a ship to go round Cape Horn would be pretty much the

same as if the voyage were round the Cape of Good Hope; but a vessel could not possibly

take so many passengers as by the latter route, and would probably not land them in so

good a condition.... The average length of passage would be much the same; but .... it is

not to be anticipated that the Horn route will be generally adopted.

9. The emigrants will readily enter into contracts of work with particular parties; but

these must be signed before leaving Amoy, and be sufficiently binding and transferable.

They are not on the whole a faith-keeping people. They can be kept to a bargain if they

see their own advantage in it, but require to be sharply looked after.... I do not think it

would be safe as a commercial speculation to leave the Chinese free and unfettered to

seek work on their arrival in the West Indies, because I believe the stipulations of wages,

clothes, and rations in the contracts to form the principal item of the inducement to

emigrate....

10. .... Twenty weeks, or about 140 days, would be a high average passage to any part

of the West Indies for the least speedy class of vessels. Emigrant ships will always

command rates of freight from a third to a half higher than they would as cargo carriers.

The risk and expenses are much greater, and consist of the possibility of mutiny, and the

larger supply of water-casks and tanks. Recent rates to Cuba have been about £5 . 10 s.

per ton, but the precise amount has been very properly made to depend on the number of

emigrants landed at their destination from the ship.

11. .... A strict system of regulation and supervision over emigration to British

colonies, and over British vessels employed in the conveyance of emigrants to foreign

colonies, should be established, and an officer appointed to measure and determine,

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according to definite rules, the number of men each English vessel is to be permitted to

carry; to inspect the provisions, and ascertain the quantity of water, with power to direct

the increase or withdrawal of either, if insufficient or bad; to command the measures he

may deem necessary for ventilation; to see that proper supplies of lime juice are on

board; to witness and explain the contracts; to decide summarily on any disputes referred

to him between the brokers and the coolies; to look to the fittings up and berthings of the

deck. His duties should include those of a health officer. He should be empowered, in

the event of the breaking out of the small-pox, or any other virulent contagious disease in

the crew, to prohibit the embarkation of coolies till a reasonable period has elapsed, and

to order the fumigation of the ship, or the free use of chlorides to destroy infection. The

salary of this officer would be no expense to Government, which would be fully

reimbursed by the payment of one dollar as a fee for the official seal which parties are

most anxious should be attached to each contract....

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII, (1686): Dr Bowring to Earl of

Malmesbury, Despatch No.8, 25th September 1852, enclosures No.1, 3.

[3]

General Remarks on Chinese Emigration: Report by Harry Parkes, [then] British

Interpreter,
September 1852.

137
 Emigration from this province [Kwangtung] and the adjoining one of Fuhkien, dates

from a very early period, and it is these two provinces alone that have sent forth the

myriads which have reclaimed the islands of Formosa and Hainan; introduced industry

and various of the most useful arts into the countries of Cochin China, Camboja, and

Siam; settled many of the islands of the Indian archipelago; and contributed more than

any other race to the rise and prosperity of the European settlements in Java, the

Phillipines, and the Malayan peninsula.

Various circumstances, the most obvious of which are the redundant population and

the
poverty of the districts from whence this emigration has chiefly proceeded, have

contributed to this result. But as several provinces of China are more densely peopled

than either Kwangtung or Fuhkien (portions of which remain uncleared at the present

day) and yet find means to support their population, it is evident that this tide of

emigration is partly attributable to other causes than those quoted. It is to be accounted

for by the different character of the Southern Chinese to that of their countrymen of the

Centre and North. The restless and refractory disposition inherited by the former, and so

condemned by the Chinese of the other provinces, is coupled with a spirit of enterprise

which the latter do not possess; and hence their eagerness to avail themselves of the field

for speculation and remunerative labour, which the luxuriant but thinly peopled countries

of the Archipelago afford them.

The districts, or rather departments, which have furnished the largest amount of

emigration, are those of Chaouchow and Keaying, in Kwangtung, and Changchow and

Tseuenchow, in Fuhkien. Their relative provisions are shown in the accompanying

outline, and a few remarks on the several characteristics of their population may serve to

illustrate the subject.

(1) CHAOUCHOW, or, in the local dialect, TIE-CHIN, has supplied more emigrants

than any of the other departments named. The "Tie-chin men" are known to

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preponderate in the Straits, and in Formosa they equal in number the Fuhkienese.

Owing to the clan strifes which run high among them, they form under a weak

government a combative and unruly class; but it is these very qualities which induce the

Chinese Government to accord them the preference as volunteers to serve against the

insurgents in these provinces. At the same time, however, they are excellent

agriculturists, and their native talent as growers of sugar and indigo, which are largely

produced in Chaouchow, particularly adapts then for plantation labour, the occupation

they generally prefer to follow.

(2) KEAYINGCHOW is a very poor department, with a dense agricultural population,

parties of which are to be met with all over the province, and are known here by the

name of Kihkhas or Akhas. They leave their homes in search of employment, and are

engaged by the month or year as labourers, or for a longer period as cultivators, on the

owners's account, of small farms, for which service they are paid by a percentage on the

produce. Being noted as skilful clearers of jungle, their services are sure to be called into

requisition whenever new ground has to be broken up, or a hill to be stript of its cover.

They are accompanied by their wives and families, who work with them in the fields.

The ordinary knowledge of mining which they have acquired in the mines of their native

districts, stands them in good stead in those of the Straits; and they are also reputed to be

skilful blacksmiths.

(3) CHANGCHOW, or, in the local dialect, TEONGCHIN, resembles CHAOUCHOW

in its fertility and productions, and the people of the two departments are much alike in

disposition. The men of Changchow are more subordinate, perhaps, than their

neighbours of Chaouchow.

(4) TSEUENCHOW, or "CHINCHEW", compared with the others, is a very barren

department; to which circumstance may be attributed the essentially maritime and

commercial character of its population, who look to the sea in great measure for the

means of livelihood. Portions of the soil are, however, productive, and on such spots

139
tobacco of a quality much valued by the Chinese, is reared in considerable quantities.

Many labourers from Fuhkien emigrate to other provinces, and are there employed in

clearing and breaking waste grounds, in hill cultivation, consisting chiefly of sweet

potatoes and ground nuts, and also as manufacturers of crockery, and burners of lime and

charcoal.

The absorbing aim of the Chinese emigrant is to better his condition. Of this object

he never loses sight; and as he often continues to retain it, even after he has gained the

competency for which he first commenced to strive, it frequently follows that he finally

adopts as his permanent home the locality in which he reaped his profits, if adapted, by

climate and the presence of other of his countrymen, to his native habits and mode of

life. Unlike the negro, who works and denies himself for a time, and with a view only to

gain the means of maintaining himself for a corresponding interval in ease and idleness,

the labour of the Chinese knows no cessation, and his savings are formed into a stock,

which he is always endeavouring to increase, but never to exhaust. Different again from

the coolie of Hindoostan, the Chinese is ignorant of the blighting effects of caste, and is

as strongly bent on raising himself to a higher position as he is on acquiring wealth.

Instead, however, of their laboriousness being attended with servility, a feeling of

independence enters strongly into the character of the lower orders of the Chinese, and is

particularly noticeable in that of the agriculturists, who, from the estimation in which

their calling is held at home, and the native system of tenure which divides the land into

small holdings, are often led to consider themselves, in their own country, as on an

equality with the proprietor of the soil they till, and in no way beholden to him for

furnishing them employment, from which he derives equal or more benefit than

themselves.

It is curious, that whilst in their own land they seldom quit the particular calling they

adopt in early life, to which they are often born and bred for successive generations, the

Chinese evince, when abroad, a remarkable talent, for Asiatics, of adapting themselves to

140
any circumstances, readily quitting one trade or occupation, if they find it does not yield

the remuneration they had expected, for another of a wholly different nature.

A strong commercial spirit rules all their proceedings, even of those who emigrate as

agriculturists. From husbandmen they become planters, and often change this vocation

for that of the merchant, or perhaps combine the two. This course can be traced in all

their numerous settlements. Formosa, comparatively unknown to them three centuries

ago, is now supposed to contain 3,000,000 of the Chinese; and the amount of sugar, rice,

hemp and indigo which they export from thence is immense. Nearly an equal number is

spread through Annam, Siam, and the Straits Settlements, where they are the principal

cultivators, traders, miners and artisans. The gambier plantations of Singapore -

employment on which is attended with danger, on account of exposure to tigers - are

entirely in the hands of Chinese, chiefly men of Tie-chin. In Java they are large indigo

and coffee planters; and the extensive sugar and tobacco cultivation of this island was at

one time wholly in their hands, until European capital and machinery were brought to

compete with their industry. Elsewhere, as in their own hand, they are growers of cotton;

and their delicacy of touch peculiarly fits them for the occupation of sorting the different

qualities. In Manila, Singapore, the ports of Java, etc. almost the whole of the foreign

trade passes through the hands of Chinese, who, in the capacity of middlemen or brokers,

conduct the transactions between the European merchants and the Indians, Bugis, Arabs

and Malays, changing the huckstering traffic of the latter into wholesale dealings, more

suited to the means and time of the former.

The tropical regions of the East and West resemble each other, it is presumed, in their

main features; in both there are lofty mountain ranges, dense jungles, swampy savannahs,

and a heated, humid atmosphere. Experience has shown that climates of this description

agree with the Chinese, who, like the negroes, prefer to fix their habitations in low

plains. But if the report be true, that the 800 coolies, shipped from Amoy to Cuba in

141
1847, have thriven, and realized the expectations formed of their labour, all doubt as to

the suitableness of the climate is satisfactorily removed.

There can be little question, therefore, that much advantage would result from the

introduction into the West Indies of a class of labourers who, in similar latitudes in the

East, have proved themselves proficients in growing sugar, coffee, cotton, indigo,

tobacco, pepper, rice, or dry grains, and many minor articles; and are also adepts at

felling timber, clearing jungle, constructing bunds or dams, and opening irrigation.

The following remarks bear more particular reference to certain of the queries of the

Right Honourable the Earl of Malmesbury.

Emigration from Canton, both in junks and foreign vessels, to the countries and

settlements above named (not including California) has continued to increase during late

years, although the average number of emigrants - 3,000 to 4,000 annually - is much

below that of the other departments. For deck-passages in foreign vessels, which they

prefer to their own junks, they pay from five to ten dollars, and always provide

themselves with food. The greater part of them proceed under contract to join planters or

tradesmen; in the former case, their engagements are for five or six years, at a fixed rate

of pay, with advances; or they receive, instead of regular pay, a share in the profits of the

plantation. Terms differ considerably; and in many cases emigrants are relations or

friends of the parties they go to join. They generally travel in small parties of twenty or

thirty, sometimes in charge of a man of respectability, who has perhaps come from the

South on purpose to engage them.

The late extraordinary migration to California should be viewed as an exception to the

general mode. It was in the hope of gathering gold, or participating in the high

remuneration paid for labour of any kind, that caused the Chinese to flock there in such

numbers, not as settlers, but merely as sojourners for a brief term of one or two years.

Many of the poor emigrants started with the purpose of returning as soon as they had

netted, exclusive of expenses, two or three hundred dollars; which, to the common field

142
labourer, whose united gains for twelve months do not amount to more than a tenth of

that sum, is sufficient inducement for the venture. The dispatch of men of this class was

largely undertaken by monied parties, quite as a matter of speculation. They paid the

passage of the coolies, which rose as high as fifty dollars, and other expenses amounting

to about twenty more, on condition of receiving from the latter, upon their return, the

sum of two hundred dollars.

Emigration to the gold fields of Australia, if ever commenced in this quarter, might,

probably, be conducted in a similar manner; but a wholly different system would have to

be pursued in obtaining coolies for the West Indies. Passengers, rather than coolies,

would be the better name for Chinese emigrating under these circumstances - the former

term being reserved to denote labourers who are engaged to serve for a number of years

at a uniform rate of pay. The only Chinese of this class hitherto contracted with at Canton

or its vicinity by Europeans, have been shipped to Callao, or the coast of Peru. That they

were composed of men of bad character, and of others in most indigent circumstances, is

evident from the harshness of the terms on which they consented to engage, and the

frequent tragedies which occurred on board the vessels transporting them.

China sanctions by law the emigration of its subjects for purposes of trade, or as hired

labourers; but it is necessary that each person should be furnished with a pass on leaving

his country, as without one he is liable to heavy punishment, graduated according to the

extent of the intercourse he may have held with the foreigners whom he visited

unauthorisedly. But the law in this respect, involving as it does even capital punishment,

is far too severe for a weak government to carry into execution; and thus a pass from the

authorities is the last thing that a Chinese emigrant ever thinks of procuring; not because

it would be refused him, but on account of the cost of the application, perhaps ten or

twenty dollars, by which sum may be estimated the extent of the risk incurred by the

omission.....

The law alluded to is to the following effect:

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" All those who hold (unauthorised) intercourse with foreign nations, or stealthy

communication with aboriginal tribes, who trade with them, borrow from them, or

fraudently deprive them of their property, and thereby endanger the peace of the frontier;

or those who steal away to and reside with the aborigines, and incite or allure them to

revolt, thereby occasioning trouble to the country, shall be punished, the principals -

including those who shall have crossed the frontier into foreign territory, or have taken

out of the country, men, arms or sulphur - with death, the accessories with banishment to

the army beyond the frontier. "

..... The remarks already given on the fitness of the Chinese generally for labour in a

tropical climate, are as applicable to the people of Canton as to those of the other

departments named. Whether the same numbers could be procured in this vicinity as

easily as elsewhere, and at the same advantageous rates, may, however, admit of some

question. Experience has hitherto proved that coolies of better character than those

obtainable in the South, can be procured at Amoy more readily than at Canton.

Labourers from this neighbourhood are more athletic, perhaps, than those from other

quarters; and as carpenters or builders, they excel all others; still, they are not so strictly

frugal as their countrymen of Fuhkien, are possessed of overweening pride, and entertain

considerable contempt for foreigners, to whom they owe their increased means of

subsistence. The absence of this spirit and its attendant hostile feeling in the districts

further North, accounts for the more submissive and subordinate disposition of the

coolies of Amoy, who have already been sent to Australia to the number of 3,000, and

are now being shipped to the West Indies to a much greater extent.....

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII, (1686), pp.23-8.

[4]

144
Three accounts of popular Chinese hostility to early British recruiting efforts at Amoy, as

expressed in the disturbances of November 1852

(1) Acting Consul Backhouse to Dr Bowring

Amoy, 27 November 1852

I have the honour to report to your Excellency an atrocious outrage, committed on the

evening of the 21st instant, by an armed party of Chinese soldiers.

The soldiers in question seeing Mr Mackay, a clerk in the house of Messrs Tait & Co,

passing the street in front of their station, attacked him with stones - some of which
struck him on the head - and drove him into an alley from which there was no exit, and

having penned him in there whilst they held some converse with him, they eventually

allowed him to repass, after giving him a blow on the head with the sharp edge of a

spear, which inflicted a wound about two inches in length.

Soon after, Mr Vallency, the chief mate of the English ship Australia was passing the

same place in company with a friend, when they too were at once attacked by the

soldiers. The friend managed to effect his escape, but Mr Vallency was not so fortunate,

and, being first brought to the ground by a spear-thrust in his thigh, was, whilst in that

helpless state, treated in a most savage manner, receiving cuts over each temple, one

spear-thrust in the upper part of his left arm, five or six wounds in his right thigh, one in

the abdomen, and some others, besides sustaining much injury from the blows inflicted

on his head with sticks or stones. So seriously was he injured, that his life was at first

despaired of; and his state is still very precarious.

On hearing of this affair, I proceeded to the foreign hongs to ascertain the particulars.

On arriving there I found Captain Ellman and a strong party from Her Majesty's steam-

sloop Salamander, with whom and a party of the residents several of the streets were

patrolled without finding anything calculated to increase our anxiety.

145
 The next day, the news of this matter having spread over the town, the uneasiness of

all the inhabitants who had anything to lose was very great, and all the shops were shut.

At the same time the town became flooded with vagabonds from the neighbourhood,

who, uniting with the bad characters of the town, soon evinced their determination of

plundering the hongs of the foreign community, as well as of robbing their own

countrymen.

For some time they were held in check by the sight of the preparations made to

receive them; but at length, on the forenoon of Wednesday, the 24th instant, the aspect of

things was so threatening that a very strong party of men was landed from the steamer to

prevent the sacking of the hongs. Their presence awed the mob for a short time, but at

length the crowd, which was rapidly increasing, made a most determined attack on the

hong occupied by Messrs Syme, Muir & Co. The men-of-war's men behaved with great

forbearance, though, on their interfering, the mob transferred their attack from the hong

to them, pelting them with heavy stones, which many of them did not throw until they

had run nearly up to the bayonets of the marines. These latter more than once cleared the

ground, which was a narrow strip, by pushing the mob off it without using their

bayonets, but were as often compelled to retire again, and twice were driven for refuge

into the hong they were guarding. Their forbearance was naturally misconstrued by the

plunderers, whose numbers and daring increased momentarily. At length Lieutenant

Smith, who was in command of the seamen and marines, and who himself had twice

been struck down by stones, finding that further delay on his part to act would seriously

compromise the safety of his men, and consequently, that of the lives and property of the

foreign residents, reluctantly gave the order to fire. As soon as the rabble found they

were opposed by force they were at once decamped, and no attack has since been made.

As many of the men did not fire, and a number of the muskets were discharged over the

heads of the people, the loss of the crowd in killed and wounded was not very great.

146
 Yesterday, matters wearing a somewhat better appearance, Mr Pedder and the Haifang

[marine magistrate] went on board the Australia to see the wounded mate, and thence

proceeded to view the bodies of the Chinese killed by the fire of the Salamander's men.

He reports that they viewed four bodies, and saw three wounded people. Two more

wounded men are on board the steamer under the care of her medical officers; so that the

total number of killed and wounded may be estimated at from ten to twelve.

The local authorities state that they fully approve of what has been done on our part,

and hope we shall keep fully prepared against attack for some days longer, as thousands

of men are pouring in from all the country round for the purpose of plundering, and that,

until they retire, it would be in the highest degree imprudent for our men to be withdrawn

from the hongs.... The local authorities express their readiness to make an example of

the soldiers (whose culpability they attempt not to deny) so soon as the restoration of

order shall leave them at leisure to bring the culprits to trial....

In conclusion, I have only to state that I do not think we require any further

assistance, as now that the mob finds that we are determined to defend ourselves, no

more attacks are likely to be made, and, if there should be another, the Salamander and

merchant ships in harbour could furnish enough men to protect the residences of the

merchants. The authorities have been held responsible for the safety of the store-hongs

situated in the town; and the missionaries, possessing nothing to tempt the cupidity of

marauders, are safe from attack.

(2) Mr Harvey to Dr Bowring

Hong Kong, 22 December 1852

I now have the honour to inclose to Your Excellency the minutes of the

investigation .... which, commencing on Monday the 13th, was protracted to the 17th,

during which time the whole of the British mercantile community were examined,

independently of English and American missionaries, and several Chinese....

147
 I shall, in the first place, advert to the causes of the riots. I am of opinion, after a

patient inquiry, that they are to be attributed partly, if not wholly, to the unauthorized and

irregular proceedings adopted by Mr Syme: first, by going, on Sunday evening, the 21st

of November, to the police station to release one of his coolie brokers, then under

punishment by his own authorities; and secondly, by harbouring in his own house this

very broker, after he had, by Mr Syme's intervention, made his escape from the hands of

the people, to whom he appears somehow to have been handed over by the inferior

Mandarin, before Mr Syme's second visit to the police station. It is idle for Mr Syme to

say that he did not go to the station with the view of releasing this man. He went there,

upon his own admission - and not only once, but a second time - on hearing from his

Shroff, whom he met on his way home, that he had been deceived by the Mandarin, and

that the man under punishment was really Mr Syme's broker. And it was during this

second visit that the people who then had possession of the broker, upon recognizing Mr

Syme, made that assault upon him and his clerk.... These two gentlemen, as well as the

broker, made their escape with some difficulty, in which they succeeded, owing to the

confusion and twilight; but the anger of the people was aroused, and it was, I regret to

add, with the connivance, if not assistance, of the Chinese military, that that anger was

displayed upon the persons of Mr Mackay, a clerk in Tait & Co's firm; of Mr Vallancey,

the chief officer of the Australia (whose life was for a time despaired of); and of Mr

Walthew, a passenger in the same ship; the two latter being at the time totally ignorant of

what had taken place at the police station, and quietly returning to their ship. There is

every reason to suppose, from Mr Walthew's personal appearance, that he was mistaken

by the populace for Mr Syme. Be that as it may, he escaped, comparatively speaking,

unhurt; but Mr Vallancey's wounds are of a very serious nature; and, as I verbally

informed Your Excellency, he has sent in a claim of 5,000 dollars, to be pressed by Her

Majesty's Acting-Consul upon the Chinese authorities, as compensation for the serious

injuries which he has received....

148
 On Monday morning, the day following the release of the broker, the shops of Amoy

were all closed; great excitement prevailed in the place; but it was not until Wednesday

morning that the people assembled around Mr Syme's hong with threatening gestures,

and showing every disposition to attack his premises. The crowd thus assembled was

composed partly of respectable persons claiming the broker then located in Mr Syme's

hong, and partly of vagabonds who, having heard of the excitement prevailing in the city,

had come from the neighbouring villages in the hope of plunder. Before they had

proceeded to any length, the broker was removed from the house under an escort sent by

the mandarins; but his surrender was unfortunately somewhat tardy, for the rabble, who

had only assembled for booty and plunder, and cared little if anything for the broker,

were not to be balked in their expectations. They therefore commenced their attack upon

Mr Syme's premises, and would certainly have proceeded to extremities had they not

been repulsed and driven off by the fire from the party of marines and sailors from Her

Majesty's steam-sloop Salamander. The rabble then totally dispersed, and tranquillity

was once more restored.

.... I imagine Your Excellency will not fail to perceive the link which connects the

two days, and to agree with me in thinking that Mr Syme did, by his two visits to the

police station on Sunday evening (thereby causing the release of the broker) give rise to

the disturbances and consequent assault which immediately followed, and that by

harbouring this broker until Wednesday morning (thus screening him from the

application of the laws of his country, which the people of Amoy loudly demanded), Mr

Syme became guilty of a violation of one of the provisions of our treaty, and

instrumental in bringing about that excitement in the public mind, followed by the attack

on his hong, which led to circumstances of so distressing and painful a nature.

.... It is impossible to ascertain accurately the number of killed and wounded, but from

all that I could learn I estimate the former at seven or eight, and the latter at between

twelve and sixteen. Independently of these I must not omit to say that four others, who

149
were not mixed up or had anything to do with the rabble, were accidentally killed by

stray shots; amongst these a child, at her mother's breast....

Now, with respect to the mode in which coolie emigration has lately been carried on

at Amoy, I think that some of our merchants have been much to blame for the reckless

manner (to say the least of it) in which coolies have been obtained. Ships arrive in port

subject to a heavy demurrage; coolies are therefore immediately wanted; they must be

had at any cost; that is the principal point; the means adopted in obtaining them are of an

entirely secondary consideration. Men of the lowest possible character are employed to

supply the wants of the merchants; these men, called coolie brokers, go about in every

direction in search of coolies. As they receive so much per head, it requires but a very

superficial knowledge of the Chinese mind and character to foresee what the result must

be; that is, that abuses, fraud, deception, and, in some instances, kidnapping (but not

many cases of the latter, as men are not easily kidnapped after 17 or 18 years of age), are

the natural consequences of the premium so paid for every man. It is very well to declare

that the coolies thus obtained are free agents, by their own admission. But would it not

be well for the merchants to ascertain thoroughly how such and such a coolie has been

induced to emigrate ? Whether he has not, for example, pawned himself to the broker,

who makes him declare whatever he pleases ? These are considerations which ought not

to be neglected. And until more care and attention is given to the mode in which coolies

are obtained and shipped, abuses will creep into all arrangements, and no healthy or

beneficial system of emigration can possibly be established at Amoy....

The late riots, I am sorry to say, have left a very bad impression on the minds of the

people. There is an undercurrent of bad feeling directed against foreigners which it will

take months, if not years, of forbearance and honest dealings thoroughly to eradicate. I

would therefore recommend the non-removal at the present moment, even temporarily,

of the protection afforded by a man-of-war. I saw enough of the people to perceive that

they have not yet recovered from the late ferment and excitement; therefore it will be

150
necessary for foreigners to use the utmost discretion in their dealings with them, and to

make every effort to allay the excitement and remove the bad impression which the late

events have naturally left on the minds of the Amoy population....

With reference to the indignation affectedly expressed by the mandarins as respects

coolie emigration in general, and coolie brokers in particular, I really believe that there is

not, and has not been, a man shipped from Amoy without their full knowledge; and that,

if report speaks true, they have not been without their share of the profits derived by the

brokers from coolie shipments. I dare say that for some time to come they will

endeavour to put a stop to irregularities by proclamations, because the last lesson has

been a somewhat severe one to them personally, and they have the people against them

and the brokers; but these proclamations will not affect free emigration, notwithstanding

what they state with regard to the laws of the Empire.

The people however have now taken the law into their own hands, by assaulting every

broker they meet in the streets; hardly a day passes that some broker is not assailed by the

populace, by whom he would undoubtedly be killed if he were not rescued and sent to

the authorities. Commander Fishbourne and myself rescued a man under these

circumstances, and I was personally witness to two or three cases of this nature....

[The Amoy] authorities complained most bitterly of a habit the merchants have

adopted at Amoy, of sending messages to them, and occasionally going in person to their

public offices to obtain the release of Chinese brokers, etc, then in the hands of those

authorities; an unauthorized and irregular mode of proceeding unheard of at any other

port.... [The] mandarins made [this complaint] with great bitterness, as lowering, they

said, their position and dignity in the eyes of the people....

After the inquiry had terminated, Mr Backhouse having been convinced that there was

sufficient evidence to bring Mr Syme and his clerk before a Consular Court for offences

committed on Sunday evening, if not for what took place on the Wednesday following,

151
these gentlemen were tried before two assessors, and Mr Syme fined 200 dollars, and his

clerk Mr Cornabe 20 dollars....

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (1686): Dr Bowring to Earl of

Malmesbury, Despatch No.14, enclosures No.1 & 7.

(3) Proclamation issued by the inhabitants of the eighteen wards of Amoy against the
British in 1852

The barbarians are ungovernable in the extreme, and their only motive of action is

desire for gain. We, the people of the eighteen wards (the town of Amoy) have now

agreed that we will have no dispute with the barbarians, but will concert measures for the

regulation of our conduct amongst ourselves. From this time, if any persons transact

business with the Te-Ki and Ho-Ki hongs (Tait & Co, and Syme, Muir & Co) they shall

be put to death, their property seized, and their houses destroyed without mercy. None

shall be permitted to establish firms for foreign trade. Any brokers who are caught shall

not be carried before the authorities, but shall be at once killed. Hereby we express the

public indignation, and do not employ words of course. All are warned therefore to

abstain from testing the truth of them. If Tait and Syme give up to the authorities, that he

may have justice dealt on him, the broker whom one day they carried away, it will then

be permitted for them to do business again.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (1686): Dr Bowring to Earl of

Malmesbury, Despatch No.14, enclosure 8, appendix B.

[5]

Memorandum of the Coolie Ships on board of which Mutinies have occurred, or in

which the vessels or passengers have met with disaster, from the year 1845 up to the year

1872, as compiled by a British official in 1874

DEPARTED VESSEL FLAG FROM/TO

152
[1] 2/17/1850 Lady Montague British H.Kong- 450
Callao
[2] 3/20/1852 Robert Brown American Amoy- 410
S.Francisco
[3] 3/8/1853 Rosa Elias Peruvian H.Kong-Peru 200
[4] 8/18/1852 British British Amoy-Havana -
Sovereign
[5] 12/3/1853 Lady Amherst British Amoy-Havana 250
[6] 10/?/1853 Waverley American Amoy-Havana 442
[7] 9/7/1850 Albert French H.Kong-Peru 156
[8] 12/6/1851 Victory British H.Kong- 355
Callao
[9] 9/24/1852 Columbus British Amoy-Havana 266
[10] 1/20/1852 Beatrice Peruvian H.Kong- 300
Callao
[11] 1/24/1852 Spartan British Amoy-Sydney 254
[12] 8/23/1852 Lord Elgin British Amoy- 110
Demerara
[13] 9/25/1852 Panama British Amoy-Havana -
[14] 10/13/1852 Gertrude British Amoy-Havana 350
[15] 1/29/1857 Anais French Swatow- -
Havana
[16] 2/9/1857 Henrietta Maria Dutch Macao- -
Havana
[17] 3/13/1856 John Calvin British H.Kong- -
Havana
[18] 4/2/1856 Duke of British H.Kong- 332
Portland Havana
[19] 4/1/1857 Gulnare British H.Kong- -
Havana
[20] 10/8/1859 Flora Temple British Macao- 850
Havana
[21] - /1861 Leonidas British - -
[22] 5/3/1861 Ville d'Agen French Macao- -
Pondicherry
[23] 9/-/1865 Des del Mare Italian Macao-Callao 550
[24] 3/17/1866 Napoleon Italian Macao-Callao -
Canevaro
[25] 10/10/1866 Eugene Adele French Macao-Callao -
[26] 3/8/1866 Jeddo British Amoy- 480
Demerara
[27] 2/3/1868 Therese Italian Macao-Callao 296
[28] 7/23/1868 Providenza Italian Macao-Callao 380
[29] 12/-/1869 Uncowah Italian Macao-Callao 348
[30] 1/19/1869 Frederic Belgian H.Kong- 379
Callao
[31] 4/24/1869 Tamaris French Macao- 235
Havana
[32] 10/4/1870 Nuevo Penelope French Macao-Callao 300
[33] 5/4/1870 Dolores Ugarte Salvador Macao-Peru 650
[34] 5/28/1872 Maria Luz Peruvian Macao-Callao -

General Remarks on Vessels

153
[1] Lady Montague. A great sickness on board: about 300 of the coolies died on the passage. Reached

Callao. The coolies tried to revolt, but were stopped by the interference of the Chinese interpreter.

China Mail 1852, No. 400 and 1856, No. 595; Hong Kong Register, July 23, 1850(?) and Daily News

July 28, 1852.

[2] Robert Brown. The coolies revolted, killed the captain and part of the crew, and forced the

remaining crew to take the vessel back to Amoy. China Mail 1852, p. 70, 74, 102; also 1856, p. 146.

[3] Rosa Elias. The coolies broke out on the passage, murdered the captain, officers and crew. China

Mail 1853, No. 432; 1855, No. 558.

[4] British Sovereign. Great mortality on board, including captain, second officer and part of the crew.

The vessel put into Kemah in the North East coast of Celebes. China Mail 1853, No. 414; 1856, No. 606.

[5] Lady Amherst. The coolies revolted, and killed the commander of the vessel; the ship was taken to

Singapore on the 15th December 1853. China Mail 1853, No. 414; 1856, No. 606.

[6] Waverley. The captain died after her departure. Great mortality on board; over 250 coolies died,

and 45 coolies were missing, leaving only 146 on board. China Mail 1855, No. 561, p. 182.

[7] Albert. On the 2nd October 1850, the vessel returned to Hong Kong. The captain, officers,

supercargo and part of the crew had been killed by the Chinese. Before reaching Hong Kong, about 140

of the Chinese left the vessel in fishing boats. The rest were taken by the police on her arrival here.

China Mail 1856, No. 596, p. 115.

[8] Victory. On the 26th January 1852, the vessel was taken to Singapore. The captain, officers, part of

the crew and s hip's cook had been killed by the Chinese, who plundered the cargo and landed on two

islands in the Gulf of Siam. China Mail 1856, No. 597, p. 119.

[9] Columbus. The vessel arrived at that port after several deaths. China Mail 1856, No. 608, p. 162.

[10] Beatrice. The vessel put into Singapore, leaky. On arrival there, the Chinese revolted and escaped

from the vessel to the shore. China Mail 1853, No. 597, p.119.

[11] Spartan. A few days after her departure, the coolies revolted on the passage, severely wounding

captain and officers. Numbers of the Chinese were killed during the revolt. The vessel put into

Singapore. China Mail 1856, No.608, p.163.

154
[12] Lord Elgin. Great mortality on board, over 45 coolies died on the voyage from debility and dropsy.

China Mail 1856, No. 606, p.154.

[13] Panama. Put into Singapore on account of the Chinese having revolted. China Mail (?), No. 597,

p.119.

[14] Gertrude. Put into Singapore on the 28th October 1852, as the coolies tried to revolt, and wounded

several Europeans. China Mail 1856, No.600, p.131.

[15] Anais. The day after departure, the coolies revolted killing captain, officers, supercargo and his son.

Took possession of the vessel; ran her ashore on Tong-Lae, 5 miles distant from Brocker's Point. China

Mail 1857, No.625, p.22.

[16] Henrietta Maria. Found drifting about in the Palawan passage. Captain, crew, and about 200 coolies

missing. A revolt had taken place on board, as a Dutchman was found in the vessel with three knife

wounds. China Mail 1857, No.631, p.46; No.632.

[17] John Calvin. On her arrival it was found that 110 coolies had died on the passage. China Mail

1857, No.631, p.46.

[18] Duke of Portland. 132 of the coolies died on board during the passage. China Mail 1857, No.631;

636.

[19] Gulnare. The coolies revolted, killing about 30 or 40 of the crew. China Mail 1857, No.631, p.46.

[20] Flora Temple. On the 14th October, the vessel encountered a hurricane, which continued for several

days without abatement. The ship struck on a reef not marked on the charts. The captain, mates and

crew left the vessel in their boats; one of them, containing 51 men, including the captain and his brother,

reached Touron in Cochin China. They were kindly received by the French admiral, M. Page, of His

Imperial Majesty's steamer Gironde, who immediately despatched a vessel in search of the missing boats,

and to look for the wreck. It was gradually disappearing when found, and as nothing was ever learned of

the 850 coolies on board her, there is every reason to believe they must have perished. Daily Press 1859,

No.666; supplement to the China Mail, 1st December 1859.

[21] Leonidas. A mutiny took place on board this ship, when 3 miles below Macao port, before leaving.

China Mail 1861, No.837, p.34.

155
[22] Ville d'Agen (?). Put into Hong Kong in distress, the coolies having revolted. China Review,

Vol.II, p.18.

[23] Des del Mare. The vessel touched at Tahiti. Of 550 coolies, only 162 were left on board. China

Review, Vol. II, p.18.

[24] Napoleon Canevaro. This vessel was burnt at sea by the Chinese. China Mail 1866, No.1103, p.53.

[25] Eugene Adele. The coolies broke out into revolt, killed the captain and severely wounded the

officers and crew; 5 of the Chinese were killed in the fight, and 30 jumped overboard. China Mail 1866,

No.1134, p.228.

[26] Jeddo. On the 16th April, after passing Anjer, this vessel was burnt at sea by the coolies. About 300

coolies were either burnt to death or drowned. China Mail 1867, No.1203.

[27] Therese. 62 days after departure, while in sight of land, supposed to be New Zealand, the coolies

revolted, and killed the officers and 12 of the crew. The vessel was taken back to Macao. China Mail

1868, No.1595.

[28] Providenza. The ship was found off Hakodate with only 42 coolies on board, and no Europeans.

China Mail 1868, No.1644.

[29] Uncowah. A mutiny took place on board and the coolies fired the ship. China Mail 1870, No.2334,

p.5.

[30] Frederic. On the 5th February, the day after her arrival at Batavia, this ship was burnt by the

coolies. Caotain, crew and 365 Chinese were saved. China Mail 1870, Nos 2097 and 2101.

[31] Tamaris. Arriving within some miles of the Straits of Sunda, the coolies revolted and killed the

captain. She put into Batavia, got another captain, and proceeded to sea. China Mail 1870, No.2052.

[32] Nuevo Penelope. The coolies revolted, killed the captain, officers, and some of the crew. About 30

coolies left the vessel. Put the vessel back to Macao. China Mail 1870, No.2300.

[33] Dolores Ugarte. Two days after departure, the coolies set fire to the vessel; 600 coolies were burnt

to death. The captain, officers and crew left in the ship's boats. China Mail 1871, No.2466 (?)

[34] Maria Luz. On her arrival at Japan, the Japanese Government released the coolies and sent them

back to their homes. China Mail 1872, Nos 2070, 2919, 2942.

156
London. March 31, 1874. B. Robertson.

Editor's note: this compilation is not exhaustive. As many as 68 mutinies have been recorded for the

1847-74 period.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1875, LXXVII [C.1212]: Sir B. Robertson to Lord Tenterden, 31 March

1874, enclosure No.1.

CHAPTER FOUR

BEGINNING OF THE EMIGRATION PROCESS (1852-1854)

157
The years 1852-54 saw the first attempts at an organised emigration effort from the

Chinese mainland to the British West Indian plantations. In these years, seven vessels

arrived in the West Indies (British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica) from both Fujian

(Fukien) and Guangdong (Kwangtung) provinces. A further two vessels arrived in

Jamaica with Chinese who had earlier gone to Panama [See Appendix 1, Table 1]. In

all, they amounted to just over 2,000. The following documents tell the story of their

recruitment and transportation (sections1-6), arrival and adjustment (7-8) to the West

Indian plantations . In 1853 the Dutch government in Surinam also began an experiment

with Chinese labour, with one vessel bringing a small group of 14 from Java. The

British Guiana legislature also briefly considered importing Chinese from Java ( 9-10).

The British emigration effort was suspended in 1854 due to financial pressures and the

consequent difficulty of obtaining adequate shipping, plus lack of cohesion at the

personnel and policy levels at the China end. The documents in section 11 illustrate

some of the considerations which brought an end to the first two years of organised

emigration from the China coast in 1854, and the termination of Mr White's appointment

as Emigration Agent for China. The China initiative remained dormant until 1858/9.
________________________

[1]

Letter from China Emigration Agent James White to the Colonial Land and Emigration

Commissioners notifying them of the reasons for his decision to establish an Emigration

Agency at Hong Kong

26 December 1852

158
 You will perceive that this scattered emigration, partly at Amoy, partly at Namoa, and

partly at Whampoa, renders it impossible to establish any well regulated system. I had at

one time some thought of establishing my headquarters at Cumsingmoon, or rather at

Macao, from which Cumsingmoon is not far off; but I found Cumsingmoon monopolised

by parties engaged in obtaining coolies for Peru (of whom Senor Savella is the principal

contractor), and Macao by Senor Jorge, who is engaged on account of Cuba; and I have

therefore decided to remain at Hong Kong, and set on foot an emigration from this port.

I shall address you separately with reference to some serious disturbances that have

taken place at Amoy, connected with emigration, or rather with the manner in which it

has been carried on from that port; but I will state now as briefly as possible the reasons

which have influenced me, under present circumstances, in fixing upon Hong Kong in

preference to any other place hitherto considered as better adapted for emigration

purposes.

1st. At Amoy there still prevails a strong feeling of irritation among the respectable part

of the population, in consequence of the recent disturbances, and of the abuses practised

by the Chinese crimps; and this irritation might lead to collision.

2nd. At Namoa and Cumsingmoon, and such other outlying stations, there is an absolute

want of supervision, consequently, great facility for the perpetration of abuses. Besides

which the great opium houses are decidedly averse to it, and will throw difficulties in the

way, as (from the recent occurrences of Amoy) they consider it would tend to endanger

their property, frequently of very large amount, by drawing to these stations, along with

the respectable and bona fide emigrants, thieves and vagabonds and persons of dangerous

character.

3rd. Whampoa is too near to Canton; and should any disturbance take place there in

connexion with emigration, it might react upon Canton, and involve the national relations

by endangering life and property. Macao possesses no peculiar advantages, and the

159
moderate supply of labour that can be obtained there is already forestalled by the parties

connected by the Cuban emigration.

4th. In all these places emigration to the British West Indies will have to compete with

other emigrations, particularly Cuba and Peru; and any prominent advantages held out to

the emigrants for the British West Indies will be immediately laid hold of, and held out

to the emigrants for Cuba and Peru; so that they would be induced to embark for those

places under promises not likely ever to be realised.

5th. If the emigration be conducted from Hong Kong, it may be placed under the

strictest possible supervision, and every guarantee afforded to the emigrant, that the

terms held out as inducements to him to emigrate will be fairly carried out in the colony

to which he is about to transfer his labour. Its establishment from this port will also

prevent all question of a breach of international law on the part of England towards

China, by the carrying on emigration on Chinese territory in violation of the Chinese

laws, by an agent sanctioned and appointed by the English Government. The emigration

agent will be placed under the immediate supervision of government, and his accounts

accurately tested; and the port itself, as the great rendezvous of shipping, offers facilities

for procuring vessels that do not exist at any other port or place in China.

6th. Considering the mutinies and disasters which have occurred within the last two

years on board of Chinese emigrant vessels, and the recent disturbances at Amoy, I

believe that public opinion in England will be better satisfied to learn, that the emigration

to the British West Indies is being conducted openly and fairly, and under every possible

guarantee for the safety of the emigrants, from a British port, than if it were established

at any outport away from the public supervision and control. Nor is it necessary that the

emigration should be actually restricted to Hong Kong; but the headquarters of the agent

being established there, arrangements may be made by him to obtain emigrants from

other places, should circumstances render it advisable to do so, and these he may

superintend and control by occasional visits.

160
 I have not yet made any arrangements for emigration from here, as I have been

anxious to weigh the matter well before coming to a decision. I have consulted several

of the official authorities and the residents; some are in favour of it; others, who are

against it, state that there is a prejudice among respectable Chinese against Hong Kong,

and that good labourers will not come here. I attach no great weight to these objections.

My object is to put emigration on a footing such as has never yet been attempted from

China; and I believe that good labourers will come, if respectable Chinese agents are

employed, provided that they are treated on their arrival with consideration and kindness,

and are assured of being taken on board of good English ships, provided with every

comfort.

I went up to Amoy on the 19th instant to be present at the investigation into the

causes of the recent disturbances there, and returned on the 20th. I go up to Canton and

Whampoa tomorrow, in order to see the Clarendon before she leaves....

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (986): Duke of Newcastle to

Governor Barkly, Despatch No.7, enclosure dated 24 February 1853: Sub-Enclosure

No.1.

[2]

Excerpts from Ship Surgeon Dr Ely's Journal of the Voyage of the SAMUEL

BODDINGTON from Amoy to Demerara, August 1852 to March 1853

September 12. Arrived at Amoy [from Whampoa] and found many vessels there waiting

for cargoes of coolies for Sydney, West Coast of America, and the Spanish West India

islands.

October 21. We have now been laying here (Amoy) 49 days; I almost despair of ever

getting a cargo for Demerara; five ships have been despatched with full cargoes, but we

are still put off, although nine days upon demurrage. There are two gentlemen, Spanish

161
agents, from Havanna, staying at Tait & Co's, who seem to possess sufficient influence to

have all their ships despatched at once. I attribute our delay to this cause.

November 10. This day being the 59th since the arrival of the ship at Amoy, and the

19th day of demurrage, there have been 95 coolies sent on board. These are the remnant

of 215 which had been collected by Taits for us, but who, on being sent off to our ship

without any European to look after them, compelled the Chinese crews of the boats they

were in to run them ashore on the beach, where they made their escape. It appears that

many of them who offer as coolies to go away, do so only for the purpose of obtaining a

few days' food in the receiving ship; and, when they are to be sent away, take every

means to escape. I cannot imagine why it is that Mr Tait, knowing all this, did not as has

been his custom, place some Europeans in the boats to guard them. The small number

we have received were those who were sent in the last boat, and are the worst lot which

were on board the receiving ship. I shall be obliged to reject more than half of them, but

owing to the confusion today, I must defer it till another day....

November 11. No prospect of any more coolies for some time; I am very much vexed at

what has occurred, the more so as all those who have escaped from the boats of Tait &

Co. have gone to the Hongs of Syme and Muir to go to Havanna. We shall thus be

burthened by a set of half-naked, half-starved men for a long time before our full

complement can be collected.... (S)ome of (the coolies) wish to go ashore, and say that

they were deceived by Messrs Tait & Co.'s brokers. This evening two men endeavoured

to swim ashore on some small boards, a distance of two miles, but the gig was lowered,

and they were picked up almost exhausted.....

November 13. Messrs Tait & Co. sent on board 104 coolies, without either now or

previously having given either myself or Captain Hurst notice of their coming. More

than half of the 200 men we have on board are unfit for the purpose they are intended,

and still we are having them thrust aboard whether we wish it or not.....

162
November 23. 147 coolies brought alongside; those already on board commenced

heaving wood, pieces of iron bolts, belaying pins, etc. at the Europeans and coolie

brokers, because they had been "kept so long without clothes or proper food". As soon

as we had got things a little quiet, and the coolies allowed to come on board, I

commenced the examination; and out of every 10 men I inspected, 6 were in my opinion

not of the kind to make good labourers. Mr Conolly continually told me that they could

get no more coolies; that they had enough to make up our number on board, if I would

not be so very strict; that I was rejecting excellent men, who only wanted a month's good

provisions to regain their health, and that they should not pay for any men who might be

deficient, because there were a great plenty to choose from.

[Dr Ely] then overhauled the whole 365 men and boys, and found only 162 men, 40

boys (Total 202) capable of embarkation. Mr Connolly now in plain terms told Captain

Hurst and myself we had but one of two things to do; either take our complement out of

the rejected numbers, or lose any recompense for a short shipment, as they, as agents of

the charterers, considered they were quite good enough. Of course we could do nothing

else than take them, and we have now on board 352 coolies, 150 of whom I had once

rejected, and with whom I expect to have much trouble, and among whom I expect to

have many deaths.

November 24. Amoy is in a state of great confusion and alarm. An army of armed

Chinese had entered the city, killed several Europeans, etc. ... The disturbance said to be

caused by the coolie brokers having enraged the community by enticing some young men

to leave home and go on board the coolie ships under false pretences.

We have not been able to get our supplies, and are going away without them.

November 25. Sailed from Amoy. I find we have more than a hundred opium smokers

on board, and God only knows what is to become of them when their opium is

exhausted.... I have no interpreter; the one engaged effected his escape in the hurry of

163
sailing. I have employed one of the coolies, who can speak a little English, to act as

interpreter, but he can do very little good.....

December 7. Made the [ ? ] Islands ..... coolies almost constantly fighting furiously

among themselves, and so reckless and savage, they use any weapon they can seize.

Then come suspicions of a mutiny. A search was made for weapons, and there were

found secreted in their bags five heavy iron scrapers, two belaying pins, and billets of

firewood, besides other articles which they had picked up about the decks, and secreted

in their bags and on the ledges of the beams.

December 8. The appearance of things on board is assuming rather a serious aspect.

Last evening at 8 o'clock, one of the young men of rather better stamp than the others

came to me, and endeavoured to make me understand something very earnestly. From

the few Chinese words I understand, and from his motions, I learned that the boy Jim

was a bad man, and that he had plenty more men that were going to kill me and

everybody else, and then run the ship ashore on some of these islands. All day today Jim

has not come aft as usual, and has been with the gang I spoke of yesterday in earnest

conference.

December 9. This afternoon the boy Jim asked the serang if he and his lascars would

remain neutral if the coolies were to rise upon the officers and European crew. And this,

said Jim, promises several boxes of dollars on board to the lascars if they would take the

ship back to Amoy, or run her ashore. The ship's cook has then a tale of persecution to

disclose, because he would not hand them out the knives belonging to the galley....

December 10. We have had an ugly day. During the last night, instead of the usual

noise and the various lights, nothing could be heard but a suppressed whispering about

the decks, and not a light was burned. We hung lanterns over the front of the poop, so

that they lit up the main deck, leaving us in darkness; everything remained quiet until

about four in the morning, when one of the men reported a light close under the lee

164
bow.... We looked over the bows about a minute, and made the light to proceed from a

Malay prow, when, upon turning around, we saw the whole port side of the main deck

full of men armed with wood, cook's choppers and other things; we ran to the other side,

which was clear, and before any one could come round the galley, long-boat, etc. we had

reached the poop-deck. Why it is they did not rise I cannot tell, but after looking at the

prows and at ourselves, they went below, and under the forecastle.

We passed Gaspar Island. Coolies down below, holding an earnest conversation. To

enquiries they reply "Pil-long", point to the land, and make me understand exactly what I

knew, that those on deck were watching an opportunity to murder us and run ashore.

Then comes a story of Jim's about a threatened mutiny and butchery. Tonight we were to

have been butchered, at the time I was making my regular round below, by first killing

me below, and then rushing upon the poop with whatever they could lay their hands

upon, and by the force of numbers overpower the crew; they then intended to run the

ship ashore on one of these islands, which they supposed to be China, rob her and burn

her .... This afternoon drifted within a mile of the reefs and rocks off Pulo. The anchor

was to let go immediately in 19 fathoms, and the sails clewed up.

Then comes a narrative of every man i.e. sailor, being armed and stationed upon the

poop. Mr Easthorn and the Doctor, with half a dozen lascars, went forward with

concealed weapons to the forecastle, and, as usual, they found the two men deep in a

serious discussion. Presenting pistols at the head of each one, we suddenly seized them,

and in spite of the desperate resistance of one of them, dragged them upon the poop. The

affair was so quickly and silently done that they had no idea of anything of the kind till it

was over, and their surrounding companions seemed so taken by surprise that they

offered no remonstrance or resistance.

Then comes an account of their being placed in irons, and accusing Jim of starting the

plot. Jim seems very much confused, but as nothing is to be gained by punishing him,

165
they are tacticians enough never to let him know but what they think him entirely

innocent.

Next comes a lecture about the good country where they were going to, where they

would be used well, and not made to work hard, etc. And also that if any disturbance

was made on board, we should not do as we had now done, and risk our own lives to

save theirs, but we should shoot down the actors without mercy; every one expressed his

satisfaction, etc.

Doubts, however, are still recorded. The greater part we have on board are quite

savage, many of them never having seen a European before coming to Amoy to go

away, and having as little idea of right and wrong as the wandering savages of the

wildernesses of America. They are fierce, cunning, ill-natured, revengeful, and

hypocritical; and we have far more to do to keep anything like order among them than if

they were so many monkeys ....

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (986): Governor Barkly to Duke of

Newcastle, Despatch No.11, 12 March 1853, Enclosure No.2.

[3]

Two letters on the departure and arrival of the CLARENDON from Canton (Whampoa)

to Trinidad in 1853

(1) Letter from James White to S.Walcott, Secretary of the Colonial Land and

Emigration Commission

Canton, 8 January 1853

The Clarendon left Whampoa on the 2nd instant, with a full complement, 257 adults,

fine effective people. The people were so eager to go by her, that they remained

alongside the vessel in boats for three or four days, rather than stay on shore, and at last

upwards of 40 were rejected, being above the number the vessel could legally carry.

Every man received 10 dollars in money, and two suits of clothes. The people insisted

166
upon having the vessel fitted up in the same manner as the vessels which had previously

conveyed emigrants to California, and it seemed to give them perfect confidence when

this was done to their satisfaction. I found them cheerful and apparently content with

everything, and I explained to them, through an interpreter, the probable length of the

voyage, the work they would be required to perform, the wages they would receive, and

that they had full liberty to leave the vessel if they wished to do so. I also had a few

notices to the same effect stuck up between decks, and a scale of the provisions they were

entitled to receive as their daily allowance.... There is a good surgeon on board, who was

procured in Calcutta; the one who came out having been dismissed there for misconduct

and intemperance....

I find it impossible to obtain interpreters either at Amoy or Namoa for the emigrants

who have embarked from there; I have therefore written to Penang to His Excellency the

Acting Governor to request that he will be kind enough to give his assistance to procure

four interpreters from there, two for Trinidad and two for Demerara. They can be sent

on either by some vessel that touches there or by the steamers.... A few interpreters may

be obtained at Hong Kong for the emigrants who embark from the Canton districts.

A few women might have been procured to go by the Clarendon, but the captain

objected to take them, on the ground that they would give occasion to quarrels and

disturbances on the voyage, and the matter therefore was not pressed upon him. If the

colonies are desirous to obtain a proportion of women, I think it would be better to keep

this female emigration separate and distinct from the male emigration, and to send some

women by a separate vessel....

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (986): Duke of Newcastle to

Governor Barkly, 24 March 1853, Enclosure in Despatch No.8, Sub-Enclosure No.1

(2) Report from Governor Lord Harris on the arrival of the CLARENDON in Trinidad

7 May 1853

167
 I have the honour to report the arrival of the ship Clarendon, on the 23rd of last month

with 251 Chinese men....

I send .... a copy of one of the agreements which had been entered into with these

men. There are two points in these agreements which I wish to bring to your Grace's

notice, as they both tend greatly to diminish the advantage of this immigration.

The first is, that these people are allowed to remain 13 days in the hospital at a time,

and not lose their pay, so that a man may secure the whole of his month's wages by

working only 3 days, and by remaining in hospital the rest of the time.

The second is of greater importance, and the untoward consequences of the agreement

are not to be got over. It is, that by the contract an engagement is made to pay 5 dollars a

month to these people. By this Act I have been placed in a most awkward predicament,

and was at one time at a loss to know what I should do with the cargo, for the planters at

first declined to take them at a higher rate than those which had previously arrived, who

receive 4 dollars, and the Chinese stoutly refused to take less than had been agreed on. A

number of the agents and proprietors of estates came forward with great spirit and

divided the cargo amongst them, whether they needed them or not, and relieved me of

the difficulty.

I do not know who may have been the author of this very careless arrangement. So

far as I can gather it appears to have been left to the discretion of some agent at two or

three removes of Messrs Hyde & Hodge, who commissioned the captain of the vessel to

make the bargain, and that the rate might have been even higher, had he pleased to raise

it. He appears at all events to have been quite unconscious of one very necessary element

of the labour question, which is, that there should not only be a supply but that the rate of

payment should be such as will afford a prospect of remuneration to the employer, and

which will not upset the arrangements already entered into with the rest of the

population.

168
 There is at present not only the probability that all the Chinamen who had previously

arrived will be dissatisfied unless they receive the same rate of wages, but that

discontent will be aroused amongst the rest of the population, Indians, Africans and

Creoles. The difficulty is aggravated in consequence of the non-arrival of vessels to take

the [Indian] coolies whose term of five years has expired, so that there exists a larger

number of immigrants than was expected at the time when the calculations for the

necessary supply for this year was made.

It is very disagreeable to me to feel it my duty so frequently to point out defects in the

manner in which the immigration to this colony is conducted, .... and .... it is a cause of

great disappointment to me, after having been toiling at this business for six and a half

years, and after having accomplished a successful result, .... with both proprietors and

labourers satisfied and contented, to see its stability risked by such careless treatment....

I may add, that the additional dollar granted to this batch of Chinamen, will be an

increase of expense to the planters of £13,000 , supposing, which will probably be the

case, that the wages of the whole body will have to be raised; a fact which at once shows

the necessity for caution in arrangements of this nature.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (986), pp. 147-8: Governor Lord
Harris to Duke of Newcastle, 7 May 1853.

[4]

Letter from James White to S. Walcott, Secretary of the Colonial Land and Emigration

Commission, at the close of the 1852-3 recruiting season

9 April 1853

The experience of this season has fully confirmed my former views as to the

disadvantage, if not danger, of leaving the emigration from China in private hands,

without sufficient responsibility, and paid by bounty or by a commission on each

169
emigrant shipped. The system will lead to abuses, and bring discredit on the country. It

must be conducted by a paid officer, responsible to Government, and to a certain extent

under the orders and supervision of the local Government. The headquarters of the

emigration office should be at Hong Kong, but the agent should have authority to procure

emigrants at other places, and to send vessels there, if necessary. There will be a good

deal of expense in organising an office, and proper establishment, at the commencement,

but everything must be done to inspire confidence among the Chinese, so that they may

come from the country to seek for emigration of their own accord, and not at the

instigation of brokers, who may probably deceive them by means which our ignorance of

the mainland, and our very imperfect knowledge of their habits and language, render it

impossible to discover until it be too late to apply the necessary remedy....

In order to disabuse the public mind of the strong feeling that now prevails adverse to

all emigration, I have had .... notices and instructions printed .... (T)heir tenor will show

the anxiety of Government that this new emigration should be openly and fairly

conducted, and in a manner likely to be conducive to the general benefit of all parties

interested in its welfare.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (986): Duke of Newcastle to Lt

Governor Walker, 29 June 1853, Enclosure to Despatch No.16, Sub-Enclosure No.1

[5]

Report on the Arrival of the LADY FLORA HASTINGS to Trinidad from Swatow in

July 1853

I have the honour to report to Your Grace the arrival of the Lady Flora Hastings with

305 Chinamen ...... I have again to complain to Your Grace about this vessel having

arrived here without an interpreter. The difficulties which have occurred in consequence

of this unaccountable neglect have been and are very great. We have but one interpreter,

procured unexpectedly from a coolie's ship, in which he was engaged as a carpenter, and

170
he is now almost worn out from having so constantly to run about the country from one

police station to another. The captain of the Lady Flora Hastings informs me that he

could have brought any number of interpreters, speaking English well, from Hong Kong.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (986): Despatches from Governor

Lord Harris of Trinidad, No.5: Governor Lord Harris to the Duke of Newcastle, 4 July

1853.

[6]

Report by Emigration Agent J.White on the Departure of the EPSOM from Hong Kong

for Jamaica in 1854:

The emigrants are all fine able-bodied men, and .... are all, with the exception of

about half a dozen, agricultural labourers. Of these I allowed some to come on board,

because they had some slight knowledge of English, which I thought might be useful in

Jamaica, and there are probably two or three substitutes, who could not be detected at the

last moment. One man has a knowledge of Bengalee, having been some years in India.

Owing to the captain's irresolution, I could not depend upon the vessel until the 10th,

when active measures were taken to procure emigrants. At first they came forward in

considerable numbers, and I expected to have got them away within a fortnight, but a

difficulty arose when I wished to pay their advances. Having no proper depot on shore,

and no means of legal restraint, to prevent them from leaving the ship in harbour, they

would certainly have run away on receiving the money. I therefore caused it to be

intimated to them that the vessel would drop outside the harbour, and that their money

would be paid to them on board. The contractors who had brought them, finding that if

171
the ship moved out of harbour the men would be away from their influence, and that they

would thus be prevented from purloining a portion of the advances, got up a cry of alarm

that the ship was going to take them away as slaves without paying advances, and that

there were quantities of manacles and fetters on board for their confinement. The

consequence was, that in the excitement and confusion that followed, the greater number

went away in the boats that had come alongside, carrying with them several articles of

clothing and other articles that had been put on board for their use.

I determined, however, to persevere, and the vessel dropped outside sufficiently far to

prevent unneccessary intercourse with the shore. The people remaining on board were

paid, and a boat sent alongside well furnished with such articles as they were likely to

require. For several days no emigrants came forward, but at length the favorable account

given by the people on board, and the facilities given to those who could be depended on

for coming on shore, counteracted the evil reports spread by the contractors, and men

came to the office to make enquiries, and finally to offer themselves as emigrants. After

this, matters went on smoothly, and the number required was completed without

difficulty.

The greater number of the emigrants on board the Epsom may therefore be considered

as voluntary emigrants; and this is the only instance in which the advances paid have

been received by the emigrants themselves, and expended as they thought proper.

Hitherto the crimps have always managed by fair means or by foul, to appropriate the

largest portion of the advance.

This first experiment of emigration from Hong Kong may therefore be considered as

successful, but there is not yet sufficient experience to determine what supply of labour

may be depended upon from the mainland; and I recommend .... that in the case of

vessels chartered in England, a clause be inserted, giving a discretionary power to the

Agent to place the vessel for the purpose of receiving emigrants, if necessary, elsewhere

than at Hong Kong....

172
 The Epsom left on the forenoon of the 1st instant, [April] under favourable auspices,

and with a moderate breeze from the North. The people seemed perfectly content with

the arrangements made, and as everything has been done for their comfort and safety, I

trust they will arrive in safety and prove a benefit to the island. The vessel got under

way amid the firing of crackers and the uproar of gongs and drums, in token of their

satisfaction.

Fifteenth General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (1855),
Appendix No.51. Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University
Press), Vol.12.

[7]

Two reports on the progress of the Chinese in British Guiana:

(1) Report from Governor Barkly of British Guiana

26 February, 1853

In reporting the arrival of the Glentanner and Lord Elgin with the first Chinese

emigrants ever brought to this colony, I reserved the expression of any deliberate opinion

as to their comparative efficiency as agricultural labourers until I should have longer and

better opportunities for enquiry and observation....

.... it might have been anticipated that they would prove peculiarly susceptible of the

intermittent fever and ague so common in this country, or even of the epidemic fever

which still continues its ravages among those of European origin newly arrived; but the

report of the Surgeon-General shows that out of 29 invalids admitted on arrival to the

public hospital, a single case of each type has alone been exhibited, whilst the recovery

of the man who caught the yellow fever, who as yet forms the solitary exception to the

300 and odd other immigrants, corroborates .... the idea that the vital organism of the

Chinese is exceedingly strong. His estimate that double the mortality would have

occurred among Africans or Coolies exposed to equal hardships was more than

173
confirmed to me by the opinions of the medical men who have attended those who were

sent to the estates on the other side of the river Demerara; one and all the managers

moreover agreeing, that the proportion of the whole who had complained in any way of

sickness was not half what it usually was during the first month or two of the

acclimatization even of Calcutta coolies.

..... a report from the Stipendiary Magistrate of the District, Mr Ware, .... informed me

that a serious affray had taken place between the Chinese immigrants located on

Plantation Blankenburg and the emancipated negroes inhabiting the adjacent freehold

village of Den Amstel, and that he was greatly at a loss how to conduct the proceedings,

upon a charge brought in consequence against six of the former who had been taken into

custody by the police, owing to the want of any interpreter competent to translate the

evidence from English into Chinese, or vice versa, the best of the number yet arrived

scarcely comprehending the commonest sentence in the former language.

Convinced of the necessity of nipping such quarrels in the bud, I at once determined

to repair to the spot, and be present, with as much official display as was convenient, at

Mr Ware's investigation, to facilitate which I requested the attendance of Dr David Shier,

who had accompanied the Chinese as Surgeon to the Lord Elgin, and who understands

their language when spoken, though not himself able to converse fluently in it.

A very painstaking and searching enquiry took place in my presence.... it appeared

clear that the conduct of the Chinese after the first dispute between one of their number

and one of the villagers, which it seems probable originated in their ignorance of each

other's intention and language, had been marked by great violence and a formidable spirit

of combination, which but for the presence of mind of the manager of the plantation and

the firmness of three policemen whom he summoned to his aid from the nearest station

must have led to bloodshed. The six ringleaders were sentenced to a month's hard labour

each in Georgetown gaol.

174
 My object, however, is rather to advert to the great deference to constituted authority

exhibited by the Chinese throughout these transactions, 30 or 40 of them in the first

instance laying down their weapons and allowing a part of their number to be arrested by

a few unarmed policemen of the very race and colour for which they had previously

shown such extreme contempt as to attack at least 600 arrayed for the defence of the

village; while the orderliness of their behaviour was even more strongly shown on the

occasion of my visit, as large a number as the room in which the enquiry was held would

accommodate being admitted and listening with grave attention to the evidence pro and

con as translated into Chinese, or repeating it from time to time to their countrymen who

surrounded the house. Finally, though the six men who were convicted were conducted

back for the night to the station-house, and marched publicly along the high road next

day to gaol, under the escort of the same three policemen, not the least sign of turbulence

was manifested.

I am encouraged to hope therefore that this example will prevent any further

disturbance of the public peace, particularly as I endeavoured to explain to them the

proper mode of obtaining redress for any grievance they might suppose themselves

suffering under, and also enjoined upon the negroes patience and forbearance towards

them, which was readily promised, accompanied by an assurance that they considered

them more "respectable" than the Indian coolies, and should be glad to live on good

terms with them.

With respect to .... their efficiency in labour, it might almost suffice to say that the six

set to break stones within the gaol accomplished a far larger amount of work in the

allotted hours than has ever previously been got out of Negroes, Portuguese or Coolies;

but I can also bear personal testimony to the general approbation expressed of them as

labourers in sugar cultivation by all the planters who have yet had to do with them,

corroborated by the material fact of the large earnings to which they had entitled

themselves in addition to their keep.

175
 Their houses were a model of cleanliness and comfort, and they were described to me

as distinguished by singular decorum and good breeding in their deportment towards

each other, never beginning their meals until all were ready, and then dividing the food

given them into equal portions before any one commenced eating. They display their

imitative tendencies in a most extraordinary way - several of them having attended a

neighbouring missionary chapel on the Sabbath and gone through the whole service as if

they understood it, kneeling, sitting or standing with the rest of the congregation. They

have likewise purchased already several articles of European attire, and seem disposed -

unlike the natives of India - to spend their money very freely in such things, or even in

mere luxuries and dainties.... I am so strongly convinced that the Chinese possess the

energy and intelligence attributed to them .... that I perceive with very great regret that it

is Dr Bowring's opinion that the emigration from that country to the West Indies will not

proceed at the rapid rate anticipated, and that it will moreover be next to impossible to

domiciliate the Chinese with wives and families in a foreign land.

Thirteenth General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (1853),

Appendix No.50: Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University

Press), Vol.12.

(2) Report from the Manager of Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara

24 June 1853

I am happy to inform you that the Chinese on this estate are some of my best

labourers; for strength and endurance they are equal to the Africans.

Last month I had an average of 90 of these fine labourers at work every day,

performing the following work, viz: cutting canes, forking cane fields, supplying canes,

hauling cane trash off the fields recently cut, working on the copper wall as boilermen,

working in the distillery, loading cane punts, carrying megass, etc.

176
 Without our Chinese boys I do not know how we would manage for megass carriers,

as there is not a single creole working with them.

The men cutting canes get the same amount as the black people per punt, and they

work on an average for three bitts per day. They say, as soon as we have been in the

colony long enough to understand the different kind of work, we will make as much

money as the creole people.

In forking many of them work for one guilder per day, and few of them make less

than three bitts; supplying canes, they make the same amount as forking, hauling, and

tying cane trash, which is light work; they make the same amount as black people; and I

must do them the justice to say that they do that kind of work 50 per cent better than the

creoles. The men in the boiling house get from five to six bitts per day, according to the

quantity of sugar made; those in the distillery get a shilling per day, as their work is light,

and they finish early; the children carrying megass, and working about the building, get

12 cents per day, that being the usual price paid by estates.

The people are happy and contented and cheerful, and I am well satisfied with them; I

have advised Mr Bascom to make application for a hundred more, and sincerely hope we

may get them.

You are aware there has been but one Chinaman sent to gaol from this estate, and he

was committed for an act of violence. Three or four of the men keep a night school, and

are teaching the boys to write and sing; I often go to their house in the evening, and they

always appear glad to see me, and ask many questions about their work; I think I have

only done my people justice in speaking of them in a flattering manner.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (986): Acting Governor Walker to

Duke of Newcastle, Despatch No.16, 8 July 1853, Enclosure No.3.

[8]

Three reports on the progress of the Chinese in Trinidad:

177
(1) Report from Immigration Agent-General Henry Mitchell in November 1853

Those landed ex Australia numbered 432. Eight were sent to hospitals, and the

remainder distributed on estates in the Counties of St George's, Caroni, Victoria and St

Patrick, in detachments varying in number from 16 to 33; of the eight sent to hospital

five ultimately survived and were assigned in the same manner as the others.

During the first month matters went on smoothly on most estates; the proprietors

anxious to promote this new immigration, allowed the Chinese to take their own way,

seldom exacting anything like a full day's labour from the new immigrants, while at the

same time, the latter were allowed pay and rations like seasoned labourers in full

employment. On some estates, however, they showed their temper before three weeks

had passed, refusing to work, and insisting on full rations in the terms of their

agreements, which stipulated that no man should be mulcted in either allowance or pay,

unless he were more than 14 days sick continuously. As the Chinese are not proverbially

deficient in cunning, they in many instances laid up during 14 days, and turned out on the

15th, turning in again on the 16th for the remainder of the month, and then claiming all

the privileges of those who had done a full month's work. Finding that no immediate

punishment followed this unfair conduct, and that in consequence of cases being in all

directions postponed, from the non-ubiquity of the single interpreter whom chance had

vouchsafed the colony, they struck work almost entirely on several estates, and only

showed symptoms of industry as they gradually found that, though slow, the punishment

for insubordination was more or less sure. On every estate it was explained to them that

they might go at once on the current rate of wages, which admitted of the most

industrious doubling their rate, as per agreement, or adhere to the latter, provided always

the day's labour consisted of nine working hours; it was further explained, that after the

first three months they should be placed on money wages, entirely in conformity with the

ordinance....

178
 The majority objected to any arrangement except their own pleasure, and hence

constant complaints from the employers, and occasionally a good deal of turbulence on

the part of the employed. As exceptions to the general rule it must be stated, that on

seven of the 18 estates where the Chinese per Australia were assigned, their behaviour

was good, giving every satisfaction to the employer by their industry and docility, in fact

they are there considered in every point of view as the best immigrants hitherto imported.

On nine more estates, at this moment, they are behaving well and working better,

encouraging the hope that, as they gradually acquire a knowledge of the language and

manners of the country, their value as a labouring population will increase. On the

remaining two estates they are working very indifferently, and much reduced by

sickness. The Chinese, per Australia, have now been here almost nine months; on the

number originally assigned, namely 429, the casualties amount to 51, of these 31 have

died on three estates where fever prevailed this last year in a malignant form.

The second ship, namely the Clarendon, .... landed 251 immigrants, of whom two

were sent to hospital and turned out incurables. The remainder, apparently in the finest

health, were assigned to 12 estates; some little difficulty occurred in the apportionment,

as the turbulence of their countrymen, per Australia, had made the planters doubtful as to

either the safety or propriety of employing them. The Clarendon men were from the

vicinity of Canton, and though less bulky than those per Australia, who are from the

Fokien district, appear smarter and more civilized. They turned out much more difficult

to control, and refused to work more than four or five hours at the most on upwards of

eight estates out of the 12. They now understand their position somewhat better, and

with the exception of one estate are improving. The deaths amount to 17 on 249

assigned.

The Lady Flora Hastings .... landed 305 labourers and two native doctors; of the

labourers 293 were assigned to estates, and 12 sent to hospital. Those assigned were

generally in good condition, but much inferior in point of physical constitution to those

179
by the preceding ships. Nearly all of them from the testimony of the captain and the

surgeon, confirmed by further experience, are opium smokers, a vice brought to its acme

by the native doctors, who introduced on board, previous to sailing, a large quantity of

the drug, which exercised a most deleterious influence on their health, till discovered and

seized by the captain. The Chinese by this ship were a mixed race, and more given to

fighting among themselvves than either of the former arrivals; from this habit two deaths

have resulted.

Out of 17 estates to which they have been assigned, there is only one where their

labour has given entire satisfaction, and on that, one hanged himself: on some of the

others they are improving a little; but generally speaking even parties who have

succeeded perfectly with the first and second sets complain bitterly of the utter

worthlessness of the last, and that their time is entirely taken up in tending their bedsides

or dressing their sores, and that when cured they are opium smokers and unfit for labour.

Nine were ultimately discharged from hospital and assigned with the original 293,

making in all 302; among these, the total deaths are 33.

In reverting generally to the deaths which have occurred up to date, nearly 100 in all,

and the very unsatisfactory behaviour and labour of the majority for some time after their

arrival, I feel warranted in stating that the first might have been greatly diminished, and

the last entirely averted, had the newly arrived immigrants been accompanied by a

sufficiency of interpreters. A thorough knowledge of their position would have entirely

prevented them from refusing to labour, and setting their employers at defiance, and

induced them to turn to advantage the time they idly wasted in exercises which left them

an easy prey to the epidemic influences of a more than unhealthy season. The utter

absence of any facilities of communication prevented even those who were kindly

disposed from consoling and encouraging them in febrile attacks, which, with them,

generally assume a typhoid stamp of short duration and fatal issue. The value of

sufficient interpretation has not been overrated in these remarks, because some of the

180
most unruly and turbulent of the first arrivals are now working well and earning high

wages, after having passed, however, through the unpleasant ordeal of the treadmill.

1st December. I had occasion this day to visit the River Estate, on which 20 Chinese of

Clarendon are located. They are installed in the dwelling house of one of the wealthiest

absentee proprietors of the island, with abundance of pigs, poultry, etc. of their own, and

unlimited ground for raising provisions. They are all able-bodied, and in fine health; but

are not doing more for a day's work than children of 14 years old - in fact, their labour

has never extended beyond four hours daily, yet they insist on full pay. Their position

was explained to them, and the necessity of conforming to the rules formed for their

guidance and conduct.

On several other estates they have commenced gardening, and as high profits may be

realised from their thus employing their leisure - much higher, indeed, than from average

wages - it may be the means of soon restoring them to the industrious habits for which

the Chinese are proverbial. The Orange Grove Estate may be instanced as one where the

garden cultivation is carried out in a most creditable manner. The serious and protracted

sickness of the Chinese immigrants, coupled with their early unsteady behaviour, has

caused great irregularity in the repayment of the advances they received before

embarking; but, except in the cases of death, there will probably be little or no loss. On

none of the estates do they repudiate the debt, but ask for time to repay, promising to

liquidate all during crop season, when wages are higher.

Of the two native doctors who arrived per Lady Flora Hastings, one returned at his

own request to China, via Calcutta, in the ship Shand, with a letter of advice to Mr Caird,

the immigration agent in that city, to send him on to Amoy. The other has, I understand,

married a Creole of this island, and enjoys a flourishing practice, to the extreme disgust

of the licentiates of less venerable institutions.

From the experience I now have of the Chinese, I should deem it inexpedient to

import any during the ensuing year, or till the generality have the means of

181
communicating in the English language, and have suited themselves in the choice of

masters. They will then probably become the most valuable immigrants hitherto settled

in Trinidad.

8th December. That a further importation at present would increase the difficulties of

the planters generally may be inferred from the fact that the interpreters have been

already out on duty during the present week, are still required to attend complaints at

station houses in Victoria, Caroni, and St George's; and nine Chinese were sent up from

San Fernando to gaol on Tuesday last for vagabondage or theft. On those estates where

their labour has been completely successful, there is no demand for a further supply

beyond what can be easily furnished from the properties where they have failed.

Fourteenth General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (1854),

Appendix No.76: Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University

Press), Vol.12.

(2) Report from Immigration Agent-General Mitchell on the Chinese from the

AUSTRALIA at the end of their first year:

19th April 1854

.... the Chinese immigrants per Australia terminated the first year of their industrial

residence on the 10th ultimo. The number originally distributed was 424, of these 86

have died ....

Nothwithstanding the mortality, the result of this first experiment in Chinese

immigration has been satisfactory, and in some cases highly so, as for instance, on the

Broomage, Upper Caroni, St Marie, and Camden. On the two former estates there were

no deaths, and on the whole the employers expressed their conviction that the Chinese

labourers were the best they had hitherto tried. That much depends on the employer is

evident, from the fact that in certain cases of transfer, hands previously useless from

sickness or other causes became shortly effective....

182
.... the repayment of the Chinese advances .... is in a much more satisfactory state than

could have been predicted under the circumstances....

Although some allowances may be made for nostalgia and its consequent depression

of spirit, it is to be feared that many deaths of parties, who to all appearances were doing

well in the evening and died before morning, must be ascribed to opium or similar

poisons. In three cases opium was found in the mouths of the dead, and full dose in the

second stage of climate fever is almost assuredly fatal. How far the sale of the drug

might be restricted, and how far the restriction might be attended with advantage, it were

difficult to say; but I have been credibly informed that individuals have purchased as

much as $25 worth at once. As they barely earn on an average more than is sufficient for

their support, this sum must have been deducted from the necessary supplies of life.

Fifteenth General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (1855),

Appendix No.55: Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University

Press), Vol.12.

(3) Report from Immigration Agent-General Mitchell on the Chinese at the end of their

term of service (1st June 1858)

.... The industrial residence of the Chinese ex Australia and Clarendon, who arrived here

in the spring of 1853, has terminated, and as that of the balance ex Lady Flora Hastings

will expire this month, it may be assumed that sufficient experience has been acquired of

the manners and habits of this class of labourers to allow of tolerably safe conclusions

being drawn regarding their value in an agricultural point of view, and the extent to

which they are likely to amalgamate usefully with other classes of their own status.

When the Chinese .... were first distributed in 1853, I requested in writing, after the

lapse of one month, opinions from several of their employers .... The answers returned

were generally favourable, and were afterwards published in the Blue Book for 1853.

183
 The employers found them somewhat expensive at first, and difficult to manage, but

augured well of their future industry. During the first few months, however, various

misunderstandings took place on the subject of work and wages, and these, for want of

competent interpreters, took long to settle, and in some cases were only settled by

removing the people.

But this was exceptional; the majority of employers, though for some time they

complained of the Chinese being difficult to manage, gradually came to look upon them

as a valuable class of labourers, and those who had succeeded with them from the first

preferred them to all others....

Many of them hold situations of high trust and responsibility upon estates, and the

numbers who are independent, and conversant with the French and English languages,

would inspire their newly-arrived countrymen with hope, and dissipate that lowness of

spirits, which, in their own case, coupled with abuse of opium, left so many unresisting

victims to the climatic remittent fever.

.... of 665 Chinese now remaining from the original allotments, 310 had remained on the

estates to which they were originally attached, while 255 had purchased their remaining

periods of industrial residence, and about 100 were unattached, from reasons given in the

Annual Report for 1857.

The Canton coast is a sugar-growing country, and its inhabitants have been officially

reported, on the best authority, by Sir Frederic Rogers, in his letter of 7 January 1853, to

be strong, thrifty, intelligent and industrious, and of all Chinamen the best adapted for

labour in the West Indies. The wages near Canton are $2 per month with rice, and the

people would certainly be content to emigrate for $5 and rice, or $7 without

allowances....

Nineteenth General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (1859),

Appendix No. 42: Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University

Press), Vol.14.

184
 [9]

Request from the British Guiana Legislature in March 1853 for the Colonial Office to

consider Chinese emigration from Java

It is my duty .... in compliance with the request made to me, to move your Grace to

cause communications to be opened with the Government of the Netherlands, with a

view of ascertaining whether Chinese, or half-bred Chinese, would be allowed to be

brought from Java here. I am not myself sanguine as to the result of such an application,

did Her Majesty's Government feel at liberty to make it, but it will be observed from a

report of the debate in the Combined Court, which I enclose, that the suggestion

emanates from a gentleman whom I have several times mentioned as being well

acquainted with the views of the authorities in the island in question, and it was, I

believe, recommended to him by correspondents in Holland, who conceive that no

obstacles would be interposed, and that such an immigration may possibly ere long be set

on foot to the adjacent colony of Surinam.

Enclosure: The following resolutions were proposed by Mr Gon Netscher, and adopted:

"That His Excellency the Governor be requested to move the Secretary for the Colonies

to take the necessary steps in order to ascertain whether the Dutch Government will

allow emigration of Chinese, or half-bred Chinese, from Java, to the amount of 3,000 per

annum, two-thirds males and one-third females; the voyage from Java being but half of

that from Amoy, and the climate of the island the same as that of this colony,

consequently the people are better adapted for our purpose; but, in the meantime, that

Mr White be authorised to take steps for the introduction of 1,500 Chinese from China."

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1852-53, LXVIII (986): Despatches from Governor

Barkly, No.10.

185
 [10]

List of passengers on the MERWEDE, the first vessel to transport Chinese to Surinam

from Batavia (now Jakarta), 2 July to 20 October 1853

1) Ho Tjoen Kiat Sugar Planter Died 17 October 1853

2) Jap Nai Tjoen "
3) Jap Pe "
4) Lim Teksoeij "
5) Loe Oe I "
6) Louw Kiem "
7) Oey Angnio Sugar Cook

8) Oey Kimseng Sugar Planter

9) Ouw Kiat " died 18 July 1853

10) Soe Tekhok "

11) Souw Teksioe "
12) Tan Phoea "
13) Tan Sian " died 9 August 1853
14) Tan Tetlaij "
15) Tan Tion "
16) Teng Beng " leader of the group

17) Thio Engoan " died 19 September 1853

18) Thio Tjaij " transported to

hospital in Paramaribo on
arrival

N. B. 8 returned to Java via Holland after their contracts expired in 1856, 7 died in all,

and 3 remained in Surinam, as interpreters for the Chinese who came in 1858. One of

them, Oey Kim Seng, died on 9 August 1866.

Source: Stichting Surinaams Museum (Surinamese Museum Foundation) March 1982

(36)

[11]

186
Mr Merivale [Colonial Office] to Mr Hammond [Foreign Office]

Downing Street, 12 June 1854

I am directed by the Duke of Newcastle to transmit to you, for the information of the

Earl of Clarendon .... a report from the Commissioners for Colonial Lands and

Emigration , explaining the views which they entertain of the proposal made by Mr
9

White, the Emigration Agent in China, for making advances to Chinese emigrants to

enable them to purchase women in marriage, according to the customs of their country.

The Commissioners advert also to the dissatisfaction expressed by Lord Clarendon at the

insufficiency of the notice taken by them of the unlawful proceedings adopted by Mr

White for dispatching vessels from Namoa, and they point out that they had expressed

great regret at this proceeding, reminding Mr White that it was in direct violation of the

Treaties, and expressing their trust that no emigrants would be dispatched from that or

any other port not legally open to British trade.

Mr White is on his way back to this country, and it is not intended that he should be

employed again. Any other agent who may be sent out will be duly apprised that, if he

should knowingly and contrary to his instructions adopt any proceedings in violation of

the Treaties with China, he will be held, equally with any other British subject, amenable

to the law....

I am directed to inclose to you, for Lord Clarendon's information, a copy of a

despatch which his Grace has addressed to the Governors of Jamaica, British Guiana,

Trinidad, and Mauritius. His Grace thinks it necessary to warn the colonies concerned in

the emigration from the East that it cannot be permitted to proceed upon the present

footing as to the disparity of the sexes.

Enclosure : The Duke of Newcastle to the Governors of Jamaica, British Guiana,

Trinidad, Mauritius, etc.

Downing Street, 12 June 1854

9 Not included . Editor's Note.

187
 I inclose for your information copies and extracts of a correspondence between this

Office, the Foreign Office, and the Commissioners for Emigration, arising out of a

proposal made by Mr White, the Emigration Agent in China, to procure female emigrants

from that country by making advances of money to male emigrants for the purchase of

women in marriage according to the customs of China.

You will perceive that the Earl of Clarendon regards the proposal with great alarm as

involving the instrumentality of the British Government in promoting the sale of Chinese

women for expatriation without their consent, and that the Emigration Commissioners

defend it on this ground, among others, that in China female children are habitually

either destroyed or sold as slaves to procuresses to be brought up as prostitutes, and that

it were better they should be sold in marriage to be taken to a free country.

When an agent shall be again sent to China, he will be instructed to report, on the one

hand, whether the offer of a bounty to men who have been enabled to marry from their

own resources will be available to procure the emigration of married couples, or on the

other whether the offer of a bounty in advance to male emigrants to enable them to

marry, can be so guarded as to ascertain that marriages shall not take place, in virtue of

the advance, without the consent of the woman to the marriage and to the emigration.

I send you this correspondence in order that you may be aware of the very serious

questions which are arising out of the disproportion of the sexes in the emigrations from

Asia hitherto effected or set on foot. It is necessary to apprize you that unless the

difficulties of redressing this disproportion can in one way or another be overcome, the

emigration cannot be permitted to proceed. Her Majesty's Government cannot incur the

reproach of forming over again in the West Indies and Mauritius such male communities

as were formed in the earlier part of this century in Australia.

So long as the emigrants went to the West Indies to labour for a term of five years,

and no more, with a purpose, to be duly executed, of returning to their country and

families at the end of that term, the evil of being unaccompanied by their wives, great as

188
it was, might not be regarded as intolerable. But first the practice was adopted of

inducing the coolies to commute their back passages and engage themselves to remain

for a second period of five years; and next the Court of Directors sanctioned an original

contract for a ten years' residence, and the result must be expected to be that the greater

number of the East Indian emigrants will never return, whilst the Chinese, who make no

stipulation to have back passage provided for them, will also in all probability settle in

the colonies to which they are brought.

These facts and prospects give an importance to the disproportion of sexes, which it is

impossible any longer to overlook, and unless that disproportion can be rectified it will

be indispensable that the emigration should be brought to a speedy termination, deeply as

that necessity would have to be lamented.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, 1854-55, XXXIX (O.7), Despatch No. 6

CHAPTER FIVE

THE EMIGRATION YEARS (1859-1866)

The years 1859-1866 were the high point of Chinese emigration to the British West

Indies. The 1858/59 season was handled by a West India Committee appointee, Mr

Gerard, prior to the appointment of a replacement for Mr White in J. Gardiner Austin.

The establishment of agencies at Hong Kong and Canton, and cooperation from China-

based European missionaries and the Guangdong (Kwangtung) provincial authorities,

brought a certain measure of stability in the British emigration effort. (After 1862 Mr

189
Austin was replaced by his Canton deputy, Mr Theophilus Sampson.) During these

years, 34 vessels sailed for British Guiana, 5 for Trinidad, and one for British Honduras,

with just over 14,000 Chinese. The Dutch Government in Surinam also experimented

with Chinese immigration during these years. Two further shipments from Macao had

been attempted in 1858, under state auspices. With the end of slavery in 1863, the issue

was again raised, and between 1865 and 1869 the private company, the Surinam

Immigration Corporation, brought 7 further vessels of Chinese from Hong Kong. In

1869, the Hong Kong government banned further shipments of contract labourers to non-

British territories. All in all, about 2,530 Chinese arrived in Surinam between 1853 and

1869. The French West Indies also toyed with proposals for importing Chinese labour

from Canton, and also from Shanghai. Only a few vessels, however, ever went to this

part of the Caribbean, bringing just under 1,000 to Martinique, Guadeloupe and French

Guiana.

The documents record the unique aspects of the British recruitment process (sections

1-3), and multifaceted commentaries on the arrival of selected groups of immigrants in

the West Indies (4-12). This includes the issue of female immigration (section 13). They

record also specimens of indenture contracts (section 14), details of annual financial

expenditure on immigration (section 15), and two comparative comments on Chinese

indenture in the non-British Caribbean (16-17).

[1]

Excerpt from Official Proclamation on Emigration issued in October 1859 by the

Governor of Guangdong (Kwangtung) Province

Within and without the city of Canton there is a certain class of lawless miscreants

who inveigle away, and even kidnap, peaceable people, and secretly sell them for foreign

exportation. They are known by the name of the "pig-sellers", and their cruel and

unnatural disposition is deserving of the deepest abhorrence. The records show that they

190
have already been laid under severe interdicts by my predecessor in the government of

this province, and that the local authorities are directed to arrest and punish them.

But among the Chinese population some are to be found who, being poor and without

the means of obtaining a livelihood themselves, desire to go abroad to seek the means of

subsistence. In the case of such people, their emigration is voluntary, and wholly

different from that which is conducted by the kidnapper who sells his fellowman. In

order that this villainy may be stopped, and the difference between it and the former

made patent to the world, such means of investigation and of inspection should be

provided as will plainly denote a distinction.

It has been formally intimated to me by the Allied Commissioners that the British

Government has sent an authorised agent to these provinces to establish an emigration

house for the reception of emigrants for the British West Indies. To this end it is

proposed that those Chinese who wish to obtain employment in the said colonies should

go to the Emigration House and there negotiate for themselves all the conditions of

service as well as their exact destination, and that these conditions, when accepted by

both parties, should be recorded in a formal contract, and joint inquiry be held by the

foreign agent and a Chinese officer specially deputed for the purpose, in order that the

circumstances of each case may be clearly ascertained, and thus all the abuses attendant

on kidnapping may be eradicated. The Governor is also requested by the Commissioners

to issue a proclamation on the subject.

The Governor has accordingly directed the Financial and Judicial Commissioners of

the Province to communicate the establishment of these arrangements to all their

respective subordinate authorities, and require them to make the same everywhere known

by proclamation, and the said Commissioners will also see that the cooperation of the

Chinese officers (with the foreign Emigration Agents) is duly provided for...

191
Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1860, LXIX, (2714), Correspondence respecting

Emigration from Canton: Despatch No.6, Parkes to Hammond 13 November 1859,

Enclosure No.9.

[2]

Public Notice displayed in China to intending emigrants by Austin, Special Agent of the

British Government for the Regulation and Encouragement of Emigration from China to

the British West Indies.

Some difficulties having arisen from the imperfect understanding of the clauses of the

Public Notices, heretofore issued by me, I have judged it expedient to set forth fully

again, for the information of all, the condition of emigrants in the British West Indies,

and the terms on which I am authorised by the British Government to engage Emigrants

for service therein.

· There is no slavery wherever the British Flag flies.

· The Law is the same to rich and poor. All Religions are tolerated and protected, and

the Queen of England has appointed Special Magistrates in her West Indian Colonies,

to look after and protect the strangers, who go there to seek their fortunes.

· All Chinese may therefore go without fear to the British West Indies.

· The climate is very much like that of Southern China.

· The cultivation is chiefly that of the Sugar Cane.

· The wages offerred during five years service under contract, are in accordance with

the current price of labor in the West Indies, and vary from 2 shillings to 4 shillings

per day, according to the industry and ability of the emigrant. House, garden ground,

and medical attendance, are supplied free of charge.

· Any laborer entering into a contract for five years, and desiring to cancel it at the end

of the first year, and work where he pleases, can do so on repayment of four fifths of

the passage money from China to the West Indies, estimated at $75. At the end of

192
 the second year, he can cancel it on repayment of three fifths, and so on, one fifth

being deducted for every year's service.

· Special means of remitting money, and of corresponding with relatives gratuitously,

will be afforded.

· A free passage is offered, and clothing for the voyage.

· A special Law has been passed by the Parliament of England, for the feeding and

protection of the emigrants during the voyage.

· An advance of wages to the extent of twenty dollars for the married men, and ten

dollars for the single men, will be made, either by monthly payments in China to the

families of male emigrants, or to themselves. If an emigrant desires to draw the

whole advance himself he can do so, but if leaving a monthly allotment of one or two

dollars to his family, the first six monthly payments will be deducted. The cash

payment to the emigrant will be deducted from the wages to be earned by him, at the

rate of one dollar per month, and the payments to his family in equal amounts

monthly.

· To such emigrants as may be desirous of taking their families, a gift of twenty dollars

will be made to the wife, a similar sum to each adult daughter, and five dollars to

each child.

· Provision will be made in the West Indies, for the education of children.

· Women will be unfettered by any engagement whatever, being free to work or to

attend to their household duties, solely as their wants and inclinations determine.

· Lastly a Depot has been established by me at for the reception of

emigrants, where those enrolling themselves can be housed and fed until a vessel is

ready for sea, and where those who desire further information, can obtain it from the

Officer in charge.

J. GARDINER AUSTIN.

193
Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents, C.O.111, Vol.334, Hincks to Newcastle, 21

March 1862, enclosure.

[3]

Comments from Emigration Agent J.Gardiner Austin on the contrasts between the

British and Cuban recruitment procedures in China, and on the success of the 1860 West

Indies emigration effort

Mr Parkes, the British Commissioner of Canton, Mr Lobscheid, a German missionary,

and myself, were all agreed that as our acts and intentions were as different to those of

the Chinese crimps as day to night, so should every step taken be dissimilar. Instead of

collecting people by force or fraud, I therefore employed the press to sow the good seed

over the length and breadth of Quantung, and to make known to those who were in

poverty that the British Government offered them a new home where comparative

affluence was the reward of honest labour.

Instead of the Swatow dens of filth and iniquity where the sustenance barely sufficed

to support life, and where husbands and children torn from their families were caged till

their purchasers called for compulsory removal to the ships, I offered the best and

amplest food at houses to and from which there was FREE ingress and egress, where

every information was available from maps, pamphlets and notices, and from whence the

labourers were at perfect liberty to return to their old homes, or to seek the new one

offered to them.

Instead of forcing the emigrants to indent themselves to worse even than slavery by

renunciation of the advantages of free British citizens, the current wages of the colonies,

house and garden rent free, correspondence free of cost with relatives left behind, and the

punctual payment at Hong Kong or Canton monthly from the day of embarkation, of

such portion of the wages to be earned as the emigrants desired to appropriate in China.

194
 Lastly, instead of placing my ships where oppression could be practised with

impunity, I selected Hong Kong and Canton for their anchorage, and facilitated their

inspection, by the Chinese authorities and people as much as possible. You may judge of

the influence of this over the feelings of the emigrants when I tell you that the first

Canton ship, the Red Riding Hood, left with 10,000 crackers blazing at each yard-arm,

amidst cheers which told far and wide that there was no compulsion, and you may judge

of the character of the emigration by the contrast afforded in the behaviour of our people

in the Dora, and those of the Flora Temple for Cuba when sailing down the China seas,

the latter - 800 in number - rising in the bitter agony of despair, only to meet grape shot,

imprisonment, cruel abandonment on the reef, and a watery grave, whilst the former, to

use the words of the surgeon, passed Anjer after the quickest passage ever made, singing

hymns and joining regularly in the morning and evening services.....

Twentieth General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners,

Appendix No.45. Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University

Press), Vol. 14

[4]

Comments on the arrival of selected vessels in the 1860, 1861 and 1862 seasons

(1) WHIRLWIND from Hong Kong to British Guiana in 1860

.... a very fine body of people, and apparently of a very much superior class of persons to

any of those who have been hitherto introduced into the colony....

J. Crosby, Immigration Agent-General, enclosed in Wodehouse to Duke of Newcastle, 22

March 1860. Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents, C.O.111, Vol.327.

.... many of the women [of the Whirlwind] are voluntarily working on the estates....

Wodehouse to Duke of Newcastle, 1 April 1860. C.O.111, Vol. 327.

195
(2) DORA from Hong Kong to British Guiana in 1860

.... only two women and one infant having died, but I regret to say that one other woman

threw herself overboard on being threatened with repudiation by her husband.... two

infants born..........

.......... I have much pleasure in drawing His Excellency's attention to the fact that about

one hundred of these people are Christians and include among them a preacher, and a

schoolmaster. I had the satisfaction of being present at one of their religious services,

and was much struck by theapparent earnestness of the speaker and by the grave attention

paid to his discourse. I am confident that His Excellency will consider these people a

most valuable acquisition to the Colony and will be prepared to anticipate very

considerable beneficial results from their presence here, amongst the Chinese heathen

immigrants....

Denis Gallagher, Sub-Immigration Agent, 25 April 1860, enclosed in Wodehouse to

Duke of Newcastle, 3 May 1860. C.O. 111, Vol. 327.

(3) RED RIDING HOOD from Canton to British Guiana in 1860

.... On the 4th February when outside the gates of Sunda, Captain Rossiter was informed

by the Chinese Interpreter on board, that two of the immigrants, one of them had been a

pirate, and the other also of bad character, had been overheard by him in the night

instigating the immigrants to mutiny and to take possession of the ship, and one of the

married male immigrants also informed the interpreter of the attempt to procure a mutiny

and the destruction of the ship's company. The two ringleaders were immediately seized,

brought aft, and placed in irons, and they remained so placed during the remainder of the

voyage. On the arrival of the Vessel at this port, they were after a grave reprimand and

196
caution released and allotted with the others, as His Excellency the Governor considered

they had been sufficiently punished by the lengthened imprisonment in irons.

The immigrants seemed to have had some latent dread lest they should be taken to

Cuba, and to this I have reason to believe may be attributed their entertaining even as

slightly as they did, the proposal of seizing the ship, and destroying the ship's company,

and I have no doubt that very shortly after the communication forwarded by Government

from the Chinese immigrants here, shall have been received by their friends in China,

such an attempt on board a Chinese immigrant ship coming here would be quelled by the

immigrants themselves.

Denis Gallagher, Sub-Immigration Agent, 25 April 1860, enclosed in Wodehouse to

Duke of Newcastle, 3 May 1860. C.O.111, Vol.327.

(4) Emigration Agent J.Gardiner Austin on the success of the 1860 emigration effort:

..... I have every reason to believe that the same cause which influenced the departure of

the entire inhabitants of a small village by the Dora viz. the feud with another and larger,

and the consequent destruction of growing crops, will be exhibited through the whole of

the Hakka country, and that this, together with the personal influence of Mr Lobscheid,

and the missionaries generally, and the confidence already secured by the British

Emigration Officers, will be the means of giving to our West Indian possessions, if the

accounts received from thence are satisfactory, and the mortality by the ships is small, as

ample colonisation from China as may be desired.

J.G.Austin to S.Walcott, 15 March 1860: Twentieth General Report of the Colonial Land

and Emigration Commissioners, Appendix No.45. Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers,

Emigration Series (Irish University Press), Vol. 14

197
(5) SEA PARK from Canton to British Guiana in 1861

The immigrants had not generally, so robust an appearance as those on board many of

the other ships during the season. They were, however, with very few exceptions, in

good health, and they appeared cheerful and contented.

.... Mr Winstone complains of his not having the power to reject many of the immigrants

who were put on board, and states that he remarked at Canton to the Sub-Agent there,

that many of those who were put on board were put there only to die during the voyage,

meaning that such must be the condition in which many of the immigrants were

embarked.

J. Crosby, Immigration Agent-General, 17 July 1861, enclosed with Walker to Duke of

Newcastle, 22 July 1861. C.O. 111, Vol.331.

(6) AGRA from Canton to British Guiana in 1862

.... The appearance of the immigrants was highly satisfactory. They were clean, cheerful,

orderly, in excellent health, and a very fine body of people, and there appeared scarcely a

man above the age of 40 years, and 3/4 of the whole varied from 18 to 30 years of age.

The women were also more cleanly, and respectable in their appearance than any I have

hitherto seen come to the Colony..... I feel convinced they are, on the whole, the finest

body of Chinese immigrants hitherto introduced into the Colony. 10

It is the first time any ship has come from China to this Colony with immigrants

without having on board a European Medical Officer as Surgeon Superintendent, and it

is almost impossible any voyage could have been more successful or satisfactory. Mr

Tsoi-a-Fai appears a very respectable intelligent person, and Ko-Wan-Ki the only

interpreter on board, being also a very active intelligent man, together with the personal
10 Similar judgement made on those who came on the Elma Bruce a few months later. C.O.111/336,
Report from Immigration Agent Crosby, 29 August 1862, enclosed in Hincks to Newcastle, 2 September
1862.

198
exertions of the Commander, and the youth of the immigrants themselves, have been a

combination of most favorable circumstances.....

Crosby to Walker, 4 March 1862, enclosed with Hincks to Newcastle, 7 March 1862.

C.O.111, Vol. 334.

(7) WANATA from Hong Kong to Trinidad in 1862:

During the passage from Mauritius there were several fierce faction fights due to the

presence in the same vessel of natives of different provinces. In any future shipment it

might be prudent to limit those embarked to men of the same province....

.... several Chinese who were disembarked in apparent health, died before reaching their

destination, and on the 17th, on inspecting those who had been sent to the El Dorado

estate, a most salubrious station, I found nearly the whole number down with fever....

(even Mr Roget, the principal clerk in the department responsible for the distribution and

classification was attacked with fever on the 10th).... Although the facts just detailed do

not perhaps altogether warrant me in generalising unfavourably as to the chances of these

immigrants, it is certain that they could not have arrived at a more unfavorable season.

H.Mitchell, Immigration Agent-General, 11th July 1862, enc. in Gov. Keate to Duke of

Newcastle, 18th July 1862. C.O.295, Volume 218.

[5]

Reverend William Lobscheid, a passenger on board the MYSTERY from Hong Kong in

1861, records his observations

I had promised them (those who had left China for the British West Indies at my

advice), that should I ever visit Europe again, I would come to Demerara and see how

they were going on. My resolution to do so now having become known, Mr Austin

kindly desired me to select any of the ships then in harbour and under engagement to

carry emigrants to the British West Indies. This choice having been made and 355

199
emigrants having been sent on board, we set sail for Demerara on the second of March,

and reached the lighthouse off Georgetown on the 9th of June.

The Mystery in which I left, is an exceedingly fine ship of above 1,000 tons register.

Her between deck is very high and so well ventilated, that I could, even under the line, sit

among the emigrants without experiencing anything of that closeness of air, so often felt

among so large a crowd of people.

A most amusing incident occurred at St Helena, and as it serves to illustrate the

feelings of the Chinese, it would not be out of place here.

Having dropped anchor in front of Jamestown, in sight of the barren uninteresting

mountains of St Helena, a few gentlemen came on board the ship to visit the captain.

Upon enquiry as to the difference between the men and women, the captain, who had

throughout the voyage been exceedingly kind to the emigrants, took a pretty looking girl

of twelve and showed her to the party. Nobody had the remotest idea that this innocent

joke would have an unpleasant impression upon the emigrants or inspire them with fear.

Yet it was so. The rice was served out, but little was eaten. The men were seen moving

about and closely watching the visitors, as if speculating about their future; whilst most

of the women had retired to the between deck, where they were heard crying or in

expectation of being called away from their husbands. Being informed of their

misgivings, I went among them and enquired into the cause of their grief. They then

informed me that somebody had told them they were to be separated from their

husbands, and to be sold on the island, whilst their husbands were to proceed to another

place. Acquainted with the language, I had no great difficulty in dissuading them from

harbouring such foolish notions; and in order to remove every doubt from their minds, I

requested one of the emigrants to accompany me to Longwood and to Napoleon's tomb,

an invitation which he gladly accepted.

Next day we started, and upon returning to the ship, we were hailed with great

enthusiasm. A bouquet of flowers, which I brought with me from Longwood, so cheered

200
the women, that they forgot all the terrifying stories of the previous day. All was joy and

joviality, when the anchor was weighed, and we proceeded to Demerara without accident

or other inconveniences.

Reverend William Lobscheid, "Chinese Emigration to the West Indies: a Trip through

British Guiana undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the Chinese

who have emigrated under Government contract". Demerara, 1866.

[6]

Remarks and Suggestions on the Subject of Chinese Immigration to Demerara by Dr J.A.

Chaldecott, Surgeon Superintendent on the Whirlwind Voyage of 1861 from Hong Kong

13 August 1861

(1) Family Emigration. As regards the immigration of Chinese women and children into

Demerara - there is no doubt that a bona fide immigration of respectable families is very

much to be desired, but it would in my opinion be far better to give up the idea entirely

rather than to introduce into the colony such specimens of the sex as many of those on

board the Whirlwind were.

I think that I am justified in stating that most of the women on board the Whirlwind

were only married to their so-called husbands immediately before the sailing of the ship,

and that the men were tempted to bring them by the twenty dollars advance allowed for

them in China. Out of this sum a certain amount has to be paid for the woman and yet

there must be surplus sufficient to tempt the cupidity of the immigrant. It will be seen

therefore that the amount paid for the wife must be so small that she must necessarily

belong to the lowest and most miserable class. As a consequence of this, we had on

board the Whirlwind two notorious prostitutes, four idiots, one helpless cripple - one

hunchback - one deaf and dumb, and several much disfigured by scars.

Several of the men told me that they had never received any advance for their wives;

that the only reason they were married was that they were told by some of Mr Austin's

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Chinese employees that they would not be received as .... emigrants unless they took

wives with them, and that these employees found wives for them and took the $20

advance for payment.

The advance then given as a premium for family emigration seems productive of

much evil and I think little good, for bona fide family emigrants would be influenced

much more by the hope of permanently improving their condition than by the hope of

obtaining the advance. I would suggest therefore that the amount given as advance to

women and children should be paid on arrival at Demerara instead of at Hong Kong. A

great temptation to Chinese employees would thus be done away with, and cases of

kidnapping (to which women and children are particularly exposed) would be much less

likely to occur.

(2) Opium Smoking.... Unless some precautions are adopted, I fear that the Colony will

be overrun by a number of opium smokers of the worst class. Among the lower classes

those who are confirmed opium smokers are often reduced to such extreme distress as

would make them most anxious to emigrate if there was a chance of their being able to

continue the practice during the voyage and after their arrival in the Colony. These men

will never make really able bodied labourers though of course some work may be got out

of them if they are judiciously managed. It will be found too, I think, that, independently

of their opium smoking, these men are not of the class most eligible as immigrants, for

most of them will turn out to have been artisans, mandarin officials, tailors, petty

shopkeepers, cooks, schoolmasters, etc. who have fallen from their station in life by

indulgence in the vice, and have never been used to hard labour.

The class from which it would be most desirable to procure immigrants, the

agricultural labourers, are, I believe, particularly free from the vice, for they are, as a

rule, very poor and cannot afford the luxury, and they have to labour hard all day so that

they have not time to indulge in it. I am therefore of opinion that though opium smokers

should not be absolutely refused (for many smoke in moderation, and without apparent

202
detriment to their health and strength) still that they should not be encouraged, and that

every effort should be made to cure them of the habit both for their own sakes and that of

their employers.

Opium smoking is at present allowed without limit in the depot at Hong Kong and on

board the ship, and the consequence is that the men spend the greatest part of their

advance in laying in a store of the drug and give themselves up to a regular debauch as

long as it lasts for which the entire leisure they enjoy affords a good opportunity. The

knowledge of this opportunity and the power of obtaining a supply of the drug which the

advance gives them will tempt more and more of these men to emigrate and in my

opinion the increased mortality which has occurred among Chinese immigrants during

the past season is thus partly accounted for. It will scarcely be wrong to attribute the

greater part of the deaths reported as from diarrhoea and dysentery to the sudden

abstinence from the drug on the voyage after their stock has been exhausted.

I would propose therefore the following measures ..... with two objects in view:

(a) to discourage the immigration of opium smokers;

(b) to make such as do immigrate as efficient labourers as possible.

A. Opium smokers should not be permitted either in the depot in Hong Kong or on

board the ship, except the medical men superintending either shall see fit to order a

certain quantity. This will be necessary only in a few cases for most will do very well

with solid opium in pills, in varying quantity which may be gradually diminished until it

can be entirely stopped. These regulations should be explained by placard or otherwise

and each emigrant should be asked on offering himself whether he does smoke, and if so,

what quantity, and he should immediately be considered as a patient and placed under

proper treatment. If this be followed out, I believe that almost all of the smokers would

before their arrival in Demerara be able to do without the use of opium in any form.

B. A complete list should be sent to the Surgeons of the estates, showing the names and

numbers of those who had been treated for opium smoking during the voyage and those

203
still under treatment, with all necessary particulars, and the Surgeons should be warned

that in those cases still remaining on allowance of the drug it should be dangerous to stop

that allowance if the coolie should be attacked with any disease, no matter how much the

nature of that disease may seem to contra-indicate the use of opium.

C. Opium should be made a very expensive luxury in Demerara by such means as may

seem most fit.

D. It would be desirable if possible to obtain statistics from the owners of estates which

allow a comparison to be drawn between the amount of task work done by opium

smokers and by those who do not indulge in the practice.

(3) The Voyage. With respect to the arrangements for the coolies during the voyage I

have to notice two points:

(a) No medical comforts were provided for the sick. Fortunately there was a good supply

of port wine on board belonging to the Captain, but this is not the case in every ship.

Arrowroot and sago both failed us. These two articles are to be obtained very cheaply at

Singapore and as they are very useful in sickness it would be desirable that each ship had

a supply.

(b) At least two attendants for the sick should be provided from among the coolies and

these should receive the same pay as the cooks. I found it was very difficult to get any

attention paid to the sick and I am convinced it will always be so unless the above

arrangement is made. The Surgeon cannot be expected to perform the duties of nurse.

(4) The Chinese in Demerara. As to the condition and treatment of the Chinese

immigrants in Demerara, from what I have seen I think that they have every reason to be

satisfied with the care and kindness shown them and that it will be their own fault if they

do not prosper. The country seems to be particularly adapted to them, resembling, as it

does, the great rice-growing irrigated plains to which they are accustomed.

A Depot on Shore. Though it does not seem that any serious result has as yet happened,

it appears to me that a risk is run in keeping the coolies so long on board ship after their

204
arrival, and that it would be much better to have a depot on shore for them, especially

considering the acknowledged unhealthiness of the river compared with the town during

an epidemic of yellow fever.

Dearness of Provisions. I heard only one complaint from the Chinese on the estates but

this was a serious one, and I am afraid that there would be some difficulty in removing it.

I refer to the high price they have to pay for provisions, and more especially for their

staple food, rice, for which they told me they had to pay from five to six times more than

they did in China. Now this must I should think be owing in a great part to the greed of

the retail dealers from whom they have to purchase it, and it might be possible perhaps

for the planter to buy this article wholesale and that one of the overseers should sell it to

the coolie at cost price. The ships which bring the coolies from China generally have a

good deal of spare tonnage and the Captains would doubtless be glad to fill up with rice

on Government account at a low rate of freight. From what I could learn the Chinese

complain very bitterly about the price of rice and it would be most desirable if possible to

reduce it. It is to be hoped that in time they will grow rice themselves as the country is

so well adapted for it, and also that they will breed their own pigs, ducks, and poultry.

..... in conclusion I will only express my hope that the Chinese emigration to

Demerara may increase and flourish; for I am convinced that if only the right sort of men

can be induced to immigrate great benefit will result both to the colony and the Chinese

themselves.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents, C.O.111, Vol. 334, Hincks to Duke of

Newcastle, 3 February 1862, enclosure.

[7]

Two reports from Governor Francis Hincks on the Chinese Immigrant Arrivals of 1861

and 1862

205
(1) .... One of the unofficial members of the Court [of Policy] proposed the

abandonment of Chinese immigration, but his motion was not seconded, and the other

four members availed themselves of the opportunity of stating that the Chinese

immigrants had been very valuable labourers and, when properly managed, had given

satisfaction.

These statements are rather at variance with those which I have made to Your Grace,

as the result of my own enquiries and observation....

.... I must not conceal from Your Grace that great discontent prevails among the

Chinese, after their first settlement on the estates. Their expectations are certainly not

realised. They are led to expect by Mr Austin's "Public Notice" that the wages vary from

two to four shillings per day, whereas they are unable to earn more than from six pence

to ten pence. I have been assured by persons in whom I can place implicit reliance, some

of them planters, that the average wages earned by the newly arrived immigrants do not

exceed eight pence a day. No doubt, after they have become accustomed to the work,

they can earn more, but I do not think that Mr Austin is justified in holding out

expectations which are wholly delusive, and which produce a very bad effect.

The accounts from India as to the prospects of extensive emigration from that country

are so unsatisfactory, that it seems desirable not to abandon Chinese emigration, and

especially as, according to the latest accounts, Mr Austin is likely to remain for another

year. I fear that it will be found almost impossible for him to bring the cost down to

anything like the present rate $125, but I think that he ought at once to abandon two of

the Sub-Agencies, and to confine himself to the one which has been found most eligible.

.... The Earl of Windsor which arrived on the 17th instant from Hong Kong is in no

respect to be compared to the Agra. There were 33 1/2 deaths during the passage, and

the people are not at all equal in appearance to those by the Agra. There are a

considerable number of women, but about thirty of them are small footed, and unable to

perform agricultural labour.

206
 The members of the Court of Policy were of opinion that a mercantile agency was

most likely to give satisfaction, and a most important fact was stated by one of the

members, which was that the immigrants first imported from China through the

instrumentality of the London Merchants were much superior in every respect to those

sent by Mr Austin. The cost of bringing them to British Guiana was much greater than

those sent by Mr Austin, but this was much more than counterbalanced by their

superiority.

Governor Hincks to Duke of Newcastle, 21 March 1862. Gt Britain, Colonial Office

Documents, C.O.111, Vol. 334.
(2) .... Your Grace has been already made aware that the Chinese immigrants of 1861

were very badly selected, that there was a very large proportion of confirmed opium

smokers amongst them, that many of the ships arrived late, and that last year was

peculiarly unhealthy. To these causes, and not to any want of care on the part of the

planters, who have suffered most severely from the loss of labourers, imported at a very

heavy cost, is this most distressing mortality to be attributed....

.... it is gratifying .... to be able to add that I have heard very good accounts from all

quarters of the Chinese immigrants of the present season, and that I have reason to hope

that the next half yearly report will be of a very different character from the last ....

.... The Indians appear to suffer less from the climate than the Chinese judging from the

rate of mortality among each class. During the last three years the comparative rate of

mortality among the two classes was as follows:

Indians Chinese
1859 4.04 7.95
1860 5.25 8.97
1861 6.47 15.73

The mortality among the Chinese was peculiarly great in the County of Essequibo and

especially among the islands....

207
Governor Francis Hincks to Duke of Newcastle, 21 May 1862. C.O.111, Vol. 334.

[8]

Account of the Troubled Voyage of the PERSIA from Hong Kong to British Guiana in

1862

In the Persia, Mr Clarence Chapman was Surgeon Superintendent. After this vessel

left the Cape of Good Hope, where she stopped for fresh provisions, Lieutenant

Shenkwin of His Majesty's 59th Regiment .... preferred an accusation against Mr

Chapman of ill-treating the emigrants on the passage, supporting his statement by

extracts and notes kept by him at the time, to the truth of which extracts he made a

declaration before one of the Justices of the Peace for the Cape Town district.

Lieutenant Shenkwin represented that the punishments inflicted on the emigrants

were, not only of frequent occurrence, but were cruel and wanton; that they consisted of

locking them to the stanchion, burning their faces and noses with caustic, and starvation,

but more frequently of flogging with the cane, inflicted in many instances most

unmercifully, and exceeding in severity anything which he had ever seen in the Army or

Navy. He stated that Mr Chapman was both judge and executioner, and that the

emigrants were often punished for trivial causes and in some cases unjustly. He even
insinuated, though he did not expressly say so, that the Surgeon was, somehow or other,

to blame, but in what way was not explained, for the deaths which occurred on the

passage.

.... The Duke of Newcastle ordered a searching enquiry to be made into the

accusations, in London by the Emigration Commissioners, and in the Colony by the

Government of British Guiana. Mr Chapman defended himself in a long letter dated 9th

September 1862, in which, while he admitted having made use of the several modes of

punishment specified by Lieutenant Shenkwin, he positively denied that the punishments

208
were administered unjustly or with undue severity. He explained that the Chinese

embarked in the Persia came from four different places - Hong Kong, Canton, Swatow

and Amoy - that they spoke different dialects, could not understand, and cordially hated

each other. This bad feeling manifested itself before the commencement of the voyage

and continued more or less throughout. The men came on board fighting; and, during the

ten days the ship lay at Hong Kong, these faction fights were of almost daily occurrence.

What, asked Mr Chapman, was a Surgeon Superintendent of a ship to do, "when 500

Chinese were fighting all over her, on deck, in the 'tween decks; yells and noises

sufficient to stun you; billets of fire-wood, choppers, chopping-blocks, holystones,

boards, iron bars, knives etc. flying about, and glass bottles breaking in all directions ? "

Was such a state of things to be allowed? Evidently, if order was to be maintained,

some punishment was necessary. Mr Chapman stated that he first tried what

remonstrance and threatening would do; but finding them of no avail, he next tried

locking up the offenders in hospital, and even put them in irons, then ironing them

around a stanchion, and keeping them without food for 24 hours and in some instances

even longer.

Lastly, he had recourse to caning, which he found the only effectual punishment. He

explained that the application of caustic was only to mark the offenders, a perfectly

painless operation, merely discolouring the part for five or six days; that no one was

punished by caning until after a formal and public examination, and that, so far from

these canings being inflicted unmercifully, in only one grave case were as many as three

dozen strokes administered: that, although in that case the back was made sore across the

shoulders, yet in no instance was the skin broken or the offender laid up or prevented

from going about as usual; that his methods had eventually the desired effect of keeping

down the faction fights and reducing the Chinese to a state of obedience and good order.

He further explained that he administered the punishment himself, first because he had

heard that the Chinese would not allow a European to cane them without being

209
revengeful, and he thought it better that their revenge should fall on him rather than on

anyone else, and next because another hand might punish with too much severity ....

Cecil Clementi, The Chinese in British Guiana, Demerara 1915, pp.128-131.

[9]

Report on a Mutiny on a British Guiana-bound vessel, the JEDDO, from Amoy, in

March 1866:

.... we heard of the unfortunate loss by fire of the ship Jeddo in the Straits of Sunda. This

vessel sailed from [Amoy] on the 18th March with 480 emigrants on board. Typhus

fever broke out soon after she sailed, and about 20 of the emigrants died. On the 27th

March the master was informed by one of the interpreters that a mutiny was in

contemplation among the emigrants. He in consequence seized those that were pointed

out as the ringleaders, and had them flogged, and kept in irons on the poop till the 15th

April, when apparently they were allowed to return to the other emigrants. On the 16th

April about 8 p.m. a fire broke out in the forehold, and after a vain attempt to extinguish

it the master determined to run the ship ashore. This was effected close to Anjer about 9

p.m., and the master managed to carry a line ashore, by which he and the surgeon

succeeded in passing a large number of the emigrants to land.

Eventually 319 were saved, but the number drowned was no less than 141, besides the

first mate, an apprentice, and two European seamen. All the Europeans and a part of the

Chinese were drowned in an attempt of the latter to seize a boat, contrary to the orders of

the master. Of the others, more it is said might have been saved if they had had courage

to trust themselves to the line by which so many reached the shore. The surgeon

remained on the ship, assisting the emigrants, as long as he could do so without

endangering his own life, but when he escaped 50 of the emigrants were still left on

board.

210
 The survivors entered the service of the Netherland Inland Railway Company at

Samarang, and the company reimbursed the expenses incurred in China on account of

them. A court of enquiry on the loss of the ship was held at Singapore, and the finding

of the court was, that, under the circumstances, the master acted judiciously in flogging

the leaders of the conspiracy; that though there was no positive evidence as to the origin

of the fire, there were strong grounds for suspecting that it was caused by the Coolies;

that the conduct of the master and surgeon in their efforts to save the Coolies were in the

highest degree praiseworthy; and that the master was fully acquitted of all blame for the

loss of his ship.

Twenty-Seventh General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners

(1867), pp.16-7. Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University
Press), Vol. 17

[10]

Two adverse reports on Vessels despatched from Amoy in 1866, the DUDBROOKE and

the RED RIDING HOOD to Trinidad, and the LIGHT BRIGADE to British Guiana, and

a discussion on the fate of the Amoy Agency:

(1) Dudbrooke and Red Riding Hood

211
 The emigrants despatched to British Guiana gave satisfaction on their arrival; but

complaints were received from Trinidad that proper care had not been exercised in the

selection of those despatched to that island in two ships from Amoy. It appeared that Mr

Sampson, the Emigration Agent in China, being unable to obtain at Canton the whole

number required for the two colonies, had commissioned a mercantile firm at Amoy to

procure emigrants for the two ships in question; and being himself detained at Canton

collecting and despatching emigrants by other ships, he had been unable to exercise any

personal superintendence over the Amoy emigration. Hence the selection, having been

conducted by persons not practically acquainted with the requirements of the West India

Colonies, included a number of unsuitable emigrants. This gave rise to the question

whether if Canton could not supply the whole number of emigrants, it might not be better

to remove the agency altogether to Amoy; or if two ports were required, whether it might

not be better to intrust the details of the collection and despatch of the emigrants to a sub-

agent at each port, employing Mr Sampson as general superintendent over the

proceedings of both. The question, however, so far as Amoy is concerned, has been

decided upon other grounds. Mr Sampson has reported that he sees no chance of

obtaining at that port any female emigrants, and as an exclusively male emigration from

Amoy could not be permitted, it follows that emigration from Anoy must be given up.

Instructions in that sense have accordingly been sent to him.

Twenty-Seventh General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners

(1867), p.16. Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University

Press), Vol.17

(2) Light Brigade

.... Forty-Seven were at once sent to the Colonial Hospital for treatment, of whom the

majority were suffering from ulcers and sores, particularly about the legs and feet. The

immigrants were of the average description; perhaps rather more promising as

212
agricultural labourers than usual, and although a number of them appeared inclined to

smoke opium, if they could readily get it, yet the number of confirmed opium smokers

i.e. of persons who suffered in health from the want of it, was only seven.

I have no doubt that the refusal to permit Dr Watson, the Surgeon Superintendent, to

reject ineligible immigrants, asserted by him to have taken place, has arisen from some

misconception or misunderstanding, the more so that it appears Mr Theophilus Sampson

was not personally concerned in the matter, but that his authority was necessarily

delegated to a mercantile firm or rather a member of one, at Amoy, acting as Sub-Agent;

but I respectfully submit that Mr Sampson should be directed to make his arrangements

in such a manner in future, as to prevent the possibility of a recurrence of so grave a

mistake, since the forwarding of such ineligible persons as labourers, is in fact not only

unfair towards the employers to whom they may on arrival be allotted, but an

unintentional cruelty towards the immigrants themselves.

Gallagher to Ware, 26 April 1866, enclosed in Hincks to Cardwell, 1st May 1866. Gt

Britain, Colonial Office Documents, C.O.111, Vol. 357.

[11]

Correspondence surrounding an abortive attempt to settle 2,500 Hakkas in British Guiana

in 1866

(1) Vice-Consul CANTON, William Fred Mayers, to Mr Sampson

British Consulate, Canton, October 27, 1866

I have just now received a letter from the Grain Intendant of this Province, at present

directing the operations in the interior, which has been set on foot for the final settlement

of the long standing feuds between the Hakka and Punti clans, in which he asked me to

supply him with copies of your Emigration Prospectus.

The letter has been brought to me by an officer despatched by him for the purpose,

who reports verbally that some 7,000 Hakkas, men, women and children, have thrown

213
themselves upon the protection of the Grain Intendant, who would gladly see as many of

them as would be willing to emigrate, handed over to you for transmission to British

West Indies.

These people form part of the same assemblage, to visit whom you proceeded last

year to the Sun-Hing districts , and are an exclusively agricultural class. Being now
11

both homeless and destitute, it would not only be a relief to themselves to find an

opportunity such as that your emigration system offers, but it would also be highly

pleasing to the Chinese authorities to find a means of disposing of them in a humane and

satisfactory manner.

I have informed the messenger that your Emigration House is at present closed; but I

shall feel obliged by your informing me whether you see any prospect of reopening

within the present season, and by your furnishing me, if you have issued any, with copies

of your Emigration Prospectus.

(2) Mr Sampson to Vice-Consul Mayers

Canton, October 27, 1866

I am not yet instructed as to the final decisions of the Governments of British Guiana

and Trinidad with relation to that requirement of the Convention of 5th March last,

which requires the colonies to pay the expense of sending the emigrants back to China, or

should they remain in the colony, to pay into their own hands the cost thereof. I think it

highly improbable, however, that they will consent to incur this expense, and that they

would rather give up Chinese emigration altogether.

.... I am prepared in view of the urgency of the case, to take upon myself the

responsibility of engaging these Hakkas on terms which I have sketched out in the

enclosed memorandum. It should be understood, however, that I cannot undertake to

11 Toishan after 1914. Editor's Note.

214
take more than 2,500 adults during the present season; though I should hope to be able to

take more if everything prove satisfactory - that there must not be a smaller proportion

than 33 per cent of women (33 women to 100 men) and that I reserve to myself the right

to reject any person who, in my opinion, may be physically unfit for the service

required....

MEMORANDUM SKETCHING THE TERMS ON WHICH THE UNDERSIGNED IS

PREPARED TO ENGAGE CERTAIN HAKKAS AS EMIGRANTS TO THE BRITISH

WEST INDIES.

1. Each adult emigrant, male or female .... to sign a contract engaging himself to work

as an agricultural labourer for five years.

2. Any of the 5 years may be computed and the emigrant be free from his contract, by

repaying 15 dollars for each unexpired year.

3. The emigrant not to be required to work on Sundays, nor to work more than 7 1/2

hours per diem on other days.

4. The emigrant to receive wages according to the quantity of work done, at the same

rate as unindentured labourers on the same plantation, with a deduction of one dollar per

month, which during 5 years will amount to 60 dollars. This money is then to be devoted

to the payment of his passage back to China; or in the event of his choosing to remain in

the colony, it will be paid back into his own hands.

5. The passage to the West Indies, and food and clothing for the voyage, to be furnished

free of expense to the emigrant.

6. In the colony the emigrant to provide his own food and clothing; but house, garden,

and medical attendance will be supplied to him gratuitously.

7. On embarkation a bonus of 10 dollars will be paid to every adult emigrant, and 5

dollars to each child.

THEO. SAMPSON

Canton, 27 October, 1866.

215
(3) Vice-Consul to Mr Sampson

Canton, October 29, 1866

(The Grain Intendant) was of opinion that the monthly deduction of one dollar from

the emigrants' wages for the purpose of defraying the cost of the back passage is not

sanctioned by Article 8 of the Convention; and for several reasons in which I could not

but fully agree, H.E. expressed himself disinclined to initiate any divergence from the

strict letter and spirit of the Regulations therein embodied. I have therefore to inform

you that the plan you propose cannot be carried into effect.

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents, C.O.114, Vol.24, enclosed with Minutes of the

Proceedings of the Court of Policy (British Guiana), Tuesday 29th January 1867.

[12]

A Cuban Chinese exile seeks employment in Trinidad in 1866

In the course of this season a respectable looking Chinese applied to me for

employment. He was last from Halifax where he had resided four years. Immediately

previous to that he had terminated his eight years contract on an estate in Cardenas in

Cuba. His employer tried to force him to sign an extension of indenture for four years,

but he escaped on board an American ship with a comrade. He said that he had never

heard of any others leaving Cuba. He was one of 45 sent to the estate, of these 14 were

alive at the time he left. He said that they were paid regularly but that they were not

sufficiently fed. The last observation with regard to the rations may be correct but

Chinese laborers are proverbially voracious feeders.

He had left China of his own accord, but after his embarkation 150 men were sent on

board at another port, he was unacquainted with the dialect they spoke but they were all

in irons and kept so during the great part of the voyage....

216
Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents, C.O. 295, Volume 236, Mitchell to Bushe, 30

October 1866, Despatch No. 79, enclosed in Despatch No. 123 of 5 November 1866.

[13]

The Issue of Female Emigration from China: four documents

(1) Sections 47-48 of British Guiana Law No.4 of 1864 on Chinese female immigrants

47. Allotment of female Chinese immigrants. Every Chinese female immigrant

introduced into this colony shall, if married either in China or in this colony, be allotted

to the plantation to which her husband may be allotted; and if such female immigrant be

unmarried and a minor, she shall be allotted to the plantation to which her father, if alive,

or her mother, if he be dead, or if such female immigrant be a bastard, may be allotted;

and if an adult and unmarried, she shall be allotted to such plantation as she may wish;

and the employer to whom any such female immigrant may be allotted shall provide for

her such dwelling house and hospital accommodation as aforesaid, and shall secure to

her, when sick, such medical attendance, medicines, and maintenance, and the services of

such nurse as aforesaid, in every respect as in the case of male Chinese immigrants under

indenture.

48. Female Chinese Immigrants to enter into Contracts of Residence

Every Chinese female immigrant introduced into this colony shall, on allotment, enter

into a contract with her employer in the presence of the Immigration Agent-General,

according to the Form No.8 in the Schedule B. hereunto annexed, binding her to

residence on the plantation to which she may be allotted for the term of five years; and

any such female immigrant committing a breach of such contract shall be liable to be

dealt with and punished in manner provided by this Ordinance in the case of immigrants

deserting from the plantations to which they are indentured; but no such female

immigrant shall be bound to work or to perform any labour whatever.

217
(2) Contract of Residence of Chinese Female Emigrant.

(specimen authorised by British Guiana Ordinance No.4 of 1864, section 48, as outlined

in Form No.8, Schedule B)

No. , Ship

Contract made this _______ day of ______ in the year 186 , between ______ as

Proprietor (or Attorney of the Proprietor, or Lessee, etc) of the Plantation _______

in the county of _______ in the colony of British Guiana, of the one or first part, and

_______ Chinese female immigrant of the other or second part, witnesseth as follows:-

That the said female Chinese immigrant shall reside on the said plantation for the term

of five years from date; and that the party of the first part shall supply her, free of cost,

with suitable lodging and with such medicine, nourishment, and medical attendance, and

hospital accommodation, as she may need when sick.

Signature of Employer.

Signature of Chinese Female Emigrant.

I hereby declare that the Female Chinese Emigrant, party to this contract, signed the

same voluntarily and with a due understanding of its effect.

Immigration Agent-General.

Twenty-fifth General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners,

Appendix No.35. Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University

Press), Vol. 16

(3) Comments from Governor Francis Hincks in 1864 on the Issue of Chinese Female

Emigrants

I have been assured by Mr Crosby, the Acting Immigration Agent General, that out of

1,311 Chinese women introduced into British Guiana, only 91 or about 7 per cent were

what are here styled "flat-footed" [sic]. But there has been great disparity in the

proportions by different vessels, from which an inference may be fairly drawn that if the

218
Surgeon exercised proper vigilance and if the Agent refused gratuities to those women

with deformed or contracted feet we should not be burthened with them. In 1861, out of

86 women in the Claremont and 52 in the Chapman there were no women with

contracted feet, while out of 40 in the Sea Park during the same season there were 8 or

20 per cent. Again in 1862, of 29 in the Sir George Seymour, all the women had perfect

feet, while in the Red Riding Hood, out of 45, 15 or 33 1/3 per cent were deformed. In

1863, there were 6 with deformed feet out of 92, which is about the average.

To prevent misunderstanding on this point I may state that our objection is to women

whose feet are so contracted as to render them incapable of field labour.

Governor Francis Hincks to Duke of Newcastle, 1 January 1864. Gt Britain, Colonial

Office Documents, C.O.111, Vol.344.

(4) Correspondence from Emigration Agent Theophilus Sampson in 1866 on the Issue

of Female Emigration

Canton, 29th October 1866

As regards Canton, the method of procuring most of the women which have left that

port heretofore, has been as explained in my report of 27th May 1865, the adoption of the

Chinese usage of purchase. Chinese women in destitute condition, were brought from

the disturbed rural districts to the larger cities, and sold to Chinese as concubines,

household servants, labourers, etc., always, of course, with the women's own consent.

Emigrants for the British West Indies, availed of this usage, and employed the 20-dollar

gratuity to procure for themselves wives from among these women. This is the basis

with some marked exceptions, of all female emigration from China to the British West

Indies, Surinam, and the Sandwich Islands. The women thus engaged were mostly the

widows of men who had disappeared in the long protracted clan fights in the interior.

These men were generally said to have been killed, but I have strong grounds for

suspecting that though equally dead to their families, actual death was not their fate.

219
 Whether the usage above described had been abused by the Chinese or not, I do not

know, but during last season the Chinese authorities put a stop not only to the fractional

part connected with emigration, but to the entire proceeding as concerned also Chinese

solely; and of course, as their countenance to it, as a usage accordant with Chinese

customs, was the only ground on which I could sanction it; there was no other course

open to me but to submit, and thus it was that not one woman despatched my me in the

Pride of the Ganges, on her last voyage, was other than the bona fide wife or mother she

purported to be, and the 29 women who sailed in that ship formed one of those marked

exceptions to which I have referred.

I have, of course, always been alive to the fact that the persons who brought the

former class of women did so for pecuniary gain, and that I was thus permitting an

influence to enter female emigration which I deprecated when applied to males. I have

always been alive to this end, knowing the utter insufficiency of the best official

surveillance. I have watched the operations with a caution amounting to dread, and taken

every pain to ensure that the women knew and approved of the step they were about to

take.

As regards Amoy, the number of women from that port has always been small; the

Lady Elma Bruce had only 30 women to 354 men; the Light of the Age had only 14

women to 445 men; and the four ships despatched from that port last season, had still

smaller proportion. The Sub-Agent in a letter, of which I enclose a copy, says he

circulated thoroughly the advantages offered to female emigrants, and doubtedly suggests

an increased gratuity, a suggestion which I do not approve as an initiating step.

In conclusion, I see no special reason to despair of engaging in future a proper quota

of females in Canton; but in Amoy I gather no hopes of amendment, and in accordance

therefore with your instruction to discontinue emigration if I cannot get a fair proportion

of females, I am directing that the Agency at that port be forthwith closed.

220
Sampson to Murdoch, 29 October 1866, enclosed in Minutes of Court of Policy (British
Guiana), Saturday 16th February 1867. Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents,
C.O.114, Vol.24.

[14]

Specimen of Chinese Contract of Indenture (1862 version)

Articles of Agreement, made this _____ day of April in the year of the Christian era

1862, being the _____ day of the third month of the first year of the reign of Jeungtey,

according to the Chinese Imperial Calendar, between _______ , native of

China, of the one or first part, and J.Gardiner Austin, Esq., special Agent of the British
Government for the regulating and encouragement of emigration from China to the

British West Indies, of the other or second part, as follows:-

The said party of the first part in consideration of the covenants, agreements, and

stipulations hereinafter entered into by the said party of the second part, doth hereby

promise and agree to and with the said party of the second part in manner and form

following, that is to say:-

1. That he the said party of the first part shall and will, so soon as he shall be required

by the said party of the second part, embark on board the British ship ______ , now

lying at anchor in the harbour of _______, and bound for the colony of _______ ,

and remain on board the said ship henceforward until she proceeds to sea, and shall then

proceed as a passenger on board the said ship, to _______

aforesaid, for the purpose of carrying out the stipulations hereinafter contained on the

part of the said party of the first part.

2. That the said party of the first part shall and will from time to time, and at all times

during the term of five years, to be computed from the day of the arrival of the said ship

_______ in the said colony of _______ , serve such persons, his heirs, executors,

administrators or assigns, and on such plantation in _______ as the Governor may

221
appoint, in the growing or manufacturing of articles, the produce of such plantation,

according to the provisions hereinafter contained.

3. That the said party of the first part shall and will work as such labourer as

aforesaid, for the space of seven hours and a half of each day during the aforesaid term of

five years, and on such plantation as aforesaid, with a reservation of not less than five

days to be set apart during each year as holidays at the China New Year by the said

Governor, and of every Sabbath day. And in consideration of the agreement herein

contained on the part of the said party of the first part, the said party of the second part

hereby promises and agrees to and with the said party of the first part in manner

following, that is to say:-

4. That the said party of the second part shall provide the said party of the first part

with a free passage to the said colony of ________ , and shall supply him

gratuitously with such food and clothing as may be necessary for the voyage.

5. That so long as the said party of the first part shall continue and be employed as

such labourer, as aforesaid, and perform the agreements on his part hereinbefore

contained, he the said party of the second part shall cause to be paid weekly to the said

party of the first part the same rate of wages for the same proportionate quantity of work

as may from time to time be paid to unindentured labourers working on the same

plantation, and shall cause to be provided for the said party of the first part during the

same service, house, garden-ground and medical attendance, all free of expense to the

said party of the first part.

6. That the said party of the second part shall, on demand of the said party of the first

part, so soon as he shall embark on board the said ship _______ for the purpose of

carrying out the terms of its agreement, make an advance on account of wages to the said

party of the first part to the extent of $20, shall pay or cause to be paid monthly to the

assigns or nominees of the said party of the first part in China $ of the wages to be

earned by the said party of the first part in the said colony of _______ , the first

222
payment to be made on the day of the date of embarkation of the said party of the first

part on board the said ship _______ , provided always, and it is hereby agreed, that

any sum so advanced to the said party of the first part as aforesaid shall be stopped or

deducted out of the wages to be earned by the said party of the first part, at the rate of $1

per month, and that any payments so made as aforesaid monthly to the assigns or

nominees of the said party of the first part in China, shall be stopped or deducted in equal

amounts monthly from the wages to be earned by the said party of the first part.

7. That the said party of the first part shall be at liberty to terminate this agreement, at

the end of any one of the said five years, by paying for each year then unexpired a sum

equal to one fifth of the amount paid for his introduction, namely, $75, and shall further

be at liberty to change his employer at the end of the third or fourth year.

8. That the said party of the second part shall provide or cause to be provided for the

said party of the first part during such period as he continues to serve under the terms of

this agreement, with the means of corresponding monthly, free of expense, with his

relations in China, and of remitting money to them.

J.G. Austin .

This done in duplicate, each of the parties aforesaid retaining one copy, at _______ , on

the _____ day of April, in the year of our Lord 1862, in the presence of the undersigned,

who declares that this contract has been signed willingly, and with full knowledge of its

contents, by the said _______ .

G.W.Caine,

Acting Emigration Officer.

Received an advance of $20 on account of wages, and a gratuity of $ for wife and

____ children.

I agree to employ ______ upon the terms stated above. ( )

223
I certify that the labourer whose name appears above has been allotted by His Excellency

the Governor of ______ to plantation ________ ; and that the signature of the

employer was made in my presence.

( )

Immigration Agent-General of ________

Note [found only in British Guiana contracts]:

Resolution of the Governor and Court of Policy of British Guiana.

"That the immigrants should be guaranteed full employment on adequate wages, paid

weekly, with a house rent free, with medical attendance, medicines, food, and hospital

accommodation when sick, and that it should be explained to them that a man can earn

easily from two to four shillings, women from one to two shillings, and children eight

pence per diem, and that a full supply of food for a man can be bought for eight pence

per diem."

N.B. [editor's note]. In the contract version authorised by Section 45 of the British

Guiana Consolidated Immigration Ordinance, No.4 of 1864, sections 6 and 7 of the

version above are omitted, and section 8 becomes section 6. The references at the end to

advances and gratuities are omitted. However section 44 permits the Emigration Agent

in China (if authorised by the Governor and Court of Policy) to make special provision

for commutation rights and right to change employers, as well as to pay advances to the

intending emigrants, in the form allowed in the contract version above. Under section

124, morever, repayments on advances were subject to a 6 per cent per annum interest

rate.

[15]

Receipts and Expenditure on Immigration in British Guiana for the Year 1862 (in B.W.I.
dollars, $4.80 = 1 pound sterling)

224
Expenses of Superintendence etc

Salary of the Agent General $4,800.00

Sub-Agents in Demerara and Berbice 3,493.21

Travelling Expenses 1,127.23

Ordinary Interpreters of the Indian and of the Chinese 3,237.22

Languages

Salaries of Two Clerks to the

Agent-General 1,620.00

Office Messenger 117.50

Salary of Clerk to the

Commissioners in England 120.00

Health Officer in Lieu of Fees

as per Ordinance 1,437.50

Allowance to the Harbour-Master for taking off the

Agent-General and the Health Officer to Immigrant
Vessels 480.00

Hire of the Depot in Georgetown 1,200.00

Expenses of Immigrants
while in Depot 1,744.76

Transport of Immigrants from

Georgetown to Berbice 404.67

Books, Stationery and Binding 466.27

Advertisements in England, Stamps and Postage

21.12

Paid Rent of Premises for

Chinese Interpreter 276.00

Paid Gratuities to Headmen,

Compounders, Cooks, Topasses, etc. arriving in
immigrant ships this year 3,575.10

Paid petty incidental expenses 401.44

225
 _________
24,522.02

Expenditure on Immigration from China:

For the Colony's proportion of the Passage Money and

Expenses of 2,056 men, 432 women, 31 boys, 11 girls,
and 10 infants, arriving during the season 1861-62, and
located on several plantations, equal to 2,509 statute
adults, and costing, at $143.40 per adult ($359,790.60)
the Colony's proportion thereof being - $140,842.70

Expenditure on Immigration from India:

Amount expended by the Emigration Agent at Calcutta

during the season 1861-62 on account of emigrants
$45,375.62
embarking at that port .for this colony

Paid Salary of the Agent at Calcutta to 28 February 1862 4,057.00

__________
$49,432.62
___________
For the difference of the passage money of immigrants
from India this year, being in excess of the amount for
which the employers to whom they were allotted, are $70,866.84
liable
Payments to the Surgeons and Officers of the Indian
Immigrant Ships $23,319.28

___________
$143,618.74
____________

Expenses of Immigration from Madeira:

Paid the Passage Money of 13 men, 9 women, 2 boys, 2

girls, and 3 infants arriving during the year by sundry
vessels, equal to 24 statute adults, at $35 per adult
$840.00

Less - received from proprietors of estates to whom 24

statute adult immigrants were allotted, at the rate of $18
per adult $432.00

226
 _______
$408.00
Allowance to Mr Sheffield, Agent in Madeira, for 95
adults introduced into the colony between 8 October
1860 and 16 October 1861 $95.00
_______
$503.00
_______

Expenses connected with the Introduction of Africans:

Paid the Passage Money of 273 men, 99 women, 41

boys, 6 girls, and one infant, liberated Africans from St
Helena; also the passage of 12 Maldivians, equal to
388 1/2 statute adults $16,750.80

Paid Gratuities to commanders and officers of barques

David Malcolm and Bonanza, and for services of
surgeons and interpreters, etc. 1,295.56
__________
$18,046.36
Less - Collections at Credit, received from Planters $ 6,386.61

__________
$11,659.75
________
TOTAL $321,146.21

Total Expenditure in China for 1861-62 season:

(in round figures)

H. Kong Canton Swatow Amoy Hangtsai Total
$ $ $ $ $ $

Salaries 11,851 7,508 3,647 1,754 1,500 26,261

Wages 1,814 1,615 652 181 428 4,690

Rent 2,334 1,111 45 135 390 4,015

227
Consular &
Inspector's .
Fees 694 2,863 1,051 386 0 4,995

Clothing 3,786 4,395 908 1,361 6 10,455

House
Rations 971 2,075 335 732 142 4,255
Ship
Rations 3,066 1,673 0 411 0 5,150
Ships
Disburse-
ments, inc.
pipes,
opium&c.
7,498 591 0 271 0 8,360
Advances to
emigrant
men
15,006 13,259 5,610 6,525 0 40,399
Gratuit-ies
to emigrant
women
11,850 3,630 200 775 0 16,455
Miscella-
neous 11,389 4,628 4,147 1,528 1,765 23,457

TOTAL 70,258 43,349 16,595 14,059 4,231 148,492

Advances made in Hong Kong to Ahoy, a tailor, $3,500; to Li-

Assee, a collector of emigrants, $1,000; to Wong-Chong-Pak,
another recruiter, $1,000; and to others for travelling expenses
of intending emigrants, $1,000.... $6,500
2 1/2 per cent commission paid to Jardine Matheson & Co. on
Bills negotiated.... 3,812

Allotments from Wages to be earned paid to the friends of

emigrants in China..... 1,807

Expenses incurred at Shuhing, a branch of the Canton 419

Agency.....

Additional Land and Buildings purchased during this season for 5,933
the Agencies at Swatow and Amoy

228
Purchase and Fittings of the Receiving Ship, Demerara..... 14,670
_________
Total Expenditure during the Season in China $181,633

Deduct the portion assigned to Trinidad 30,000

________
$151,633
Add difference of exchange between 4s.2d the dollar, and the
actual rates at which the bills on our London Bankers were 12,130
sold.....
_________
B.Guiana's Proportion of the China Expenditure $163,763
Passage Money and other expenditure in B.Guiana connected
with the seven ships which brought the immigrants.... $196,027

TOTAL EXPENDITURE FOR THE SEASON $359,790

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents, C.O.114, Vol.23, Minutes of the Proceedings of

the Combined Court (British Guiana), 1863, Appendix, p. xxvii; C.O.114, Vol.22,
Minutes of the Proceedings of the Court of Policy (British Guiana), Thursday, 9 April
1863, Report of Auditor-General upon the expenditure of the Chinese Immigration for
the 1861-62 season.

[16]

Costs of importing Chinese Labour to Trinidad and Cuba compared

I have the honour to enclose a memorandum drawn up by th.:e Agent-General of

Immigrants in this island with reference to the cost of imported Chinese labour to the

employer in Trinidad as compared with its cost to the employer in Cuba....

It will be perceived that the Agent-General in his memorandum exhibits the contract

for this class of labour in point of money outlay even more in favour of the Trinidad

planter than has been assumed by Mr Murdoch in comparative statement set forth in his

letter of the 20th January. Mr Murdoch has assumed the cost of a Chinese immigrant

under a contract of five years service to a Trinidad planter at £66. 13s.4 d., being equal

229
to £13. 16s. 8 d. per annum. The Agent-General has however added to this cost the value

of the food and other contingent expenditure which the planter is bound under his

contract to furnish to the Chinese immigrant besides the wages of $4 a month, which

value has been estimated by the Agent-General at another $4 a month. With this addition

the cost of a Chinese immigrant to a Trinidad planter will in five years amount to

£116 .13 s. 4 d, being equal to £23. 6 s. 8 d. per annum.

Mr Murdoch has assumed the cost to the Cuban employer of a Chinese immigrant

under a contract of service for eight years at £133, being equal to £16. 12s. 6d.. per

annum. Mr Murdoch has however assumed the rate of wages in Cuba as merely nominal,

the Agent-General on the other hand maintains that on well-conducted estates the

Chinese immigrants are regularly paid at the rate of $4 per month in addition to their

food, and assuming this information correct the cost of a Chinese immigrant to a Cuban

employer with a contract of eight years service would be £339. 12 s.4 d, being equal to

£42 . 9 s. 0 1/2 d for each year of the indentured service.

Contrasting also the expenses incurred in China for collecting and despatching

Chinese labourers to Cuba against the sums paid for their collection and despatch to

Trinidad, it is, as Mr Murdoch has observed, easy to understand the difficulty

experienced by the Trini,dad Agent in competing with the offers of the Agents employed

in the Cuban emigration. Still, even admitting the attraction of the larger advance or

gratuity offered previous to embarkation to the intending emigrant by the Cuban agents, I

believe the advantages after arrival are so much in the favour of the emigrant who has

preferred Trinidad, that if these could be clearly shown to the satisfaction of the

intending emigrant whilst in China, the scale would soon be turned in favour of Trinidad.

In his contract with a Trinidad employer, the Chinese immigrant has the option of

receiving wages at the rate of $4 a month, with sufficient food, or the same rate of wages

as may from time to time be paid to unindentured labourers on his doing the same

proportionate quantity of work as may from time to time be allotted to the unindentured

230
labourers working on the plantation on which he shall be employed. The Chinese who

have hitherto been imported into Trinidad have preferred to the fixed monthly wages of

$4 with food, the current wages paid on estates for unindentured labour, which in some

instances, the Agent-General reports, have allowed immigrants, introduced so late as

February and May last year, by their industry and frugality, to claim the privilege of

purchasing the balance of their time. The Agent-General has also added that he has

ascertained from the proprietors of the estates to which the immigrants referred to were

allotted that the money they hold is bona fide the result of wages received. This

statement shows clearly the advantages within the reach of the Chinese immigrant in

Trinidad; and although it is even stated by Dr Mitchell that in Cuba, Chinese, if good

hands, on the termination of their industrial residence receive in crop season as much as

$17 per month with board, yet I believe that the hours of labour to obtain that high rate

of pay are most excessive: nearly 20 hours out of the 24.

From all the information that I can gather on the subject there is not merely a general

desire, but a fixed determination on the part of the Chinese, to collect as early as they can

the means of purchasing their industrial residence. The Chinaman is of a higher grade

than the coolies and far more ambitious. He is naturally luxurious in his habits, likes

comfort, and very fond of good living, and when his own master he no longer seeks

employment as a day labourer on an estate, but either turns his attention to the cultivation

of provision grounds or to the business of the small retail dealer, and in both these

callings is very successful....

For the better encouragement of Chinese emigration to the West Indies, as well as for

enabling our Agent to compete more successfully with the Cuban agents, I consider the

recommendation recently made by H.M. Consul at Canton that facilities should be given

by the West Indian colonies for the return of immigrants to China as the most likely to

achieve both ends. I believe that nothing has contributed so much to the preference given

to Mauritius by the intending emigrant from India as the frequent return of so many of

231
his countrymen from that island with sums of money amassed during their industrial

residence in that colony, which in their native land would be regarded as small

independent fortunes....

Enclosure: Memorandum of the Agent General of Immigrants as to the Comparative

Cost to the Employer of Immigrants introduced into Cuba and Trinidad

.British West Indies

£ s d

Cost of importation to employers 16 13 4

Wages at $4 a month for 5 years 50 0 0

Food (do. do.) 50 0 0

116 13 4

Equal per annum to 23 6 8

Cuba

Cost of importation to employers 93 0 0

Wages at $4 a month for 8 years 80 0 0

Food & Clothing, etc 166 12 4

339 12 4

Equal per annum to 42 9 0 1/2

The comparison however cannot serve any practical purpose, as the Chinese who have

been hitherto imported into Trinidad, instead of adhering to their written contracts at $4

per month .... prefer the current wages of the estates to which they may be allotted, which

in some instances have allowed immigrants who were introduced last year by the

232
Montrose and the Paria in February and May, and who have been frugal and industrious,

to claim the privilege of purchasing the balance of their time....

H. Mitchell

Agent-General of Immigrants

Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents, C.O.295, Volume 235, Rushworth to Cardwell,

Despatch No.68, 5 June 1866.

[17]
Newspaper Report from British Guiana in 1863, commenting on Dutch and French
government plans to import Chinese immigrants into the West Indies

Not long ago, in touching on the question of Immigration into Surinam, we expressed

a fear that Emancipation might to a certain extent prove a failure in consequence of the

Dutch Government being likely to find some difficulty in procuring such a number of

immigrants as might be required, and we remarked that while the Government had failed

in Liberia, and had not the same scope in India as we possess, the expense of

immigration from China would probably close that market. It remains to be seen

whether or not the attempt will be made by the Dutch, but from a late Paper we learn that

the Government of Cayenne has intimated to the landed proprietors in that Colony, that,

from the steadily increasing demand for immigrant labour, the intention is to make trial

of Chinese immigration, on the terms of the contract recently entered into by Martinique

with a view to a similar proceeding.

The immigrants are to be collected, under the supervision of the French Consul, from

amongst the field labourers in the vicinity of Shanghai, care being taken to select those

that are healthy and strong. The contract of service is to be for a period of eight years, at

wages of three piasters per month to be calculated at the rate of exchange in the Colony

(15 francs). Amongst those to be introduced are women and young people in the

proportion of one twentieth part, their wages to be two piasters (or 10 francs) per month.

233
The cost of introduction is estimated, at the outside, at 550 francs for each of the

Chinese.

With the view of rendering not only the carrying out of the arrangement in the first

instance but the prosecution of it for a series of years, easy for the Immigration Fund as

well as for the inhabitants, the following regulations are fixed. The Immigration Fund is

to undertake the payment of the whole cost of introduction to the extent of 550 francs,

but is to be liable for only one-third of the amount, the repayment of the remaining two-

thirds being payable by the employers in six installments; the first, amounting to 50

francs, to be paid in one year after the immigrant shall have commenced his service; the

next four to be of 60 francs each, and the last of 76 francs and 61 cents, making a total of

366 francs and 67 cents. This amount does not include local charges.

The foregoing is a sketch of the French scheme of Chinese immigration, and, if the

calculations be correct, it will be less expensive than ours. Taking the franc at 10 pence,

or 20 cents, the cost of each Chinese immigrant will be not more than $110 at the

outside, and probably less. The wages on the same calculation will not exceed $ 3 per

month for adult males, and for females and young people $ 2 per month. If the French

can import these people at the cost mentioned and get them to work for the wages stated,

they may carry on their scheme of immigration on a large scale, and this may induce the

Dutch to follow the same example.

Royal Gazette (British Guiana), 1863 (n.d.), enclosed in Gt Britain, Colonial Office

Documents, C.O.111, Vol.341: Hincks to Newcastle, 15 July 1863.

234
 CHAPTER SIX

SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT TO PLANTATION LIFE AND SOCIETY

The following excerpts from official reports, contemporary books and newspapers, and

planter correspondence, record the distribution of the Chinese arrivals on the West

Indian plantations, and tell the story of their adjustment to the social conditions of their

new multi-racial plantation environment. The indenture system was a contradictory one,

and the Chinese immigrant, like his fellow immigrants from India or elsewhere, was part

beneficiary, part casualty of this semi-free labor system. Unfortunately, in contrast with

other Caribbean islands like Cuba, we have no formal accounts from the Chinese
themselves on what they thought about their new life in the nineteenth century West

Indian plantation environment.

The documents enumerate the plantations on which the Chinese worked as sugar

labourers (sections 1-2). They also provide contrasting portraits of life on the Guianese

plantations: one made by an official investigating committee in 1871, the other made by

a former Chief Justice, whose radical views were rejected by the committee and later

published independently (3-5). The remaining documents record the adjustment of the

Chinese to life in Trinidad in the 1860's (6-11).

____________________________

[1]

235
Plantations and Districts in British Guiana Employing Chinese Indentured Labor, 1853-
80

Districts Plantations

Essequebo Mainland Aurora, Anna Regina, Better Hope, Coffee Grove, Columbia,Golden Fleece,
(22 estates- Hampton Court, Henrietta, Hoff van Holland, Huis't Dieren ,Johanna Cecilia, La
1,334 males, Belle Alliance, Land of Plenty, Lima, Mainstay, Union, Perseverance, Richmond,
256 females) Sparta, Spring Garden, Windsor Castle, Zorg
Essequebo Islands Bankhall, Caledonia, Endeavour, Friendship and Sarah, Hamburg, , Maryville,
(13 estates- Moorfarm, Palmyra, Retrieve, Sophienburg, Success, Waterloo, Zeelandia
945 males,
211 females)
West Coast Demerara Anna Catherina, Blankenburg, Cornelia Ida, de Kinderen, Groenveldt, Hague, La
(16 estates- Jalousie, Leonora, Met-en-Meerzorg, Nouvelle Flanders, Stewartville, Tuschen,
2,295 males, Uitvlugt, Vergenoegen, Windsor Forest, Zeelugt
375 females)
Demerara River Belle Vue, Great Diamond, Farm, Haags Bosche, Haarlem, Herstelling, Houston, La
(17 estates- Grange, Malgre Tout, Pouderoyen, Peter's Hall, Ruimveld, Schoon Ord, Versailles,
1,985 males, Vive-la-Force, Wales, Vriesland
345 females)
East Coast Annandale, Bel Air, Bee Hive, Cane Grove, Chateau Margot, Cove & John,
Demerara Cuming's Lodge, Enterprise, Enmore, Goedverwagting, Good Hope, Greenfield,
(27 estates- Helena, Hope, Industry, Le Ressouvenir, La Bonne Intention, La Bonne Mere,
3,118 males, Lusignan, Melville, Montrose, Mon Repos, Non Pareil, Ogle, Spring Hall, Success,
446 females) Turkeyen
West Coast.Berbice Bath, Cotton Tree, Hope & Experiment
(3 estates-
225 males,
17 females)

Berbice River Blairmont, Everton, Friends, Highbury, Mara, Ma Retraite, Providence

(7 estates-
374 males,
78 females)
East Coast Berbice Adelphi, Albion, Canefield, Goldstone Hall, Port Mourant, Rose Hall, Smythfield,
(8 estates- Smithson's Place
565 males,
123 females)
Corentyne River Eliza and Mary, Skeldon
(2 estates-
424 males,
147 females)
Total Chinese Allotted: 13,293
Total Chinese 113 (74 M., 39 F.)
Unallotted: 135
Deaths, etc ________

TOTAL 13,541

Source: Cecil Clementi, The Chinese in British Guiana (Georgetown 1915), Tables 4 and 6.

236
 [2]

Plantations and Districts in Trinidad Employing Chinese Indentured Labor, 1853-

1871

Ward Plantations

St George County

Aricagua Aranguez
Arouca Bon Air, Garden, St Clair
Cimaronero Barataria
Diego Martin River
Mucurapo St Clair
St Joseph Curepe
Tacarigua Densley, El Dorado, Macoya, Orange Grove

Caroni County

Caroni Lower Caroni, St Francois, Upper Caroni

Chaguanas Edinburgh, Endeavour, Felicity, Petersfield
Couva Camden, Caraccas & Susannah, Exchange, Perseverance, Rivulet
Savonetta Cedar Hill & Forres Park, Esperanza, Mount Pleasant, Phoenix Park, Providence

Victoria County

Naparima Bronte, Canaan, Concord (North & South), Corinth, Friendship, Golconda, Jordan
Hill, La Romain, Les Efforts & Mon Repos, Ne Plus Ultra, Paradise, Phillipine,
Retrench, Tarouba, Union Hall, Wellington

Pointe-a-Pierre Bon Accord, Bonne Aventure, Plein Palais

Savanna Grande Broomage, Brothers, Buen Intento, Craignish, Fairfield, Garth, Glenroy, Harmony
Hall, Matilda, St Ellena & Ben Lomond, Williamsville

St Patrick County

Cedros Columbia, L'Envieuse, Lochmaben, Perseverance, St John's, St Marie

Oropouche Aripero, Belle Vue, Otaheite, St John

Sources: (1) Annual Reports of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission (1853-
73); (2) Annual Immigration Reports (Trinidad); (3) Gt Britain, Colonial Office
Documents, C.O.295 Series (Trinidad); (4) Ship Registers, Trinidad National Archives.

[3]

Official description of Chinese adjustment to British Guiana plantations by 1871

237
 The Chinese labourer possesses greater intelligence than either the Indian or the

Negro, and is much quicker at learning to manage machinery than either of them. He is

also very careful and neat in his work in the field or buildings; is much more independent

than the Coolie, and not so easily led away by discontented persons; rarely making a

frivolous complaint, though when he does make one that is false, it is much more

difficult to convict him of lying, from the extreme ingenuity with which he gets up his

case and instructs his witnesses. Possessing a keen sense of justice where his own rights

are concerned, he is very capable of strong resentment at anything that appears to him

unjust. They are much more given to using knives and pointed weapons than the Indian,

who generally trusts, in a riot, to breaking his opponent's head with his hackia stick.

The Chinese, as a class, are inveterate gamblers and opium smokers. In their barracks

they generally have a room set apart as a gambling saloon, where, as well as in their own

rooms, they smoke opium. The Chinaman here does not save as much money as the

Indian. This is perhaps owing to the fact that he is not content with such meagre diet as

the Indian, and has been accustomed to richer and more varied food. Opium smoking is

carried on by some to great excess, and it is not uncommon to see many of them quite

emaciated, and almost unfit for work, from excessive use of this drug. We have

occasionally seen Chinese in estates' hospitals who have been there for years from some

chronic disease, and whom the employer has not only to feed but to supply with opium,

the stoppage of which would cause their death. The wretched appearance of some of the

votaries of this habit has more than once misled strangers into conclusions unfair to the

planters and the immigration system. It appears, unhappily, that opium smoking is not

altogether confined to the Chinese; a few Indians have picked up this habit from them.

The mischief is perhaps beyond the reach of legis- lation, but such was not the opinion of

a Chinaman, one of the cleverest met with in the colony, who allowed, when asked why

his fellow-countrymen who earned so much had saved so little, that "they spend a good

deal on opium, but it was the English ship that brought it here." Chinese are more given

238
to deserting than Indians, and employers are getting chary of giving them bounty, as they

often abscond imme- diately after receiving it.

They have not the same objection to living with females of a different race from

themselves that the Indians have. This may be owing in some degree to the small

proportion of women who have emigrated from China, but the principal reason for it is

that the Chinese have not the difficulty of caste to get over that the Indian has, and are

more cosmopolitan in their habits.

The Chinese, as far as we are aware, have never combined with the Indians in

disturbances on estates; but, on the other hand, have occasionally taken the side of the

employer in opposing them. They are more given to cultivating land and keeping pigs

than breeding cattle. They are now getting into a habit in some places of going about in

the manner of task-gangs, living on the estate on which they are working for the time

being.

Many of them sent here turned out to be persons who ought never to have been

recruited. It is worthy of notice that in places where the Chinaman has other careers

open to him besides that of working as a field labourer for wages, he invariably chooses

one where he can work for himself. He either rents a piece of ground near town, or starts

a provision or retail shop as soon as possible. This is the case at Singapore and Penang,

to which great numbers of Chinamen emigrate, returning again, when they have made

money, with their children, but leaving behind them the Malay mothers.

One of the complaints made to us here by Chinese was, that there was no other

employment open to them but estates' work; and when it is considered that the

Portuguese, from their prior introduction, have a complete monopoly of the retail trade of

the colony, that Crown lands cannot be purchased in blocks of less than one hundred

acres, and that it is very difficult to find private lands for sale, their complaints seem to

be well founded....

239
Dwellings. The most common arrangement we found was that of small barracks of

some 30 rooms, the ground storey containing 20, arranged in 2 rows back to back, with a

third row of 10 more under the roof: sometimes the upper storey also contains 2 rows,

with a passage down the middle.... The upper storey is approached by an external

staircase at each end of the building, and the deficiency of space due to the insertion of

the passage is made up by projecting eaves. This form is so general throughout the

colony, as to suggest that the pattern must at one time have been recommended by

authority.... There is nothing at first sight to condemn in such buildings. The Chinese

evidently prefer this barrack life to separate domiciles, and the building is often found in

capital repair, and accommodating a very large number in proportion to its cost....

.... The clubroom is a feature of the larger barracks on some estates. There the opium

smokers and gamblers among them assemble, with occasionally a good-for-nothing

Hindoo or Negro. They play cards or dominoes, and seem comfortable and satisfied. It

is to be wished that the opium could be got rid of somehow - the gambling might then be

left to take care of itself. There is much work to be done here by some philanthropist

with brains....

.... For the present this great experiment in colonization is merely in embryo. The Coolie

and Chinese population has only to a small extent taken root in the soil. Little or no

familiar intercourse has sprung up between them and the European and African races,

and there is hardly any intermixture of blood. It is not surprising, therefore, that to all

outward appearance the Coolies are as much East Indian, and the Chinamen Chinese, as

when they first landed in the Colony. They acquire after some years the use of an

English patois, more or less intelligible. They shake off no doubt a good many

prejudices and become more sensible than when in their own country of the world of

ideas which lies without them; and all that we may say, however, of their acquirements in

240
the direction of European cultivation is, that they show a readiness, in small matters of

dress and habit, to engraft other fashions upon their old Oriental ones.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, 1871, XX (C.393): Report of the Commissioners

appointed to enquire into the treatment of immigrants in British Guiana, paragraphs 328,

541, 547, 892.

[4]

Excerpts from ex-Chief Justice Joseph Beaumont's critique of the pre-1870 indenture

system in British Guiana

(Indenture) places those subject to it in a position of adscription to the soil, and

obligation to labour for its owner under a system of personal subjection and of servitude

enforced by special penal discipline - a position so unnatural, and so nearly akin to

slavery in several of its features, that it could only be maintained with regard to a limited

number of persons forming a subject class, and could only be tolerable as to them on an

experimental scale, or under the most efficient safeguards ....

Fully to appreciate the bearing of this system upon the immigrants, even in its

theoretical scope, and still more in its practical effect, it is necessary to bear in mind, not

only its essential features and its specific abuses, but various surrounding circumstances

of a general nature. Amongst these I would enumerate the extreme poverty of the

people, their too frequent physical feebleness and sickliness, their general ignorance,

their special ignorance of the English language and of our habits and ideas, their remote

and alien origin; the fact, and nature, and circumstances of their separation from their

own country, and the change, not only of soil, but of climate, occupation, and habits

which they have to undergo; the special topographical and climatic character of Guiana;

the circumstances of their location and seclusion upon the estates to which they are

allotted (having regard to the situation and condition of these); their social isolation and

restriction from almost every amenity of life; the disproportion of the sexes amongst

241
them; the system and incidents of their supervision and employment upon the estates; and

the social and political condition of the Colony, in so far as regards the relation between

the planting class, who are their masters, and the local government and its executive and

judicial administration - having regard also to the circumstances under which the planters

have demanded and obtained the system of immigration which has been organised as a

substitute for the abolished system of Negro slavery.

.... (C)onfining myself to the actual system and its administration as affecting the

immigrants themselves, while I gladly recognize that these display some more favourable

and redeeming features, and that amongst those concerned in the management of the

immigrants there are not a few honourable exceptions, yet it is my deliberate and firm

conviction that as a general rule (often perhaps in a modified degree, but not infrequently

in gross forms) the employers have neglected, ill-used, and mismanaged the immigrants,

that those who should have enforced the law have failed to do so by reason of their

subserviency to the planters, and that not only is the law as defective and inefficient for

the protection of the immigrants as it is severe in its provisions for their control and

subjection, but it is administered in respect of them harshly, unequally and

oppressively....

On immigrants in prison

.... I have repeatedly been distressed to see the gaols in Georgetown and New Amsterdam

so crowded with immigrants that it has seemed as if they constituted not only the

majority, but the great body of the prisoners.... I believe it will be found that upwards of

1/3 of the number of persons committed to Georgetown Gaol, and not less than 1/2 of

those committed under sentence, are immigrants sentenced for breaches of the labour

laws, and that the number of such prisoners in that prison alone amounts, on an average

of years, to little, if at all, less than 2,000.

I am able to state, from a return made to me by the Keeper of Georgetown Gaol of the

exact number of the commitments to that gaol for the year 1863 .... that out of a total

242
number of 4,936 commitments within that year to that gaol, 3,148 were of persons born

in India or China, and 2,111 were committed for offences against "the Labour Laws".

On the mortality rate

.... During the 5 years from 1864 to 1868 the deaths among the indentured immigrants

ranged from 1,200 to 1,300 per annum.... it represents a death rate of 4 per cent, a rate

excessive even for a town population.... but one which appears monstrous amongst a

rural population consisting almost entirely of persons in the prime of life, and which is

the more shocking amongst a people whose reproduction is restrained by an unnatural

disproportion of the sexes....

On misrepresentation during recruitment

.... the serious misconceptions under which great numbers of the immigrants, and in my

belief the great body of the Chinese, engage themselves to come to the colony.... I fear

that there can be no doubt that the most serious misconceptions on the part of the

immigrants are not merely common, but that they are the result of misrepresentation on

the part of the agents of the Government, and those not merely tacit and by way of

suppression of material facts, but express as to material particulars inconsistent with the

facts.

The prevalent misconceptions to which I have referred are with regard to the

essentials of the immigrant's contract and position, and by no means as to mere matter of

incident or contingency. Thus, though they are no doubt well aware that they are

engaged for the purpose of being employed as agricultural labourers for a term of 5

years, and so far they engage themselves (upon the assurance of special facilities,

protection, and advantages), not one in a hundred of them has, I believe, the slightest idea

that in respect of such engagement he is to be deprived of his personal freedom of action,

or to be placed in any different position from that in which the labourers of the country

stand towards their employers. They are assured of employment, but are not made aware

243
that they will not be free to choose their employers or location; and, I believe, that

scarcely any could be found who entertained the idea, or who could have supposed the

possibility that they would be bound for a term of years to serve employers as to whom

they would have no selection, restrained from leaving a particular spot to which they

should be allocated in the same way, and subjected in such service to a special summary

and arbitrary penal code.

Another of the misconceptions very generally entertained by the immigrants is the

idea that they will be able to earn wages which are not only fabulous in the Colony, but

which must appear to them, according to the rates and values in their own countries, far

greater than they would in effect amount to in Demerara, if they had any existence in

fact. A "dollar a day" is the formula which has very generally been impressed upon the

minds and expectations of the Chinese immigrants before arrival as to the amount of their

wages....

[In fact many immigrants, both Chinese and Indian, have not only had some of these

delusions impressed on their minds, but actually embodied in a written contract before

leaving their own country - a written contract which is simply and entirely ignored when

they arrive in Demerara! In India I believe the wage formula is often a rupee, which

stands pretty much in the same dazzling light there as a dollar would do in China.]

Such formula, however, represents a delusion so monstrous that its assertion for such

a purpose must reflect upon the sense, the knowledge, or the bona fides of the speaker. It

may, indeed, be possible for an immigrant who obtains the post of "driver" to earn a

dollar a day, but the average earned by immigrant labourers is considerably less than a

fourth of that amount.

Physical violence against labourers

.... (T)he use of personal violence towards them on the part of their superiors.... No

doubt, to some extent, the immigrants suffer in this way in common with the Negro and

other Coloured labourers, and indeed as to mere acts of contumely they, perhaps, do not

244
suffer to the same extent as these; but as to more serious and systematic outrages of this

nature they are far more exposed to them, are practically far less protected against them,

and in fact suffer far more from them. The most common forms which they take are

forcible intrusions into and extrusions from their houses, imprisonment without warrant

upon the estates or at the adjoining station-houses, and assaults by managers, overseers,

drivers and other persons in authority....

Arbitrary wage stoppages and levying of bribes

.... The system of stoppages is indeed not only at the basis of much of the dissatisfaction

and suffering which occurs amongst the immigrants, but is, perhaps, even more than the

power of imprisonment, the cornerstone of the employer's power over them....

.... as a general rule the labourer knows nothing about any stoppage till he goes for his

pay on Saturday, and then after waiting, as is too often the case, for 4 or 5 hours, till the

manager finds it convenient to attend to him, he is told that so much of his pay is

stopped. In most cases the man can do nothing but submit without a word. If he does so,

he may take what is offered him; but if he remonstrates he gets nothing, and is ordered

away. If he should insist on being heard, the attendant driver or buildings' overseer

hustles him away; and if he should lose his temper when he finds himself thus treated, he

stands a great chance of being sent to the station house for disorderly conduct, or abusive

language, or assault.

.... (T)hey are at the mercy .... not only of the managers, but of the overseers and

drivers.... (A)ny labourers who do not conciliate the drivers have small chance from the

overseers [who] are guided in their more general inspection by [the drivers'] reports.

And from this has sprung a gross abuse, which is very common viz. the levying

contributions from the labourers by the drivers.

.... the practice (which is very common) of paying the men through the drivers, as

well as that of allowing them to keep a provision shop on the estate, greatly tends to

encourage this abuse. It is .... so common as to be pretty general amongst the Coolie and

245
Chinese drivers, though I have never known of its being practised by the Black drivers.

It is practised in two forms.

The first .... is the levy of money by per centage or weekly payment. I have known of

cases where these payments have been made at the rate of a "bitt" in a guilder (25%), and

even a guilder a week. The other form is the requirement that the labourers shall deal at

the driver's shop. My belief as to the prevalence of this grave abuse has been formed

from the frequent cases in which its occurrence or its recognition has come under my

observation. But in support of it I may point to the fact that a large proportion of the

Coolie and Chinese drivers have amassed money to an extent far beyond what could be

explained, but for this great source of profit to them.

Joseph Beaumont, "The New Slavery: An Account of the Indian and Chinese

Immigrants in British Guiana " (London 1871) Section 1, paragraphs 5-7, 12, 26; Section

2, paragraphs 2-4; Section 3, paragraphs 2, 15-18.

[5]

Accounts of physical violence against Chinese labourers in British Guiana

The first case which I shall mention is one of double homicide, the assailant having

been a "driver", who was killed in the course of a fight which commenced by his beating

a Chinese labourer in the field, for which homicide the latter suffered death upon

conviction of murder. The events, as proved upon the trial of the Chinese (who was

named Li-a-Ying) may be stated in a few words. Li-a-Ying was at work in a cane-piece,

when his driver came to him and, after finding fault with his work and threatening not "to

take it down" (i.e. not to pay for it), beat him with his stick. Li-a-Ying thereupon struck

the driver with his shovel stick, and then a fight ensued between the men, in the course of

which Li-a-Ying drew a knife and stabbed the driver in the neck or shoulder. The wound

was not mortal; but it was followed by a blow on the head from Li-a-Ying's shovel,

which unhappily killed the driver.

246
 I must add, with regard to this sad case, that the result of the trial, in the conviction of

murder and the death of Li-a-Ying, has always been and must ever be to me a matter of

painful reflection. The use of the knife and the nature of the fatal blows with the shovel

were, no doubt, circumstances of excess in self-defence on his part which might well

have justified a verdict of manslaughter; but, on the other hand, the shovel was not a

deadly weapon, and though a formidable implement enough, it was one lawfully and

properly in use by Li-a-Ying at the time he was set upon; the knife was not in fact the

cause of the mortal wound, and was itself an innocent instrument (being the common

cooking knife carried almost universally by the Chinese); the first blows, and those

serious ones with a heavy cudgel, were, beyond question, given in the most wanton and

unlawful way by the driver, so that Li-a-Ying was not only perfectly justified in

defending himself, but morally and legally entitled to great allowance in respect of any

excess committed by him in such a case; and, lastly, there was no suggestion of any

predtermination or old malice on his part. Such a case, though no doubt one proper to be

left to the jury not only on the minor but on the capital felony, would seem to be one in

which a verdict of murder was (to say the least of it) harsh, and only to be justified by the

most unfavourable construction of the circumstances. I was surprised and distressed at

that verdict being returned, and yet more so at finding that, though I had felt it my duty

to represent the case as one proper for the extension of the Royal mercy, the capital

sentence was carried into execution.

The second case of this nature which I shall mention is one of extraordinary

significance not only in respect of its own circumstances, but also of the scandalous

failure of justice which occurred with regard to it - a failure which contrasts most

painfully with the severity which marked the case of Li-a-Ying.

.... The details of the case [of Low-a-Si] are too shocking and harrowing to bear

unnecessary repetition.... It appears by the [coroner's inquisition] proceedings that this

poor Chinaman was, for no other reason than that he protested that he was too sick to

247
work, brutally beaten and kicked to death by some of the staff of overseers and drivers of

a "first-class estate", in the face of the whole staff of the estate's buildings, a multitude of

hands at work there, including many of his own countrymen. This barbarous murder was

effected by a series of assaults thus publicly committed, and which were continued

during a space of more than an hour, the actors coming and going, and the poor wretch

piteously wailing, bleeding, vomiting, and yet feebly attempting the work which he

pleaded in vain with his dying breath that he was too sick to do.

I speak of this crime as effected by "some of the staff" because, while there may be

some room for difference of opinion on the depositions as to who in particular was the

chief actor, there is no doubt that when these repeated assaults were committed several of

the staff were present, aiding and abetting one another in the transaction of this dreadful

tragedy. It would indeed be hard to meet with a more revolting history that that detailed

by the numerous witnesses who narrated it on the inquest, and many of the details

appearing on the depositions might well deserve special notice.

Such are the circumstances that one of the murdered man's countrymen who tried to

interfere to protect him from his assailants was also struck by one of them; and that the

victim appears to have been one of the multitude of broken-down creatures who, though

physically incapable of work, and legally as well as morally entitled not only to

exemption from work but to hospital treatment at the hands of their employers, are

habitually stigmatised by them and their subordinates as idlers, and "driven" with the

utmost harshness.

But for the purpose of this statement the most important and characteristic features of

the case appear to be two:

(1) That the brutal outrages thus committed in the face of day and of a crowd of lookers-

on were undertaken and carried through by persons in authority as the chief actors, and

either acquiesced in, or at least passively permitted by numerous witnesses, with as much

248
calmness, and in as matter of course a way as if they were done in the exercise of a

legitimate and unquestionable right; and

(2) The simple fact that (to the eternal reproach of the administration of justice) this

grievous crime and its perpetrators remain to this day unavenged and unpunished.

.... Although [another] case which I am about to mention is one of a prison abuse, it is

I believe perfectly of a piece with, and but another illustration of the very same abuses

which have their more ordinary course upon the estates, and under the action of the

planters and their employers.

I now refer to a gross and cruel outrage upon a Chinese immigrant, named Ngo Pung,

who was thereby driven to despair and crime, and almost to madness; and although I

cannot profess any great confidence in the general system of prison administration in

British Guiana, I am convinced that an outrage of that character would never have been

possible but for the general contagion of violence and injustice with regard to the

immigrants, nor have been adventured towards a convict of any other class. The case

which I here refer to is that of a young Chinese whom it was my painful duty to sentence

to ten years' penal servitude for the manslaughter of one MacKenzie, an overseer at the

Penal Settlement on the Masaruni River. He was tried before me on an indictment for

murder; and I must say that, although I felt bound to adopt the verdict of the jury without

reserve in dealing with him, I should have been very loth to take upon myself the

responsibility of judging him guilty even of manslaughter. For, though the homicide of

MacKenzie was proved against him beyond all question, and was so far deliberate that

the unhappy perpetrator had foreseen and solemnly deprecated the probability of his

committing it, the actual provocation which drove him to the crime was of the most

extraordinary kind. It was clearly proved by numerous witnesses (including several

called for the prosecution) that MacKenzie was in the habit of maltreating the immigrant

convicts, and in particular of so grossly abusing Ngo Pung both by violence and

249
contemptuous bullying and jeering that his life became a burthen to him. As it would be

difficult to imagine or even to credit the outrageous conduct to which these unhappy men

were exposed .... I may mention some instances of it.

Thus, one witness proved having seen MacKenzie stand over the gang in which Ngo

Pung was at work, cursing them and urging them with a "supple jack", and in particular

striking Ngo Pung with it. Several other instances of abuse and beating him within a few

days before the fatal event were proved; and only the evening preceding it, MacKenzie

and the chief warden of the prison were engaged together in jeering and tormenting this

unhappy man - MacKenzie shoving him to and fro by his collar, while the chief warden

sat by clapping his hands to cheer MacKenzie on, and laughing at the fun. On the day

when MacKenzie met his death Ngo Pung's forbearance gave way (as he had expressed

his fear that it would) under these ruffianly attacks. MacKenzie it was proved struck him

again and again on that morning while at work, and at last the wretched man seized a

hammer and struck his tormentor some mortal blows with it.

I cannot help adding here .... that the superintendent of the prison himself undertook

to extenuate MacKenzie's conduct, not by impugning the facts deposed to, but by

expressing the opinion that he was "a good-hearted but eccentric fellow", and intimating

that some such freedom was necessary in order to maintain discipline amongst such

people. And I believe that I gave great offence to the Executive Officers of the

Government by directing the jury that not only was such conduct as that [attributed] to

MacKenzie unfit to be palliated in any way, but .... it was doubly heinous and

inexcusable in a prison, and from a person in authority; that .... there could be no

discipline nor any right to expect discipline amongst prisoners who were exposed to such

gross and open violence on the part of prison officers, and that a convict was no less

entitled than any other of Her Majesty's subjects both to the right to protect himself

against personal violence by the legitimate exercise of force, and, should he transgress

250
those limits under sudden and overpowering provocation, to that just measure of

allowance which the law admits in favour of persons so outraged.

Joseph Beaumont, "The New Slavery: An Account of the Indian and Chinese Immigrants

in British Guiana", Section 3, paragraphs 3-5 (London 1871)

[6]

Report on the immigrants of 1853 in Trinidad society ten years later

The number of Chinese returned in the general census for 1861 is 460. They have
now become incorporated with the other inhabitants of the Colony, many have married

and are comfortably settled with their families; they are in almost every instance traders;

not a few are comparatively affluent; among the number, one man who had been sickly

and unsuccessful as a labourer has now about $4,000 acquired in retail trade, he proposes

returning shortly to China. There are besides six others, three of whom have been

equally successful who have made arrangements to secure the services of the principal

Chinese interpreter on their return to Canton via England. As these men all propose

investing their money in articles suited to this market and returning; their enterprise may

eventually greatly benefit the Colony and materially promote the missionary exertions of

Mr Lobscheid, who will pass here next month on his way to China, to pick up delegates

from this island and Demerara, should Mr Lobscheid succeed in his sanguine

expectations of directing a stream of voluntary Chinese immigration towards the West

Indies, the turning point will be attained and these colonies placed on a similar vantage

ground to Singapore and Wellesley as regards labour, while their position is superior.

How far Mr Lobscheid may be induced to recommend this island as a sphere for

Chinese labour, will of course depend on the planters themselves and the impression he

receives of their care and anxiety for the well being of the labourers they already employ

and on whose exertions their own comforts and existence depend.

251
Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1861. Trinidad Royal Gazette, Vol.28,

No.22, 28 May 1862.

[7]

Two Reports on the Adjustment of the Chinese arriving in Trinidad on the WANATA in

1862

(1) Taken as a whole they were much inferior in physical appearance to the Chinese of

1853, comparatively few being from the agricultural districts around Amoy and Swatow;

the majority were from Canton and the neighbourhood of Hong Kong. They had,

however, the advantages over the former of being peaceful and well disposed in

themselves, and in meeting here on their arrival with fellow countrymen accustomed to

the habits and languages of the colony.

The length of passage, 5 months, and in many instances previous want of habit,

incapacitated them from earning by agricultural toil, a sufficiency for self-support.

Under these circumstances they have, for the most part, repudiated the wives whom they

picked up at Hong Kong, more with a view of sharing in or appropriating their advance

money, than with any intention of permanent connection. These unfortunate females,

bound by no indenture, have been thus thrown for support on most precarious resources.

They do not, as a rule, appear willing to work, although many are physically able. Some

have found employment among their previously settled countrymen, others have found a

temporary asylum in the public hospitals, while the balance remain on the estates whither

they were originally sent, working little and eking out a bare existence in doubtful ways.

With the dry weather of next crop they will probably find suitable occupation during the

manufacture of sugar on estates, or light labour in the corn and potatoe fields, which have

lately assumed large dimensions under the culture of the older Chinese.

Notwithstanding the depressing influence of want and wet, the casualties among the

Chinese have been comparatively few; 38 men and 20 women, 1 girl and 1 infant make

252
up the total from 11th July to date [1st February 1863]. During the last month favourable

weather has produced a marked improvement on the health, and consequently, an

increase in the amount of work performed by these immigrants, and some proprietors

speak hopefully of their future prospects. The prevailing impression is, that much

sickness and misery might have been avoided had the passengers by the Wanata left

Hong Kong so as to have landed here in January or February.

One result not to be overlooked of this temporarily depressed standard of health is the

utter inability of the Chinese to repay from the surplus of their earnings the advances

made to them at Hong Kong, thus rendering the third paragraph of the 6th clause of

Ordinance No.16 of 1862 inoperative. This clause, which enacts that each man should

have one dollar monthly deducted from his wages towards repaying his advance received

at Hong Kong, if enforced, would, in most cases, reduce them to the brink of starvation.

In Demerara experience lays down two years as the term within which the labourer is

supposed capable of making this repayment, and the employer is consequently allowed

that period to make the necessary deductions from his wages. In this colony, as I had

occasion to remark in 1857, experience is entirely adverse to any such exaction, and I

still adhere to the opinion then expressed, that if immigrant labourers are to commence

their industrial career with this millstone around their neck, it would be liberal policy to

allow such as had been unable to repay their advances during the period of contract to

compound for its settlement by eventually serving another year, on which the employer

should pay the indenture fees into the Treasury. There is reason to believe that suicide

has been resorted to occasionally as a desirable mode of terminating the industrial

contract and repaying the advance.

Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1862. Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents,

C.O.295, Vol.222.

253
(2) Of the immigrants introduced by the Wanata .... it is impossible to speak with any

satisfaction.... (T)hey have died and absconded in great numbers, and the remainder,

with few exceptions, are unable to earn anything like comfortable wages....

Their women have realised a still more unfavorable impression; of 109 originally

distributed on estates, only 5 are now returned as present; they were shipped as the wives

of immigrants whom they have now either left, or by whom they have been altogether

repudiated. Very few of them have ever attempted to gain their own livelihood, and their

reputed husbands were incapable of self-support, much less of affording any assistance

from their scanty earnings, averaging less than fivepence per day. These women were

imported at an enormous expense, and have turned out worse than useless. It is therefore

desirable that any further accession of Chinese to this country should consist not only of

men who can support themselves, but of their bona fide wives, able and willing to help

the husband; for there is no experience on record here to show that the Chinese labourer

can do more during his first year of residence than support himself. However small the

proportion of women to accompany the Chinese arrivals of next year, it should be

restricted to legal wives whom they cannot desert, otherwise it were better to send the

majority of immigrants as single men, and trust to their finding wives here, like their

predecessors, among the natives of the colony who can appreciate their industry and

other good qualities. In the last Census the males of Trinidad outnumber the females, but

when the Indian element, which does not inter-marry with the others, is eliminated, the

females preponderate as in nearly all the other British West India colonies. As regards

the Chinese women who may be introduced here in the future, it becomes a question of

great importance to their own safety, whether they should not be indentured on arrival

like any other female immigrants. The measure would be applicable to all persons able

to work when the husband declined the responsibility of supporting, and would at least

secure to these unfortunates the same government surveillance which is now extended to

the males.

254
 Perhaps Chinese immigrants would be more careful with whom they elected to

embark as wives, were they aware that they cannot purchase any balance of contract

residence here, without also liquidating whatever was due on the same account for their

reputed wives. (See Clause 21 of Ordinance No.16 0f 1862). The Agent in China, when

he informs them of this and the general laws of the colony as affecting immigrants, might

at the same time draw their attention to the fact that in Trinidad, many of their

countrymen who originally landed as contract labourers have now, by patient industry,

attained a fair position in life, acquired houses, land and commercial influence. The

Agent may point to those who have returned to China, after 10 years' residence here, with

comparative wealth, and these men, five of whom left Trinidad this month [February

1864?] for Hong Kong, may tell their compatriots there, that having overcome the earlier

difficulties inseparable from expatriation, they not only managed to live with comfort,

but to carry back with them from $3,000 to $4,000 each, and that the same good fortune

awaits those who unflinchingly pursue the same career.

Advances. This is also a question of too great importance to be passed over in

silence, when the results of experience are being canvassed. Its proper treatment ranks

next to the proper season for embarking emigrants. Few of the Chinese of 1853 ever

repaid the money advanced to them in China, although great numbers of the men by the

two earlier ships eventually turned out first rate labourers when they were well managed.

The attempt to deduct it even in the smallest proportions caused such endless strife and

vagrancy, that the greater number of proprietors preferred paying it themselves, and in

many cases it was never ultimately recovered. All experience here is certainly against its

being made repayable from the labourer's wages. In the instance of the people by the

Wanata, who have now been nearly two years in the Colony, out of 326 contract

servants, who thus owed an aggregate of £900, only two have repaid $10 each, and they

happen to be household servants; none of the rest appear to have saved a single dollar,

and one who hanged himself, a tailor by trade, was reported to have done so to escape the

255
repayment of monies which he found his earnings could never satisfy. Should

immigration continue from China, and it be found impracticable to embark immigrants

without the inducement of advances, let them be in the form of bounty, and allow their

scanty wages to be paid free of deduction. The mere fact of debt hanging over them

caused many to abscond or become despondent, and aggravated the disadvantages under

which they laboured when encountering on arrival a language and customs alike strange.

The bounty well applied would induce a better class of men to emigrate, and if

inexpedient to make it altogether a free gift, it might be repaid by the immigrant at the

close of his contract, as one of the conditions of receiving his certificate of industrial

residence, and if he were then either unwilling or unable to repay the money, his contract

might be extended for another year, on which the employer should pay the indenture fee

into the Treasury, to reimburse the Colony for the bounty advanced. The risk of loss

would not be great, and the arrangement is not one whose principle would be objected to

either by the employer or the contract servant.

The expected arrival of a continuous stream of Chinese immigrants induces me to

suggest in conclusion the advisability of laying some restrictions on the sale of opium as

now conducted here. When the drug is high priced as in China, it can only be used in

moderation by the working classes, when its stimulus is as harmless and agreeable as

those of tea, tobacco, etc.; but when cheap, as it happens to be here, circumstances alter,

it is used more freely, and gradually becomes a poison from which the victim rarely

escapes. The deaths of most of the Chinese here are indirectly attributable to the

dysenteric affections which generally attend the abuse of opium.

Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1863. Gt Britain, Colonial Office Documents,

C.O.295, Vol 227.

[8]

Two reports on the adjustment of the Chinese arriving in Trinidad in 1865

256
(1) The last batch of Chinese immigrants ex Paria seems to be of the right sort for our

agriculturists. Both men and women appear to have been well selected. The most of

them are quite at home in the field work of our sugar estates. Shortly after landing from

the ship, they displayed a readiness to get to work that augurs well for the future. One

planter .... to whose estates a large portion of the new arrivals have been allotted, tells us

that the first thing they did when they reached the estate was to wash themselves, then

wash their clothes, and afterwards to thoroughly scour and cleanse the rooms they were

to occupy. The men presently asked for their hoes, and expressed a wish to go to work at

once. When Saturday night came around, and the women saw their husbands receiving

payment of the wages they had earned, they too expressed a wish to be sent into the field,

which was of course readily complied with. This is the only instance, we believe, of

Chinese female immigrants here voluntarily offering themselves for fieldwork. In

Demerara the Chinese women cannot be induced to perform any labor at all in the field.

Port-of-Spain Gazette, Vol.XL, No.49, Wednesday 21 June 1865.

(2) In the early part of the season two arrivals from China [Montrose and Paria]

disembarked 585 souls; of these 380 were men, who were indentured on arrival to 28

employers, the remaining 205 being women and children were not under contract, but

accompanied their husbands and fathers to estates to which the latter were assigned. The

total number shipped from China was 628, the deaths on the voyage were 25 or 4 per

cent, and since distribution 14 on 380 or 3.7 per cent, which is low under the

circumstances of a fresh start, and almost continuous rains. The behaviour of the newly

arrived Chinese has been, with a few exceptions, more subordinate than might have been

expected, and some of the gangs have not only worked regularly for wages, but managed

to surround themselves with many domestic comforts in the shape of poultry, pigs and

gardens. The women are nearly all industrious and quiet, and in some instances the

conduct of both has been so satisfactory that the employers have made fresh applications

for increased allotments.

257
 There are, however, exceptions to this view, several gangs work very badly or refuse

to do anything but what they please, and when they please; nor is it at all easy to make

out the exact cause of this disparity of result under apparently similar conditions. The

Chinamen are no doubt much more difficult to manage than the Indian Coolies, and

require great command of temper in the overseer at the outset. Suspicious of their

employers and inclined to be turbulent, they soon find out that the means of coercion at

the disposal of the magistrate or police are by no means formidable when compared with

the summary justice of Canton, and perhaps the chief early difficulty of breaking them

into the habits of Western civilization is the thorough contempt they feel and openly

profess for our minor courts of Judicature when they find that no one is liable to the

bamboo, even when sensible that he richly deserves it.

One result of this state of mind is that neither provisions can be grown nor poultry

reared to advantage in the vicinity of newly arrived Chinese in this colony, although in

the island of Cuba into which one hundred times the number has been imported, the

planters give them a character for perfect honesty, and not even taking the sugar canes

without permission. The causes of this purer morality it would be worth the Trinidad

employers' pains to elucidate....

It is but fair to state that the turbulence of the Chinese is confined to the earlier part of

their apprenticeship, when crimes of violence, including both murder and suicide, not

infrequently occur; a more lengthened residence brings with it the feeling, that all are

equal in the eye of the law, that consequently property is protected, industry rewarded,

and life with its enjoyments sweetened. It is different with the Indian; although gentle

externally, no length of residence weans him from the love of blood, no year passes over

without one or more murders, characterised by the most determined recklessness and

ferocity....

Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1865: Port-of-Spain Gazette, Vol. XLI,

No.26, 31 March 1866.

258
 [9]

Two reports on the adjustment of the Chinese arriving in Trinidad in 1866

(1) In the month of February 1866, 563 Chinese immigrants from Amoy were landed

here ex ships Dudbrook and Red Riding Hood, and distributed on 34 estates. As reported

on at the time, these people were embarked without sufficient scrutiny, and their

behaviour since has not belied their supposed antecedents, with but few exceptions their

presence has been a source of such annoyance and loss to their employers, that the latter

have in several instances prayed to be relieved from them even while continuing to pay

the indenture fees. This is not to be wondered at, as between vagabondage and theft they

have stocked the public gaols, and as a necessary consequence, the hospitals - the return

from the former, and the abode in the latter, being alike sources of expense to employers.

Scenes of violence with occasional murder of their own countrymen or of others have

occurred, while their constant depredations at night in the provision grounds, and

misconduct by day, have tended greatly to demoralise their otherwise well-disposed

fellow labourers. One estate is actually paying at the rate of £800 per annum for public

hospital accommodation on vagrants who have never been, and never will be,

remunerative in their turn - for men, in fact, who when discharged from Hospital as

cured, prefer being committed to gaol as vagrants and fed at the public expense to

making the slightest exertion to earn their own living.

The Chinese immigration to Trinidad for the year 1866 has been a grievous calamity

to a struggling proprietary against which the good behaviour of those Chinese who

landed in 1865 stands out in striking relief, and if no measures can be devised of

extracting labour from such gaol birds, it might not be inconsistent with sound economy

to ship them back to China; whatever the immediate outlay, it will scarcely equal that

259
which they must eventually cause the Colony in gaol, hospital and police expenses,

setting aside altogether the evil results of their vile example on an impressionable

peasantry. The principal objection to any scheme of this nature would lie in the

possibility of its being viewed by their countrymen as a reward for their misconduct.

Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1866. Trinidad Royal Gazette, Vol.35,

No.10, Wednesday 6th March 1867.

(2) Letter from a Trinidad Planter on the Performance of the 1866 Chinese on his

Plantation

..... the Chinese immigrants imported this year are unfitted, and I would add unwilling,

for agricultural labour. .... of 36 Chinese ex Dudbrook and Red Riding Hood, one only is

something of a gardener, the others were old soldiers, hucksters, shopkeepers, idlers,

beggars etc. and many of them given to gambling, and to the use of opium, and stealing.

But I cannot concur, as far as my knowledge goes, .... that some of the estates have more

labourers than they can always employ.

I have room for 50 labourers more, and obliged to have recourse to jobbers and

contractors, because I have not been able to obtain from the Chinese the assistance I fully

relied on. Although we began the operations of the wet season with comparatively small

average of young canes, we have not been able to go through our work in a satisfactory

manner, and among my neighbours I find also the same necessity of having recourse

largely to contractors, and of commencing at once their planting for 1868, whilst the

ratoon canes are yet very grassy.

These Chinese are quite averse to steady labour, many strong and able men will not

work and perform the task of weeding that frail coolie women go through by one or two

o'clock in the afternoon. Early in the morning they will secrete themselves in the

canefields, or in the neighbourhood, to return in the night to rob the industrious labourer

of his poultry or provisions, or to entice away a few of their friends to disappear

260
altogether. Kindness of legal proceedings have been quite a failure; the leniency shown

by His Excellency on a recent occasion has rendered them more uncontrollable - more

have run away.

They are not only refractory but violent sometimes. Within one month I have been

obliged to send before the magistrate two cases of assault upon a sub-manager, one case

upon an overseer, without the least provocation on the part of either the overseer or the

sub-manager. These cases have been met respectively with an order for imprisonment

for 18 days, 20 days, and 10 days. Such immigrants, placed under our very mild laws,

are a heavy and expensive burden to the plantations they belong to; and I beg to be

allowed to express my firm impression, that unless this state of things be remedied at

once, we shall have more trouble, and serious evils will be the consequence of late

measures.

The Chinese of last year [1865], after some little trouble, with the exception of a few

thieves, had settled and turned out good men, but many of them have been spoiled, or

enticed away by the newcomers....

Louis A. Leroy to Henry Mitchell, Agent-General of Immigrants, 10 October 1866:

enclosed in Annual Immigration Report (Trinidad) for 1866.

[10]

A labour disturbance in Trinidad in March-April 1866

(1) The Chinese labourers on the Perseverance estate, Couva, struck work on the 28th

[March]. Mr Collie, the manager, took out warrants against five of their number with the

view of having them punished by way of example to the rest. When the constables came

to put the warrants in force, all the Chinese on the estate rose and beat them off with long

sticks. Several Creoles who went to the assistance of the police were chased into the

bush. A messenger was despatched by Mr Collie to San Fernando for assistance; and,

next morning, Mr Sub-Inspector Fraser made his appearance with a few policemen. The

261
warrants were then put in force without any further attempt to resist the action of the law,

and the refractory labourers of yesterday went quietly back to their work. In the

meantime the news of the disturbance was communicated to Government House, and a

detachment of armed policemen was despatched to the disturbed district, in charge of the

Inspector-General of the force. They left town early on Thursday morning, and returned

in the afternoon with 39 Chinese prisoners, all of whom were lodged in gaol.

Port of Spain Gazette, Saturday 31 March 1866

(2) The Chinese labourers who were arrested in Couva and brought to town last week

were sent back on Monday last to the Perseverance estate, with the exception of half a

dozen of the ringleaders, who were taken before Mr Pantin, stipendiary magistrate of that

district. They were each sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard labour. The

remainder went quietly back to their work on the estate.

Port of Spain Gazette, Wednesday 4 April 1866

[11]

A missionary recalls an incident of deception and physical violence in Trinidad

Before introducing the coolies into Trinidad they had started by bringing in the

Chinese. To make them decide to leave their country the English used the same good

faith which they employ today to recruit the Indians. They promised them wonders. The

poor devils once arrived understand but too late that they have been tricked. It is thus

that they promised a Chinese tailor that he could continue his metier and would have the

practice of all who would be on the estate where he was placed. Arrived in Trinidad he

was placed on an estate on which Mr Lecadre was the overseer, but to cultivate the cane

and only for that. The first day when they wanted to send him to work he refused. He

was taken there by force, he was kept in the fields with his compatriots and he had to

work like them in spite of himself. Three days following he gave the same resistance and

262
during these three days they did him the same violence. The evening of the third day

after work he put on his best clothes and in the presence of the people of the estate before

they had the time to stop him he blew his brains out. This act made the one who told me

about it say that the English government is essentially false. Its politics are crooked.

The Diaries of Abbe Armand Masse (1878-1883), entry 6th February 1882 (trans. M.L.

de Verteuil, Port of Spain 1988)

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE DIPLOMATIC IMPASSE OVER THE 1866 CONVENTION, AND THE LAST
YEARS OF THE WEST INDIAN MIGRATION (1866-1884)

In the year 1866, a treaty was signed by Chinese, British and French diplomats (the

Kung Convention) introducing strict new regulations on the Chinese indentured labour

traffic between these countries. Dissenting voices within the British Colonial Office, as

well as from the West Indian planter class, prevented the ratification of this treaty.

During the years of diplomatic wrangling over the terms in dispute (mainly dealing with

263
provisions for a free return passage for the labourers after 5 years of service) emigration

was at a total standstill. The China Emigration Agency, based in Canton from 1863,

was finally closed in 1873-74. In 1874 and 1884, single sailings (to British Guiana and

Jamaica) took place under a compromise contractual arrangement eventually worked out

between the parties, and in 1879 and 1882, two vessels of free voluntary migrants made

it (to British Guiana and Antigua) without contracts, but the high point of Chinese

emigration to the British West Indies had already passed. Meanwhile, Surinam imported

a further 115 Chinese from Java in several small shipments between 1872 and 1874.

The documents record the impasse arising from the 1866 treaty, as well as the full text

of the treaty itself (sections 1-3). They also describe the circumstances surrounding the

arrival of two of the last vessels to the West Indies (4-5), as well as an abortive attempt

by Trinidad to revive the emigration (section 6).

_________________________

[1]

Account by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission of the Diplomatic Impasse

after 1866 which led to the effective termination of the emigration from China

During the season of 1866-67 there has been no emigration from China to the West

Indies. In the month of March 1866 the English and French Ministers at Peking entered

into a convention with the Chinese government, the effect of which would have been so

greatly to increase the expense of the emigration that it could no longer be carried on

with advantage to the West India colonies. Under this convention it was provided that

every Chinese emigrant should at the end of five years be entitled to be conveyed back

to China at the public expense; that even if he should remain in the colony the sum which

264
would otherwise have been paid for his passage should be handed over to him; that if he

should enter into a second engagement for five years he should receive a gratuity equal to

half the cost of his return passage, his right to such return passage at the end of his

engagement remaining as before; and that invalids, or men incapable of work, should be

entitled at any time to claim payment of the sum necessary to cover the expense of their

return to China. There were other stipulations of a questionable nature, but the above

were the most open to objection.

The expense of a Chinese emigrant by the time he reaches the West Indies cannot be

put up at less than £25. A return passage would entail an additional expense of at least

£15 . The cost, therefore, of a Chinese immigrant would be raised to about double the

cost of an Indian immigrant. It is clear that under these circumstances it would not

answer to import Chinese.

Nor was this the only objection. There are in British Guiana about 12,000 and in

Trinidad about 1,600 Chinese introduced without any stipulation as to back passages.

These people are at present working contentedly and satisfactorily, but if others of their

countrymen, no better than themselves, were introduced on terms so much more

favourable it was not difficult to conjecture that it would produce great discontent and

irritation among the old immigrants. And it must be borne in mind that the Chinese have

naturally a special aptitude for combination, which makes them peculiarly formidable

when they consider themselves unjustly treated. Even, therefore, if the question of

expense had not been insuperable, it would have been unwise, so long as any of the old

immigrants remained under indentures in the colony, to introduce fresh immigrants under

the terms prescribed by the convention.

Under these circumstances, there was no alternative but to make arrangements for

transferring to India the vessels which had been taken up for Chinese emigrants, and to

direct Mr Sampson to suspend all operations for obtaining emigrants until further orders.

Meanwhile it has been decided not to confirm the convention; and a correspondence is in

265
progress with the French government for a joint proposal to the government of China for

a modification of it. Until this has been settled, no emigration will be undertaken from

Chinese ports to the British colonies.

Twenty-Seventh General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners

(1867). Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers, Emigration Series (Irish University Press),

Vol.17.

[2]

TEXT OF THE 1866 CONVENTION TO REGULATE THE ENGAGEMENT OF

CHINESE EMIGRANTS BY BRITISH AND FRENCH SUBJECTS

The Government of His Majesty the Emperor of China, having requested that, in

accordance with the terms of conventions signed at Peking the 24th and 25th of October,

1860, a set of regulations should be framed to secure to Chinese emigrants those

safeguards which are required for their moral and physical well-being, the following,

after due discussion and deliberation of the Yamen of foreign affairs, have been adopted

by the undersigned, and will henceforth be in force:

Regulations

ARTICLE I.

Any person desiring to open an emigration agency in any port in China must make an

application in writing to that effect to his consul, enclosing at the same time a copy of the

rules which he proposes to observe in his establishment, a copy of the contract which he

offers to emigrants, together with the necessary proofs that he has complied with all the

conditions imposed by the laws of his country regulating emigration.

ARTICLE II.

The consul, after having assured himself of the solvency and respectability of the

applicant, and having examined and approved the copies of the rules and contracts, shall

266
communicate them to the Chinese authorities, and shall request them to issue the license

necessary for opening an emigration agency.

The license, together with the rules and contracts as approved by the Chinese

authorities, will be registered at the consulate.

ARTICLE III.

No license to open an emigration agency shall be... withdrawn except upon sufficient

grounds, and then only with the sanction of the consul. In such a case the emigration

agent shall have no claim to compensation for the closing of his establishment and the

suspension of his operations.

ARTICLE IV.

No modification of the rules and contracts, when once approved by the consul and by

the Chinese authorities, shall be made without their express consent. And in order that

no emigrant may be ignorant of them, the said rules and contracts shall in all cases be

posted up on the door of the emigration agency and in the quarters of the emigrants.

The emigration agents shall be allowed to circulate and make generally known in the

towns and villages of the province copies of these rules and contracts, which must in all

cases bear the seals of the Chinese authorities and of the consulate.

ARTICLE V.

Every emigration agent shall be held responsible, under the laws of his country, for

the due execution of the clauses of the contract signed by him until its expiration.

ARTICLE VI.

Every Chinese applied to by the emigration agent to find him emigrants shall be

provided with a special license from the Chinese authorities, and he alone will be

responsible for any act done by him in the above capacity, that may be, whether

intentionally or unintentionally, in contravention to the laws of the empire.

ARTICLE VII.

267
 Every Chinese wishing to emigrate under an engagement shall cause his name to be

entered in a register kept for that purpose, in the presence of the emigration agent and of

an inspector deputed by the Chinese government. He will then be at liberty to return to

his home, or to remain in the emigration depot, to await the departure of the ship which

is to carry him to his destination.

ARTICLE VIII.

The contracts shall specify:

1st. The place of destination and the length of the engagement.

2nd. The right of the emigrant to be conveyed back to his own country, and the sum that

shall be paid at the expiration of his contract to cover the expense of his voyage home

and that of his family, should they accompany him.

3rd. The number of working days in the year and the length of each day's work.

4th. The wages, rations, clothing and other advantages promised to the emigrant.

5th. Gratuitous medical attendance.

6th. The sum which the emigrant agrees to set aside out of his monthly wages for the

benefit of persons to be named by him, should he desire to appropriate any sum to such a

purpose.

7th. Copy of the 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th and 22nd articles of these regulations.

Any clause which shall purport to render invalid any of the provisions of this

regulation is null and void.

ARTICLE IX.

The term of each emigrant's engagement shall not exceed five years; at the expiration

of which the sum stipulated in the contract shall be paid for him, to cover the expense of

his return to his country. In the event of his obtaining permission to remain without an

engagement in the colony, this sum will be placed in his own hands.

It shall always be at the option of the emigrant to enter into a second engagement of

five years, for which he shall be paid a premium equivalent to one-half the cost of his

268
return to China. In such a case, the sum destined to cover the expense of his return home

shall not be paid until the expiration of his second engagement.

Every emigrant who may become invalided and incapable of working, shall be

allowed, without waiting for the expiration of his contract, to claim before the legal

courts of the colony or territory where he may be, payment on his behalf of the sum

destined to cover the expense of his return to China.

ARTICLE X.

The emigrant shall in no case be forced to work more than six days out of seven, nor

more than nine hours and a half in the day.

The emigrant shall be free to arrange with his employer the conditions of work by the

piece or job, and of all extra labor undertaken during days and hours set apart for rest.

The obligation, on holidays, to attend to cattle, or to do such service as the necessities

of daily life may demand, shall not be considered as labor.

ARTICLE XI.

No engagement to emigrate, entered into by any Chinese subject under twenty years

of age, will be valid, unless he produce a certificate from the proper Chinese authorities,

stating that he has been authorized to contract such engagement by his parents, or in

default of his parents, by the magistrate of the port at which he is to embark.

ARTICLE XII.

After four days, but not less, from the date of the entry of the emigrant's name on the

register of the agency, the officer deputed by the Chinese government being present, the

contract shall be read to the emigrant, and he shall be asked whether he agrees to it, and

having answered in the affirmative, he shall then and there append his signature thereto.

ARTICLE XIII.

The contract once signed, the emigrant is at the disposal of the agent, and must not

absent himself from the depot without the permission of the agent.

269
 Before embarking, every emigrant shall be called before the officer deputed by the

Chinese authorities, to ratify his contract, which shall be registered at the consulate.

Twenty-four hours before the sailing of the ship the emigrants shall be mustered on

board before the consul and the inspector of customs, or their deputies, and the list shall

be finally closed for signature and registration by the consul and the inspector.

Any individual refusing to proceed after this muster shall be bound to pay the expense

of his maintenance in the emigration depot, at the rate of one hundred cash (one-tenth of

a tael) per diem. In default of payment he shall be handed over to the Chinese magistrate

to be punished according to the laws.

ARTICLE XIV.

Any sum handed over to the emigrant before his departure shall only be regarded in

the light of a premium upon his engagement. All advances upon his future wages are

formally forbidden, except in the case of their being appropriated to the use of his family;

and the consul will take especial pains to provide against their being employed in any

other way. Such advances shall not exceed six months' wages, and shall be covered by a

stoppage of one dollar per month, until the entire debt shall have been paid.

It is absolutely forbidden, whether on the voyage or during the emigrant's stay in the

colony or territory in which he may be employed, to make any advances to him in money

or kind, payable after the expiration of his engagement. Any agreement of this nature

shall be null and void, and shall give the creditor no power to oppose the return of the

emigrant to his country at the time fixed by the contract.

ARTICLE XV.

The emigrant, during his stay in the depot, shall be bound to conform to the

regulations adopted for its internal economy by the consul and the Chinese authorities.

ARTICLE XVI.

Any emigrant who may be riotous, or guilty of any misconduct shall be immediately

locked up, until the arrival of the officers deputed by the Chinese authorities, to whom he

270
will be handed over to be punished in conformity with the laws of the empire; the

officers of the agency being in no case authorized to take the law into their own hands,

and inflict any punishment.

ARTICLE XVII.

The deputies of the consul and of the Chinese authorities shall at all times be

empowered to demand admittance to the agency, and to summon the emigrants before

them for the purpose of interrogation.

They will be present at the signing of the contracts and at the embarkation of the

coolies.

They will see to the maintenance of order, to the healthiness and cleanliness of the

rooms destined to receive the emigrants, to the separation of families and women, and to

the arrangements on board the transport ships.

They may at any time demand that experts or medical officers shall be called in, in

order to verify any defects which they may have remarked; they may suspend the

embarkation of emigrants in ships, the arrangements on board of which may seem to

them defective, and they may reject coolies afflicted with contagious diseases.

ARTICLE XVIII.

The emigration agent shall be bound to pay into the Custom Bank the sum of three

dollars for every male adult entered on the list of coolies embarked, to meet the expenses

of inspection.

ARTICLE XIX.

Any emigrant claimed by the Chinese government as an offender against the law shall

be handed over to the authorities without opposition, through the consul; and in such case

the whole sum expended for the maintenance of the emigrant in the agency, or on board

ship, shall be repaid immediately to the emigration agent, at the rate of one hundred cash

(one-tenth of a tael) per diem.

271
 The sum of the premium advance, clothes, &c., entered in the agency register against

such emigrant, shall in like manner be repaid by the Chinese government.

ARTICLE XX.

The emigration agent shall not be at liberty to embark emigrants on board any ship

which shall not have satisfied the consul that in respect of its internal economy, stores

and sanitary arrangements, all the conditions required by the laws of the country to which

the said ship may belong are fulfilled.

Should the Chinese authorities, upon the report of the officers deputed by them,

conceive it their duty to protest against the embarkation of a body of emigrants in a ship

approved by the consul, it shall be in the power of the customs to suspend the granting of

the ship's port clearance until further information shall have been obtained, and until the

final decision of the legation of the country to which the suspected ship belongs shall

have been pronounced.

ARTICLE XXI.

On arrival of the ship at her destination, the duplicate of the list of emigrants shall be

presented by the captain to be vised by his consul and by the local authorities.

In the margin, and opposite to the name of each emigrant, note shall be made of

deaths, births, and diseases during the voyage, and of the destination assigned to each

emigrant in the colony or territory in which he is to be employed.

This document shall be sent by the emigration agent to the consul at the port at which

the emigrants embarked, and by him delivered to the Chinese authorities.

ARTICLE XXII.

In the distribution of the emigrants as laborers the husband shall not be separated

from his wife, nor shall parents be separated from their children, being under fifteen

years of age.

No laborer shall be bound to change his employer without his consent, except in the

event of the factory or plantation upon which he is employed changing hands.

272
 His Imperial Highness the Prince of Kung has further declared, in the name of the

government of His Majesty, the Emperor of China:

1st. That the Chinese Government throws no obstacle in the way of free emigration;

that is to say, to the departure of Chinese subjects, embarking of their own free will and

at their own expense, for foreign countries; but that all attempts to bring Chinese under

an engagement to emigrate, otherwise than as the present regulations provide, are

formally forbidden, and will be prosecuted with the extreme rigor of the law.

2nd. That a law of the empire punishes by death those who by fraud or by force may

kidnap Chinese subjects for the purpose of sending them abroad against their will.

3rd. That wheareas the operations of emigration agents, with a view to the supply of

coolie labor abroad, are authorized at all the open ports, when conducted in conformity

with these regulations, and under the joint supervision of the consuls and the Chinese

authorities, it follows that where this joint supervision cannot be exercised, such

operations are formally forbidden.

These declarations are here placed on record, in order that they may have the same

force and validity as the regulations contained in the twenty-two articles foregoing.

Done and signed at Peking in triplicate, the 5th of March, 1866.

RUTHERFORD ALCOCK.

Seal and Signature of PRINCE KUNG.

HENRY DE BELLONNET.

[3]

Official comments on the state of the Chinese emigration experiment in British Guiana in

1870

The emigration establishment is still kept up in China, at considerable expense to this

colony, with little prospect of the emigration of a fair class of agricultural labourers from

thence being renewed, as long as California and other parts of the United States hold out

273
to the Chinese who are willing to emigrate the inducements which they at present have to

offer, in the shape of high wages and great facilities of returning to and communicating

with their native country, by means of the large steamers now plying monthly between

San Francisco and Hong Kong.

The impression left upon our minds by the story of the Chinese immigration has been

one of the least pleasing we have derived from our enquiry. It seems evident that the

planters plunged into the great expense of the Chinese agency without having allowed for

the cost of immigration from so distant a region, or for the natural shrewdness of the

Chinese. They thus became involved in a series of dear bargains, from which they

extricated themselves in a manner not creditable to the colony.

The very same thing is now happening in Surinam. A company was formed in

Holland to supply Chinese labourers to the sugar estates there, and one ship, if not more,

has arrived. When the immigrants were landed, it was found that their contracts included

the stipulation lately insisted on by the Chinese Government, for a free return passage at

the end of five years. The planters had not given authority to their agents to conclude

such a bargain, and rely upon the Colonial Laws, under which it cannot be enforced; they

have accordingly, without exception, refused to be bound by it, or to have anything to

say to the immigrants so introduced. The company has therefore been forced to settle

them on a large estate in its own possession on the River Paramaribo. There they are

now, and it does not appear to be certain whether, when the five years are expired, they

will get the return passage after all. The Chinese in British Guiana have no such claim as

this, but anything that could be done for them by judicious legislation to improve their

position in the colony appears to be in a much more than ordinary sense their due....

We see that lately a proposal has been made to reopen the emigration of Chinese to

this colony, and that some correspondence on the subject has taken place between Mr

Wade and Earl Granville. From this we gather that the Chinese in some of the northern

provinces of China are poor and desirous of emigrating, and that some of them have

274
already been sent to Manchuria. We hope that in any emigration from China to this

colony the Government will be careful to allow only those from the southern and warmer

parts of China to come here. If those from the northern provinces are sent, they will not

be able to stand the heat of the sun when engaged in field labour.

Gt Britain, Parliamentary Papers 1871, XX (C.393), Report of the Commissioners

appointed to enquire into the treatment of immigrants in British Guiana, paragraphs 181-
2, 184.

[4]
Informal eyewitness account of the arrival of the CORONA, and the last indentured

immigrants to British Guiana in 1874

One of the last shiploads of Chinese landed in the colony came in the Corona. They,

like many of their predecessors, were mostly loafers picked up in the great Chinese cities,

not many of them being agriculturists. They were well dressed and self satisfied, always

laughing and talking. They paraded Georgetown like Cook's tourists; they travelled over

it from end to end; they climbed to the top of the highest buildings the better to enjoy the

scenery; they inspected the stores, the churches, the public buildings. They patronised

the cabs to a liberal extent, as many as ten of them airing themselves in one vehicle at the

same time. They chaffed the lower classes, and with the greatest bonhomie,

condescended to shake hands with some gentlemen whose appearance met with their

approval. They took over the Governor's fishpond at Kingston, opened the sluices,

drained off the water, and then wading in, amused themselves by catching the fish out of

the mud, all the time with the greatest hilarity, and with uproarious laughter.

They celebrated their safe arrival in the colony by a series of theatrical entertainments

given under the portico of the Immigration Office. Some of them walked into my house,

took up the ornaments and photographs on the tables, and inspected the plate on the

sideboard; all the time talking in loud voices, and roaring with laughter. Meeting my

275
little boy, Arnold, a child of four, in the street, one of them picked him up and carried

him for some distance on his shoulders, to the amusement of his comrades, and the terror

of the boy's nurse. Only one thing amazed them, and that was a locomotive engine, and

it they worshipped as a god. Mr Crosby, the Immigration Agent-General, was at his wits'

end, and, as his custom was, blessed his soul all day. At last the men were allotted to

different estates, and sent out of town, but very few of them became steady labourers.

Henry Kirke, Twenty-five Years in British Guiana 1872-1897, (London 1898), pp.159-
160.

[5]

Records of the arrival of a Chinese vessel, the CLARA, in Antigua in 1882

(1) Minutes of the Legislative Council of Antigua

24 November 1881. The Acting Colonial Secretary gave notice of his intention to

introduce at the next meeting a Bill to sanction a further payment from the Immigration

Fund, on account of the expense of the introduction of Chinese Immigrants.

(2) Excerpts from Antigua Times

Wednesday 1st February 1882.

The Clara arrived today, 90 days from Hong Kong, with the Chinese immigrants. The

captain reports 28 deaths on voyage. They are the most miserable looking batch of

humans that could ever be seen, a most unprofitable lot they are sure to be, as they have

been recruited from the refuse of the streets, instead of from agricultural districts. We

have the veritable Heathen Chinee among us; may we never have to regret it. There is

not an agriculturalist among the men, they are either barbers, carpenters, or masons.

There is not a strong healthy man in the whole lot - £ 5,000 thrown away.

____

Wednesday 8th February 1882

276
When we wrote last week about the Chinese immigrants, we did so from accounts given

by those who were on board and saw them. We are pleased to state, that they are not, as

far as we have seen, such a miserable batch as we had mentioned, but the majority are

fine looking strong men. We nevertheless are none the less convinced that their

introduction will be found to be a waste of money.

_____

Wednesday 15th February 1882 [Editorial]

.... What are the conditions on which they were brought here? From all we can learn,

and must believe, judging from the dissatisfied state of a large number of these people

within the last few days, their protests against certain wages, and their expressed desire to

return to whence they came, these immigrants have not been dealt with in a

straightforward manner, of course we only presume their statement to be correct. They

were told that they could make $15 per month and that the work would be done under

shelter - some were quite ignorant as to where they were going - and believed it was

quite a different place - and the longer passage than they expected to the place that they

had supposed they had been shipped for, caused them to mutiny on board ship.

They have for days been trooping about town, vowing vengeance against the Chinese

doctor and interpreter who came with them; believing that they, as intelligent parties,

have been in collusion with the enlisting agent to mislead them. We know this, that few

of them are indentured, and when they have quite exhausted the means between them,

they will be a band of the most unwelcome idlers that could be let loose in any country.

With no regard whatever to consequences if they commit the gravest crime, we may only

hope that the government will look after them timely and prudently.

The sneering and derision that are shown to these misled men by the populace, is

quite enough to excite them more, and we believe that not a few of the labourers here

have prompted these Chinamen to strike against the wages offered. We can understand

that the native labourers would be annoyed at the introduction of others, and would feel

277
particularly pleased at their being a failure. If they turn out to be a failure, the reaction

cannot but be serious to agricultural interests....

_____

Wednesday 17th January 1883

We learn from a reliable source that some Chinese from several estates congregated at

the Tomlinsons on Sunday, and consulted with each other as to their action with their

employers, and they decided, that some 9 planters against whom they hold some ill

feeling, should be subject to death, regardless at same time of the consequences to

themselves, having made up their minds to hang or poison themselves after committing

such outrages, and burning properties. We feel it our duty to make this public, so that

our planters may be on their guard. Sorry state of things, which demand some vigorous

action, to divert any more barbarous deeds.

(3) Excerpt from Colonial Correspondence (Leeward Islands): Governor Sir J.H. Glover

to the Earl of Derby (10 February 1883)

Execution of two Chinese labourers for murder of Augustus Lee-Reports

Government House, Dominica

I have the honour to report for their Lordships' information, the execution of two

Chinese labourers, Lu Sung, and Ah Kung, for the murder on the 5th January, of

Augustus Lee, the Manager of Green Castle Estate, in the island of Antigua. The

prisoners were put upon their trial before His Honour Mr Justice Pemberton, 2nd Puisne

judge, and a jury on the 17th January - a verdict of "guilty" being returned, sentence of

death was duly passed upon them, which sentence I confirmed, with the advice of the

Executive Council on the 24th January. The prisoners were therefore hanged within the

walls of the common gaol on the morning of the 29th January.

(4) Minutes of the Legislative Council of Antigua

22 January 1883. Mr Scarville gave notice of his intention to ask the Government at the

next meeting for the following information:

278
Amount in detail of cost to this Presidency of the Chinese immigrants per ship

"CLARA".

Amount received from the parties taking those immigrants to labour on their properties.

If any such amounts are as yet uncollected.

Amount spent in the prosecution of Chinese labourers in our law courts to date and to

what account has such been charged.

22 February 1883. In pursuance of the 6th item - the Colonial Secretary in reply to a

question from Mr Scarville laid upon the table returns showing the expenditure incurred

in connection with the importation of Chinese immigrants.

Sessional Papers (Antigua) C.O.9/58 : Minutes of the Legislative Council from 1880 to

1895; Antigua Times, Wednesday 1st , 8th and 15th February 1882; 17th January 1883 ;
Colonial Correspondence (Leeward Islands), C.O.152/152, 10 February 1883: Governor
Sir J.H. Glover to the Earl of Derby

[6]
Abortive attempt by West India Committee Planters to revive the Chinese Emigration to

Trinidad in 1883

(1) Letter to the Governor of Trinidad

London, 1st September 1883

Last season, great difficulty was experienced in obtaining Coolies from India, and it

does not appear that recruiting prospects have improved for the present season.

.... Mr Tong King Sing, the Chairman of the China Merchants Shipping Company, is

proceeding to Brazil and Cuba on matters connected with emigration. He is naturally

279
anxious for the good treatment of his countrymen, and through the West India

Committee, we have placed before him the superior advantages offered by the British

colonies as compared with the foreign slave countries. It is eminently desirable that he

should visit Trinidad, to observe the prospects there offered to Chinese immigrants, and

we believe that he would be induced to do so if sufficiently encouraging advices from the

island were addressed to him. He is about to leave Europe for Brazil, and will receive

letters through the care of the Foreign Office in Rio de Janeiro.

The Company represented by Mr Tong King Sing intends to obtain Chinese emigrants

from the thickly populated parts of the Southern Provinces of China. These emigrants,

by paying a small portion of the passage money, will be carried to certain countries to be

determined upon. They will be entirely free of all contracts to labour, but will be bound

to repay to the Company out of their earnings the cost of the passage. The Company will

place the emigrants in a "boarding house" on arrival, and the Company will see after their

obtaining employment and manage for them until their advances have been repaid, or the

Company are satisfied that they will be well treated. As a condition for introducing a

certain number of people, the Steam Ship Company will expect a subsidy from the

Colonial Government. No amount of subsidy has been mentioned, but if the Company

would introduce 1,000 emigrants (suitable agricultural labourers) annually for a series of

years, for a yearly subsidy of £ 5,000 or 6,000 , or even a rather larger sum, we venture

to think that such an advantageous arrangement would deserve the fullest and most

favourable consideration.

The immediate object of our now addressing Your Excellency is respectfully to

suggest that steps be taken to write Mr Tong King Sing to visit the Colony, and we have

no doubt that a semi-official communication from the Colonial Secretary or the Protector

of Immigrants, addressed to him either at Rio or to the care of the British Consul at

Cuba, would be sufficient. It is strongly felt that such an opportunity for setting on foot a

free immigration of Chinese on advantageous terms for the Colony should be utilised,

280
and we venture to ask that Your Excellency would be pleased to give to this matter your

favourable consideration as one that may concern, to a very important extent, the future

prosperity of the Colony.

Whilst we are addressing Your Excellency on the subject of labour supply, may we

also suggest, apart altogether from any proposed arrangements with Mr Tong King Sing,

that if the number of Coolies required this season are not obtainable from Calcutta or

Madras .... whether Your Excellency and the Legislative Council would not authorise

500 or 1,000 emigrants to be introduced from Hong Kong, under indenture, and indeed,

under the usual conditions, with the exception of back passage, and payable out of the

Immigration Fund in the ordinary way. We have no doubt that the West India

Committee would be able to make satisfactory arrangements, either by sending out a

Special Agent, or using the same means as were employed by them in the case of

Chinese emigration to British Guiana and Antigua .

We have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient and humble servants,
The Colonial Company Ltd (per
P.N.Bernard, Managing Director)
Tennant, Sons, & Co
Thos. Daniel & Co
Thomson Hankey & Co
Jos. Marryat & Sons

(2) Resolution of the Immigration Committee of Trinidad passed on 2nd October 1883

" The Standing Committee on Immigration fully concur in the desirability of

endeavouring to obtain a supply of Chinese immigrants in the manner indicated by the

proposal understood to be made by Mr Tong King Sing, provided the immigrants be of

the agricultural class and suitable to the requirements of this island."

Charles Mitchell, Chairman.

Trinidad Legislative Council Paper No. 65 of 1883: Papers relating to the Proposed

Introduction of Coolies from China

281
 CHAPTER EIGHT

LIFE AFTER INDENTURE: INDENTURED SERVANTS TO TRADERS 1870-1918

The transition from indentured labourer to free citizen for the Chinese assumed a

slightly different path from that of their fellow Asians, the Indians, but similar to another

minority immigrant group, the Portuguese (Madeirans). In the first place, the option of a

free return passage to China did not exist, as it did with the Indians (only one-third of

whom ever exercised that option anyway). Those who did chose to return after their

indenture period was over (or after a short sojourn within the society as free citizens)

had to do so on their own. A significant number did, in fact (see Appendix 1, Table 6).

Most, however, remained in the Caribbean region, opting for a life outside of plantation

wage labour (less rapidly, but no less surely, in British Guiana). Many remigrated or

relocated within the Caribbean region itself, e.g. Guianese to Trinidad, Surinam,

Cayenne or Colon (Panama). In the 16-year period between 1872 and 1887 alone, about

3,000 remigrated out of British Guiana for various destinations, mainly within the

Caribbean (see Appendix 1, Tables 5 & 6). Many opted briefly for life as independent

small farmers, before making other transitions. One experiment in British Guiana begun

in the 1860's, the Hopetown Settlement, was the largest collective effort in this direction.

282
Most became small traders, urban and rural, side by side with their other ethnic

competitors (immigrants and natives). By the 1880's and 1890's the Chinese had moved

out of agricultural life completely, and taken up their new roles as economic trader

middlemen within the class/colour hierarchy of West Indian plantation society.

The excerpts in this chapter are mainly made up of glimpses into this small community

as seen through the eyes of others, mainly European writers and missionaries, as they

functioned in nineteenth century West Indian society (sections 1-4). One document

comes from the pen of a Chinese Christian cathechist employed as an overseer on Great

Diamond plantation in the 1880's. Section 5 records an eyewitness account of the

disastrous 1913 fire which destroyed British Guiana's Chinatown.

[1]

The Chinese in Trinidad in the 1860's

(1) W.H.Gamble: Trinidad, Historical and Descriptive: a Narrative of Nine Years'

Residence in the Island (London 1866)

They are not so satisfactory as labourers; but, upon the termination of their contracts,

they become shopkeepers, and some of them monied men. They are not British subjects,

and must reside 12 years in the country, and take the oath of allegiance to the Crown,

before they can become such....

.... [They are] a very shrewd, industrious people, and a valuable addition to the

community. In some respects they are more valuable than the Coolies; for not only do

they rise in the scale of society, but they marry Creole women (no Chinese women, or

very few, having been brought with them), and settle down permanently in the country.

They assume the European dress, adopt European manners, and live in very respectable

style. Some of the houses are their own property, being elegantly, not to say

extravagantly, furnished.

The Celestials are a peculiar people in their own country; and though much of their

peculiarity is lost by their residence here, still some of their peculiarities remain. The

283
long plait of hair growing from the crown of the head is as sacredly preserved, and as

carefully coiled round the head in Trinidad by the well-to-do Chinaman, as by his brother

Chinaman in the Celestial Empire. It is difficult to find out why this appendage is so

carefully guarded - but carefully preserved it is: and distressing indeed is it to the poor

unfortunate Chinese who is sent to gaol, and has to submit to the indignity of having his

head shaved. Not that they are not accustomed to shaving their heads, for most of them

shave the whole of their heads clean, with the exception of the sacred plait. They are, as

a people, devoid of whiskers, and very few have either beard or moustache. Some of the

higher class have the very long, thin moustache which is to be seen represented in the

images of mandarins on view in tea-shop windows.

The native dress of the Chinese has nothing picturesque about it; short wide trousers

of blue cotton, with a kind of short smock-frock of the same material, form the whole of

the dress, crowned, however, by a circular and conically- shaped hat, which puzzles you

to say whether it is most like one of Bruce's soldiers' targets, or a part of a bee-hive.

They are in shape like a target, and in material similar to that of which bee-hives are

made, and withal they are serviceable. They extend wide, and throw a considerable

circle of shade around the wearer, effectually shielding him from the sun.

___________

The Chinese do not celebrate any religious festival that I have ever heard, and the

only symbol of their religion is a small bracket fixed up against the side of the house, on

which is placed a burning lamp, a few Chinese characters being written on red paper, and

pasted above the lamp. Ask anything about this matter, and the general answer given is ,

"This is for me religion". As far as can be gathered from observation, the only things

that influence Chinamen to any extent are opium-eating and gambling. To these vices

many of them are much given, and I know not that any injustice would be done if it were

said that opium-eating and gambling make up the religion of many of the Chinese.

These vices have led several of their number to commit suicide; but as they become more

284
connected with the people of Trinidad, and understand their habits better, they will cease

for the most part to indulge in these dangerous and costly vices.

(2) Daniel Hart: Historical and Statistical View of the Island of Trinidad (Port-of-Spain

1866)

Vegetables of almost every description are also raised, particularly by the Chinese,

whose knowledge in gardening is great, whilst they are most attentive and steady in such

work, more especially where the land is their own.

_____

One of the largest proprietors of sugar estates in this island, writing to a friend, states:

"I feel convinced that India will not supply us with immigrants beyond another year or

so, and to China must we look entirely for our future supply."

_____

The Chinese .... more readily falls into the ways of the country, more easily learns the

language, and is altogether more amenable to Christian instruction. On the 13th of last

month, when I held a confirmation at St Paul's Church in San Fernando, there were

present 14 baptized Chinese out of the 461 supposed to be their aggregate number. The

whole number of baptized Chinese in our Church [Church of England] is about 50.

_____

A new branch of industry has recently started in San Fernando in that line; several

Chinese have opened a regular oyster trade and supply their customers and others with

oysters already shelled.....

_____

[The Chinese] have peculiar ideas of beauty: they pluck up the hairs from the lower

part of the face by the roots with tweezers, leaving a few straggling ones to serve for a

beard. Their Tartar princes compel them to cut off the hair of the head, and, like

Mahommedans, to wear only a lock on the Crown. Those, however, introduced into the

285
Colony have thick hair covering one half of the crown of the head, leaving a long tail,

sometimes left to fall downwards, or plaited round the head. The complexion of those

from the North is fair, but those from the South are swarthy. They are fond of dress, but

made according to the fashion of their country - short and very wide trousers, with a long

loose kind of jacket or paletot. On becoming Christians they enter readily to the manner

of dress of the generality of the inhabitants. They freely marry creole women, and are

careful in selecting those who are handsome....

Duplicity and deceit, it is said, are notoriously prevalent among them; the cordiality

of friendship is very rare; true benevolence is far from being the general feeling, and

exterior and mechanical forms are more attended to than the actual practice of virtue.

They are great gamblers. As labourers, they are steady and hardworking, seldom ever

seen drunk, excellent gardeners, and in business are sharp and attentive. The women

have little eyes, plump rosy lips, black hair, regular features, void however of beauty -

their feet are unnaturally small, or rather truncated; they appear as if the fore-part of the

foot had been accidentally cut off, leaving the remainder of the usual size, and bandaged

like the stump of an amputated limb. Their dress is somewhat like that of the men -

indeed some of them soon acquire the English language, and when they do, they speak it

correctly. The Chinese men and women are extremely quick of sight and apprehension,

are naturally easy and cheerful, and scarcely ever experience either care or melancholy.

They are very hospitable to each other, and likewise to strangers who put themselves

under their protection even for the shortest period.

(3) Charles Kingsley: At Last - A Christmas in the West Indies (London 1871)

Naparima and Montserrat

286
 Then [we went] to church at Savanna Grande, riding of course; for the mud was

abysmal, and it was often safer to ride in the ditch than on the road. The village, with a

tramway through it, stood high and healthy. The best houses were those of Chinese. The

poorer Chinese find peddling employments and trade about the villages, rather than hard

work on the estates; while they cultivate on ridges, with minute care, their favourite

sweet potato. Round San Fernando, a Chinese will rent from a sugar planter a bit of land

which seems hopelessly infested with weeds, even of the worst of all sorts - the creeping

para grass - which was introduced a generation since, with some trouble, as food for

cattle, and was supposed at first to be so great a boon that the gentleman who brought it

in received public thanks and a valuable testimonial. The Chinaman will take the land

for a single year, at a rent, I believe, as high as a pound an acre, grow on it his sweet

potato crop, and return it to the owner, cleared, for the time being, of every weed. The

richer shopkeepers each have a store: but they disdain to live at it. Near by each you see

a comfortable low house, with verandahs, green jalousies, and often pretty flowers in

pots; and catch glimpses inside of papered walls, prints, and smart moderator-lamps,

which seem to be fashionable among the Celestials. But for one fashion of theirs, I

confess, I was not prepared.

We went to church - a large, airy, clean, wooden one - which ought to have had a

verandah round to keep off the intolerable sunlight, and which might, too, have had

another pulpit. For in getting up to preach in a sort of pill-box on a long stalk, I found

the said stalk surging and nodding so under my weight, that I had to assume an attitude

of most dignified repose, and to beware of "beating the drum ecclesiastic", or "danging

the Bible to shreds", for fear of toppling into the pews of the very smart, and really very

attentive, brown ladies below. A crowded congregation it was, clean, gay, respectable

and respectful, and spoke well both for the people and for their clergyman. But - happily

not till the end of the sermon - I became aware, just in front of me, of a row of smartest

Paris bonnets, net-lace shawls, brocades and satins, fit for duchesses; and as the center of

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each blaze of finery .... the unmistakable visage of a Chinese woman. Whether they

understood one word; what they thought of it all; whether they were there for any

purpose save to see and be seen, were questions to which I tried in vain, after service, to

get an answer. All that could be told was, that the richer Chinese take delight in thus

bedizening their wives on high days and holidays; not with tawdry cheap finery, but with

things really expensive, and worth what they cost, especially the silks and brocades; and

then in sending them, whether for fashion or for loyalty's sake, to an English church. Be

that as it may, there they were, ladies from the ancient and incomprehensible Flowery

Land, like fossil bones of an old world sticking out amid the vegetation of the new; and

we will charitably hope that they were the better for being there.

[2]

The Chinese in Trinidad in the 1880's

(1) The Diaries of Abbe Armand Masse (1878-1883) [translation]

22nd March 1881

Brantone who is said to be so rich and of whom it was said that he had more debts in

the shade than in the light of the sun is completely ruined. He left, abandoning two poor

little children whom he had had with a Spanish negro woman. His companion, Mlle.

Rose, foreseeing the catastrophe went to offer herself to the Chinese Atin. Atin for

several days did some foolish things in Port of Spain for this woman. Clothes, jewelry,

he spared nothing. When she had been well stocked with all that she desired, Mlle. Rose

returned to Mr Brantone who lives in Port of Spain since he lost his estates. Atin, furious

at having been tricked started to drink. He is drunk every day. His affairs have also

gone to the dogs. How could it have been otherwise. Since a long time he is living in

Port of Spain instead of being in Erin. He has two or three clerks who are occupied with

his affairs with the elastic conscience of the Chinese. He spends more than 1500 frs. on

opium every year. And then he is a wretch as regards his conduct. One has reason to

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think that if his wife left him she was not the only one to be blamed. With that, like all

the Chinese, he gambles.

Every day in Trinidad there are Chinese who ruin themselves by gambling and others

to the contrary who recover their wealth. I was asking one day of a small Chinese girl

the state of her father, she replied: "Formerly my father had several shops. He gambled

and he has lost them. Now he is still gambling, sometimes he wins, other times he loses.

When he has lost everything, his friends lend him a few dollars and he reimburses them

when he wins." There is the life not only of this Chinaman but of many. They are nearly

all merchants. Selling their merchandise at exorbitant prices they get rich quickly. But

as the proverb says: "a good thing badly acquired profits the same". They ruin

themselves as easily. The passion for gambling is so strong with them that even those

who are communicants succumb sometimes to the tempatation. Mr Tahin, a Chinese to

whom I gave his second communion swore to me that lately he has lost $40 gambling.

He protests that he will not play any more but the word of a gambler very much

resembles that of an alcoholic. One should not put too much faith in it.

(2) R.P.M. Cothonay: Trinidad, Journal d'un Missionaire Dominicain des Antilles

Anglaises (Paris, 1893) [translation]

If there is under the sun a clever and industrious people, a people who live where

others die, and who enrich themselves where others go bankrupt, that people are the

Chinese. We have in Trinidad a good number of Chinese, and I assure you that their

character, dress and customs contribute not a little to the stamp of originality of our

population. All come here penniless, naturally, since these bands of emigrants are the

rabble of Canton and other villages in the Chinese Empire. Today, some are extremely

rich merchants, and the others at least comfortable in their roles as small shopkeepers or

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big traders. In the heart of the smallest village, if you find a shop, be sure it is owned by

a Chinese. The creoles, and especially the blacks, are almost incapable of withstanding

the competition.

Chinese and coolies intermingle willingly enough, creoles and coolies never. A good

number of children are the offspring of Chinese and coolies; even after several

generations one can recognise the descendants by their almond-shaped eyes.

There are no Chinese labourers here at all. Their preference is for trade. Among

their businesses, I will mention one which has often attracted to them denunciation,

prosecution, and condemnation, but which they persist in practising. It is the game of

chance called Whe-Whe, and which is played with numbers. When one wins, one wins

big, but that is so rare that the Chinese make a great profit out of it. They have clerks

who collect the tickets and exploit the naive in the most shameful manner, although all of

this is prohibited by the law. A few weeks ago, in San Fernando, the police staged a raid

on about fifteen culprits. Two Chinese received fines of about 280 gourdes (more than

1,400 francs) plus ten months in prison, the others less severe penalties. But that will not

discourage them.

In the parish of San Fernando, we should have around 200 Chinese of pure or mixed

blood. About half are Catholic, the other half Protestant or pagan. Besides my little

James, Chinese-coolie, we have another one who is an acolyte. He is an Afro-Chinese,

pious and very gentil. The Catholic Chinese are ordinarily more generous than the

coolies; they love to give gifts to their priests; if one is building a church, they contribute

generously. The coolie, on the other hand, is egotistic and essentially a mendicant.

Here the Chinese do not permit their children much exposure. For a start the law

stands in the way, then the conditions are no longer the same as in their country. They

give them over nevertheless with ease to others, and do not seem to love them as much as

coolie parents [do theirs]. These generally show their children a lot of affection, and

they, to give them justice, respond in kind to the tenderness of their fathers and mothers.

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(3) Kenneth James Grant: My Missionary Memories (Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1923)

A Chinese Christian (Presbyterian) preacher in the 1880's

Within five years from the beginning of the work in San Fernando the Christian

community in connection with Susamachar Church had so far increased as to warrant

organisation. A Board of five managers was elected to carry on the business affairs of

the congregation, and later a Session was formed. Babu Lal Behari, the first convert to

be baptised in the new Church, was one of the elected elders ..... Jacob W. Corsbie, a

Chinaman, was another. As an ordained layman, he stands in relation to Susamachar as

Charles C. Soodeen - another consecrated man - does to the work in Princes Town.....

Jacob W. Corsbie was a native born Chinaman. When sword and famine, during the

Taiping Rebellion in the early sixties of the nineteenth century, were laying waste China,

and slaughtering millions, this boy with his parents and some neighbours fled one night

for their lives. In the general confusion his father and mother were parted and they never

afterwards met. The mother and son after many perilous experiences reached the sea-

coast, secured passage, and ultimately reached Trinidad. I met this boy in 1872, and

finding him diligent, apt to learn and of exceptionally strong character, arranged when on

furlough in 1876 to have him brought to Galt, Ontario for two years. Through Miss

Mary Stark I was introduced to Dr J.K. Smith, the then Minister at Galt. His

congregation paid the expenses of passage both to Canada and return, and provided the

board, clothing, and tuition fees of the young man. Two years in Galt Institute, then

conducted by Dr Tazzie, with the church life that throbbed under the Ministry of Dr

Smith, did very much to equip J.W.Corsbie for the services which he rendered the

Canadian Church since his return in 1879. He was an especially efficient teacher in both

the day school and the Sabbath school, a capable and instructive leader of public

worship, a faithful elder in Susamachar congregation, and a warm hearted and consistent

friend to all.

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 [3]

The Chinese in British Guiana in the 1860's

The Hopetown Settlement

(1) Report on the origins of the Chinese settlement

O Tye Kim, a Christian missionary among the Chinese immigrants in Demerara has

petitioned the Court of Policy for a grant of Crown lands up the River Demerara to form

a Chinese village or settlement. Among other matters set forth in the petition, O Tye

Kim says as follows:

"Your petitioner on his arrival in this Colony remarked with surprise, that his people

were not as prosperous here as those who had been an equal time in other countries; the

few exceptions having for the most part become such by gambling and other disreputable

means; and he has become aware in the course of his labours, that a large proportion of

the immigrants are in consequence disatisfied with their condition and prospects, and are

contemplating emigration at the end of their indentures. They have heard that their

countrymen in the neighbouring colony of Trinidad are in a comparatively flourishing

condition; that many there are growing rich in the pursuit of trade and in the cultivation

of the soil; and this knowledge has added to their discontent, and confirmed their

determination to go elsewhere."

The Colonist [British Guiana] in its impression of the 31st ultimo says:

"A long discussion took place on the subject of the petition of Mr O Tye Kim

postponed from yesterday. His Excellency in a speech of some length expressed his firm

conviction of the success of the scheme proposed by Mr O Tye Kim, and of its ultimate

benefit to the Colony. He had great doubts when the proposition of Mr Lobscheid of free

Chinese immigration to this Colony was spoken of as to its success, but he must confess

his opinions were seriously staggered by a conversation with Mr O Tye Kim on the

subject. He alluded to the fact that only Christian Chinese are to be located in this new

settlement, and that as few of the Chinese in this Colony are Christians, the experiment

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cannot affect existing arrangements, but may in fact, lead to the free emigration of

Christian Chinese to this Colony. The position of Chinese in the neighbouring Colony of

Trinidad was strikingly different from that of the Chinese of this Colony. The

Portuguese element of our population occupies the same position as the Chinese in

Trinidad. Something must be done, or else the Chinese will be found to emigrate from

this Colony en masse. A more simple manner of providing against this and at the same

time extending the resources of the Colony could not be found than the experiment

proposed. He did not mean to bring forward the resolution today, but he made these

remarks as he had a further conversation with Mr O Tye Kim this morning. Mr

Clementson objected to the proposed new settlement on various grounds - as affording an

asylum for discontented indentured Chinese labourers who might take refuge there and

defy all the police in the Colony to capture them; besides the scheme involved several

other items of expenditure which must be brought against the Colony before long. "

Port-of-Spain Gazette (Trinidad) , 25 February 1865

(2) Report on Chinese Settlement at Hopetown by Mr Stipendiary Justice Des Voeux

5th September 1865

I have the honour to report to His Excellency the Governor that I was occupied

during three days of last week in inspecting the Chinese Settlement in Camounie Creek.

It is a matter of great satisfaction to me to be able to state that the settlers have overcome

their chief difficulties, and are now in a fair way to prosperity. The heavy rains which

have prevailed this year delayed the occupation of the land selected for the settlement

until the end of June. Since that time the settlers, numbering now about 150 and located

at 18 different spots visited by me have constructed rainproof houses, and have cleared in

all more than 60 acres of heavily timbered land.

They are all at present occupied in the manufacture of charcoal, for which purposes

15 large furnaces have been erected, and 10 more are in course of construction. Each of

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these must have cost a large amount of labour, as they have walls of solid clay from 3 to

5 feet in thickness, contain from 50 to 100 barrels of charcoal, and are covered in every

case with a roof substantially thatched. The settlement is now producing at the rate of

more than 1700 barrels per month an amount which will very shortly be raised to 3000.

The charcoal is far superior to any that has been heretofore produced in the colony. So

decidedly is this the case that several Portuguese burners have stated to me that they will

be compelled in a short time to give up competition.

The settlers have as yet only sown a few vegetables for their own use, and will not

commence planting in earnest , until their numbers are sufficiently large to drain properly

the whole of their land. They wish moreover to clear off the whole of their debt to the

colony by the sale of charcoal, the proceeds of which are more immediately available.

I conversed more or less with every individual at the settlement, and am happy to say

that universal contentment prevails. Not one expressed the slightest desire to go back to

the estates. All on the contrary seemed hopeful of prospering in their new abode, and

some felt confident of ultimately bringing out their relatives from China at their own

expense. The only complaint was the want of fresh meat, to which they state that they

have always been accustomed. This want however cannot be of immediate consequence,

as there seemed to be an entire absence of sickness.

Some of them have already some stock in their possession such as pigs, poultry, the

which I have no doubt will be rapidly increased in number when the rice fields begin to

produce.

Several expressed a hope that they would now have a school for their children, of

whom there are several. I assured them that this want would most probably be supplied

by the government as soon as the permanence of the settlement was fully established.

It is hardly necessary to state that the present success of the settlement is almost

entirely owing to the indefatigable energy and other sterling qualities of my brother

commissioner Mr O Tye Kim. He expects that at the end of the present year the number

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of settlers will be increased to 200, and that the whole of the lands fronting the water

from the north of plantation Hermanstyne to the junction of the Camounie and Waratilla

Creeks will then be occupied.

Judging from present appearances we have every reason to suppose that within the

same period, the whole of the money borrowed from the colony will be repaid. Should

we be fortunate enough to be able to shew so material a proof of success, it is our

purpose, subject to His Excellency's approval, to offer suggestions for the future

government of the settlement to be formed into an ordinance according to the resolution

of the Court of Policy.

C.O.111/353. Colonial Correspondence (British Guiana). Hinks to Cardwell, 19

September 1865, #155, enclosure: Des Voeux, a commissioner of the Chinese

settlement, to W.N. Ware, Actg Gov. Secy.

(3) Edward Jenkins: The Coolie - his rights and wrongs (New York 1871),

Chapter 10: The Chinese Settlement

One tide - some forty miles or so - up the Demerara River is a settlement of free

Chinese. During the reign of Governor Hincks, and, I was told, chiefly on the suggestion

of Mr Des Voeux, a tract of land on the Camoudi Creek was assigned for the habitation

of Chinese Coolies whose indentures had expired. These poor people, unable, because

they lacked the means, to return to their own country, had attracted the sympathy of Mr

Des Voeux, who conceived the idea of settling them on free allotments on land. In the

exercise of their usual industry and ingenuity he hoped that they would attain to some

better condition than could be purchased by the scanty wages of labour.... The matter

was taken up by the Governor and the Court of Policy, and a large number, most of them

Christians, were removed to the creek, under the leadership of an evangelist named O

Tye Kim. The place was satirically named Hopetown - the word "Hope" being the name

of an admiral. They were placed in a locality where, during the first rainy season, they

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were flooded out. Yet in the end they succeeded in clearing and cultivating a range of

some extent.....

So long as O Tye Kim remained with the people, he exercised over them a very

beneficial influence. But in a weak moment he made a serious moral slip, and, finding

exposure inevitable, absconded. I heard of him again the other day from a well-known

Chinese missionary, who told me he had since seen him in China, whither he had gone,

after a residence in the United States, and had engaged in some illegal scheme of

emigration to that country. Mr O Tye Kim evidently needs that the eye of Bret Harte, or

at least of "Bill Nye", should be fixed upon him. At the time of my visit to Demerara,

the settlement was not in favour with the planters. .... When I enquired about it, they

shrugged their shoulders, and said it was "a mistake". From their point of view a mistake

it undoubtedly was. It secluded a number of available labourers; and the natural policy

of the British Guianan government is as far as possible to place labourers in such a

position as that they shall be obliged to work. It afforded an asylum to deserters from the

estates. Moreover, instead of devoting themselves, as had been hoped, to the production

of food or staples, the Chinese had taken to charcoal-burning, a manufacture which they

perform with unrivalled skill.

Des Voeux had not seen these people for some time, and I was desirous of conversing

with persons who were freed from the restraints of indentureship; we accordingly

arranged an expedition to the creek.....

...... Early in the morning many Chinese began to come in from the village, and soon

filled the room. We occupied our hammocks, round which they ranged themselves.

Their demeanour was free but polite, beyond that of any labourers I have ever seen.

They bowed or shook hands, cordially welcoming my companion. When any part of our

conversation was not comprehended by any one of them, a touch elicited an explanation

in a low tone from some cleverer neighbour. If a hasty young scamp rushed noisily into

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the house, a quick hand was clapped over his mouth, and silence or ejectment was

enforced with ridiculous solemnity.

We asked them first about their life at the settlement. They unanimously complained

that they had not received, as they were led to expect, assurances of their property in the

land, and that the privilege originally accorded to them of cutting wood for charcoal free

along their own side of the stream was now denied to them. They were shrewdly

suspicious; attributing this to the fact that an official, a member of the Court of Policy,

owned the land on the other side of the creek, whence they were now obliged to obtain

the wood, paying him a royalty. They knew all about the Commission [of Enquiry], and

were eagerly looking for some beneficial result from its labours - an expectation I

grieved to be forced to stifle. They evidently desired to be sent back to their own

country. Some assured us that this had been promised to them in China at the time of

enlistment, though it was contrary to the terms authorised by the colony. One man, who

had been many years absent from China, told us he had left a wife and children there in

the expectation of returning to them. He had never heard of them since. As this was

translated to us others nodded their heads, in confirmation from their own experience.

To me this was inexpressibly sad.

Selecting the most intelligent, we asked him to "tell his story." There was instant

silence in the crowd, and they listened eagerly as sentence after sentence was transposed

into English by the interpreter.

"In my own country I was a schoolmaster. I was well taught. I heard that

people were going to Demerary, and I was asked to go. Agent told me it

was a nice place - many of my countrymen were going: over there they

had plenty of work to do - plenty money - would get rich: food was found

at first, and a doctor if we were sick, and good wages. I was told the work

was garden work. I thought that meant like our gardening in China. I did

not think it was like the hard work in sugar-field here. I was told, if I

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 came, I could soon get good pay as schoolmaster, and I hired as

schoolmaster. There were others like me who came in the ship. There

was a doctor, some schoolmasters, some tailors, and other people who

were not labourers in the fields, and who all thought they were going to

work in their own trades. 12

When we got to Georgetown we were taken out of the ship and sent to

sugar estate. At first they gave us food and rooms in houses. The rooms

were dirty and not nice. Then they told us to work in the fields. We did

not like it, but we had to do it. If we did not work we were brought before

magistrate and fined or sent to prison. It was very hard for us. Some

became sick. We could not earn enough to buy food from week to week.

We had part of our bounty, but that was soon done. Some had given so

much money to friends in China, and the manager wished us to pay it

back, and took it from our wages. We could not bear it any longer, so we

struck and came to Georgetown. We went to the attorney - he told us we

were wrong and must go back. The police took us to carry us to the

steamer, and several jumped into the water. They were taken out, and we

were sent to Mr ______. He spoke kindly to us, and sent us home, and

after that they did not take our money every week. It was always very

hard work. Several of my friends hung themselves because they were

starving. When I was free I came up here. I want to go back to my own

country."

There was general sympathy with this sentiment. 'Tis a very simple, uneventful story

on paper, yet not without its interest to any man who loves his kind... You may see here

how, without active cruelty, with a careful and even honest attention to the legal

12 I can scarcely believe this is true, though I fear the recruiting agents don't stand
on trifles. Edward Jenkins's note.

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responsibilities of his relation to the labourer on the part of the employer, there may yet

be felt a wanting something to fill up the balance of equity, and its consequent mutuality

of goodwill. This immigrant relation should not only be looked upon as one of pure

contract; if anything, it is more like that of the ancient patriarchal times - like that of

Abraham and his servants. No legal adjustments can make it a happy one unless there is

conjoined with them, on the side of the employer, a spirit of generosity and of half-

parental kindliness. There was a gentleman in Demerara of whom it was said that he had

rarely if ever brought an immigrant into court. The Commissioners speak markedly of

the superior independent bearing of his Coolies. Mr Clementson's name deserves

honourable mention. A number of such men would infuse into Guianian society a spirit

which I should conceive to be more effectual than any law. This might be fostered by an

able and genial Governor, and by a body of local officials who were, like the chivalry of

old, sans peur et sans reproche.

At noon I walked some distance through the settlement. The gardens and the

cultivation about most of the houses were neatly kept, the houses were generally good

and clean, the charcoal furnaces admirably made, and all in operation. My conclusion

was that the Chinese I saw were better off than those on the estates. I was informed,

however, that the whole village was not so flourishing, that indeed in some parts there

was much distress.

The dreadful heat forbade a lengthened investigation. I give the opinion with reserve,

but it seemed to me the experiment has not been fairly carried out, and that if fairly

carried out in a more convenient locality it would be more successful. The

Commissioners also visited the place, and speak favourably of the scheme of land

settlement, not only in this case, but as a general matter of policy, though they are

doubtful about the locality. These Chinese, they say, "are somewhat too far from

Georgetown, and, in consequence, from the support of civilising associations and rules;

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but that of itself would not lead us to despair of the future of Hopetown, if some means

could be devised to give them a better chance as cultivators."

[4]

The Chinese in British Guiana in the 1880's

(1) Henry Kirke: Twenty-Five Years In British Guiana 1872-1897 (London 1898)

The present Chinese inhabitants of British Guiana are most worthy, law-abiding

people, giving little trouble to police or magistrate; industrious, truthful and honest, they

make most excellent citizens. A Chinaman will try to overreach you in making a

bargain, but once the bargain is made he will always stick to it with the utmost fidelity.

Many of the Chinese have become Christians, and excellent converts they are. They

have built and maintained churches of their own in Georgetown and New Amsterdam,

pay their own catechists, and are always ready to subscribe to any Christian charity. I am

no great believer in missionary enterprises; I am sure every honest Christian in the

colony will confess that the attempt to convert the Hindoo and Mohammedan immigrants

to Christianity has been an utter failure. But although a captious critic, I am bound to

confess that the Chinese converts are, in my opinion, earnest, believing Christians. It is

true that the Chinese have several vices, but they are not worse than those common to

Europeans - opium-smoking is one, and there are opium dens in Georgetown; but I doubt

whether opium-smoking, unless it is indulged in to excess is more injurious than tobacco-

smoking, and certainly not half as injurious as excessive drinking, not even to the man

himself, and what a difference to the community. More than half our crime is traceable

to the influence of drink, but who ever heard of a man who committed a crime under the

influence of opium ? The smoking of ganja, or bhang, is a different matter: under its

influence a man goes raging mad, and is liable to commit the most frightful atrocities.

Gambling is another of their vices, and one which it is imposible to eradicate. A

Chinaman, when once inoculated with this disease - for I can call it nothing else - will

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stake everything. I knew of one case, where a man lost all his money, then his house and

furniture, then his wife, and then he staked himself as a slave for six months and lost that,

and strange to say, he faithfully worked out his debt of honour, toiling for his master

without wages for the allotted time, and then began afresh, a saddened, and let us hope, a

wiser man.

I dined and slept at the house of a Chinese gentleman, up the Camounie Creek on the

Demerara River, one night in the seventies. He was a pleasant, jovial person, and as he

understood some English we were able to converse together. He gave me an excellent

dinner - tannia soup, roast capon, cold tea, and excellent brandy (Hennessy's XXX). His

wife was a jolly, moon-faced woman, with enormous jade ear-rings, and his children

were as fat as butter. Thanking him for his hospitality, I expressed a wish that the next

time I dined with him young roast dog might be one of the dishes. He seemed rather

angry at the suggestion. "No good Chinee eat bow-wow; bad Chineeman, he eat bow-

wow."

______

The Chinese are so much alike in features that it is very difficult to distinguish one

man from another; so when they deserted from estates it was difficult to identify and

arrest them. As I have said, there was a Chinese settlement on the Camounie Creek,

opposite Hyde Park Police Station, on the Demerara River, where there is a church and a

catechist. Deserters from estates frequently made their way to this settlement, and it

would be a bold policeman who would attempt to execute a warrant in its midst.

The Chinese, as a rule, work hard and live well. Unlike the East Indian, they mingled

freely with the black and coloured races. As Chinese women are scarce, the Chinaman

always has a coloured woman as a concubine; and they generally manage to get the best-

looking girls in the place. The negro population, who make a butt of the patient Hindoo

and bully his life out of him, are afraid of the Chinaman, and leave him alone.

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 The heathen Chinee is, as a rule, a melancholy person: he takes life very seriously, he

is not enamoured of it, and deprives himself of it with nonchalance on the least

provocation - any temporary calamity is sufficient to drive him to the fatal act. A new

police station and lock-up was erected at Anna Regina on the Aroabisce Coast in 1878.

For the accommodation of the prisoners a wooden bench was placed round the walls of

the lock-up. Unfortunately, by standing on the bench, a prisoner could reach with his

hands the iron-barred ventilators in the wall, so the first Chinaman who was imprisoned

in the lock-up immediately hanged himself by strips of his torn-up clothing suspended

from the bars of the window. I thought this was an isolated case of temporary

insanity, but as all the Chinamen who were temporarily incarcerated in the same place

despatched themselves in the same way, it was thought desirable to remove that part of

the bench which was under the barred windows. After its removal no more suicides took

place.

_____

All generalisations are dangerous, but still I think we may concede that murder and

felonious assaults in the colony were mainly committed by East Indians and Chinese;

larcenies by black and coloured people; wounding with knives and razors by coloured

Barbadians; forgeries and embezzlements by partly educated coloured creoles; breaches

of the revenue laws and cheating by the Portuguese; whereas perjury, bearing false

witness, profane swearing and indecent language seem pretty evenly distributed among

all nationalities.

_____

With such a strange and heterogeneous population as exists in British Guiana, it is

somewhat difficult to discriminate between their different religious faiths, and, in judicial

matters, to find a means for administering an oath in a way which will be binding upon

the conscience of the witnesses. Mohammedan witnesses are sworn on the Koran; but

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Hindoos were in my time sworn on the Bible - an unknown book to them, and of no

greater sanctity than Johnson's Dictionary or Bradshaw's Railway Guide....

Once, in trying a case between some Chinamen, both parties asked to be allowed to be

sworn according to their native customs. To this I agreed, but bargained they must

produce their own crockery, as Government made no allowance for such purposes; for I

knew that their oaths were always taken with breakage of saucers. When the case was

heard, each witness, as he mounted the box, held in his hand a china saucer, which, after

some muttered objurgation, he dashed to the ground in front of the bench. As far as I

could understand from the interpreter, each witness expressed a hope that he might be

dashed to pieces like that saucer if he did not speak the truth. When the case was over

the whole space around the bench was covered with broken crockery.

(2) Rev. H.V.P. Bronkhurst, Wesleyan Missionary: The Colony of British Guiana and

its Labouring Population (London 1883)

As a rule, our Chinese coolies are a notorious set of fowl stealers. They are guilty of

bare-faced larcenies, wholesale perjury, etc. Their gambling and opium-smoking

propensities, and the establishments or dens connected with them, which, unfortunately,

are frequently visited by the black people and others, are too well known to need any

description here. The Joss houses in which their unholy rites are celebrated, in which,

alas, the black creoles - to their shame be it said - take a part, are a blight, a stain and a

disgrace to the Christian land in which they live. Though, in a moral point of view, the

bodily presence of the Chinese is not advantageous, yet they are unmistakably good

labourers.

_____

In British Guiana between the black creoles and Chinese there has existed a strong,

bitter prejudicial feeling towards each other, and so far as I have been able to ascertain

there is no likelihood of a Chinaman ever marrying a black woman, or a black man ever

marrying a Chinese woman. A similar feeling exists among the East Indian coolies also

303
towards the black race. Of course I do not refer to isolated cases of such marriages

which have taken place in the colony, nor do I refer to the illicit intercourse between the

Chinese, East Indian immigrants and black women; but I speak of the immigrants as a

whole. Whatever may be the faults of the Chinese, and however depraved and

superstitious, they are undoubtedly an industrious race, and from them many a good

lesson may be learnt by the labouring creole population, and others, too, who lay claim to

respectability.

_____

In almost every respect the Chinese are superior to East Indians, either as field

labourers or free colonists. In 1875 several influential merchants of Georgetown

submitted a petition to the Combined Court, praying that efforts might be directed

towards the resumption of emigration from China, and setting forth the fact that, in

contradistinction to East Indians, the Chinese were excellent disbursers as well as earners

of money. They are more prolific as a race than any other nationality in British Guiana.

If the settlement on the Camounie Creek can be accepted as a test of national industry,

there cannot be a doubt that the introduction of free immigrants, leaving them to the

freedom of their own will so long as they do not seek to leave the colony, would soon

pay for itself.

(3) A Chinese Christian catechist writes from Demerara to his Protestant Missionary in

Hong Kong in 1880 (translation)

..... The one who signed this letter full of awe, wishes you peace. We were very happy

to receive your letter on the 5th of November. Thank you very much. We were highly

interested in the news from our old mother country. In particular, I was shocked to hear

that several (female) students, who I remember quite well, had died. Here are many

Christians, but most of them are very superficial. The English clergymen do not

understand Chinese, therefore they wholly depend on their Chinese assistants. The latter

see it as their duty (and fulfill that with pride) to convince a lot of people to be baptized.

304
When such persons, after having learnt the catechism by heart, are recommended for

baptism by the assistants, they are accepted without any investigation of character or

behaviour. Quite a few of them do not attend church on Sundays. Furthermore, there are

no rules for the members of the congregation as of yet.

I am currently employed as overseer on the Great Diamond Plantation; Sundays I help

the Chinese preacher in church although I am not truly qualified for this. I enjoy

however doing this for the Lord and my brothers' sake. Regrettably, one of our flock has

erred: the former student Lian Tet Min from Saukiwan. Her husband, Wong Tscham

E...., had gone to Trinidad and stayed there for 2 months. During that time she had an

affair. Her brother in law, however, asked her husband in a letter to come quickly. He

returned and took his wife and her son to Trinidad. The incident triggered much pain

and is to be lamented. The Christians working as farmers in the woods 13

are very

serious. There you will find Li Fat Tschkong who emigrated from Lilong 14
in 1858. He

is there with a few others, who serve as a kind of board of directors. Among them, they

have collected a few thousand dollars to build a church. The construction shall begin

after New Year's Eve.

Half of the newly arrived Chinese have not found any work. Formerly, an average

earning was 5 to 6 dollars per week. Deducting approximately 3 dollars for food, there

would still be some remaining. Today, someone who works hard earns 2 dollars (per

week) at most. One has to limit oneself enormously, only to have enough to survive.

Due to these circumstances, a number of people have moved to other places, or to Dutch

Guiana [Surinam] and Trinidad. Most of the inhabitants here are Africans, who have

been here for eight generations. They should number 100,000. Next are the Hindus

from Calcutta: approximately 50,000 to 60,000. These come and go a lot. The Chinese

population amounts to 20,000 [sic], the Portuguese, doing trade mostly are about 20,000
13 Hopetown Settlement. Editor's Note.
14 Another Protestant Mission. Editor's Note.

305
to 30,000. Mixed bloods are too many to count. There are fewer ships than in Hong

Kong, and the laws are different too. There is an abundance of forest in this place, wild

animals and birds, large snakes and crocodiles, also a lot of fish. One finds varieties of

all kinds, be it in external features or voice. ....

On November 19th, I took the train and went to [Lusignan] in order to visit our

brothers there. I did a Bible lesson with them and we comforted each other with the

Lord's word. I read your letter to the Christians there. They, also, thank you very much.

My wife and children are well. The boys attend school now and the girl begins to talk.

They often look at the photograph of you and Mr and Mrs Loercher 15
and wish they

could see you again once in the future. The Lord's peace be with you....

Yours, etc.

Fung Khui Syu

Editor's Note: Another enclosed letter, from a female Christian immigrant on the same

plantation, says:

" On our plantation we are overjoyed to have Fung Khui Syu near us, who helps us

readily, and without whom we would truly be like sheep without a shepherd, the reason

being that the local missionaries do not speak Chinese and the Chinese preachers mostly

being Punti or Hoklo. We have nevertheless, services each Sunday and Friday."

Enclosed in letter from Rudolph Lechler (Hong Kong) to Basel Missionary Headquarters

in Basel (Switzerland), 1st April 1880: Basel Missionary Archives No. A1 14/15, China

1880.

[5]

The Destruction by fire of British Guiana's Chinatown in 1913: an eyewitness

recollection

15 Other Hong Kong Protestant missionaries. Editor's Note.

306
 I was 15 years old at that time and attending Queen's College. At about 7.45 a.m. on

December 22, 1913, I was dressing in my bedroom. At that time I lived in a large two-

story house in King street, near Regent street. I heard a tremendous explosion and

looking through the window to the left, this would have been to the south west, I saw

large billowing clouds of dense smoke.

Dropping everything, avoiding my mother and aunts, I dashed out of the house and

went down to the scene, near Hadfield street. I ended up at the Rupertie's residence in

Hadfield street, near Lombard street, where there were huge crowds. The scenes there

were chaotic, being early morning there were enough people on the roads, all on their

way to work or to market, and families were moving bits and pieces of furniture on to the

roads, out of the burning buildings.

There was fire and dense smoke from a shop opposite the Telephone Exchange in

Lombard street. This shop belonged to Tang-a-Tak, whose son was a student at Q.C.,

and whom I knew very well. The previous Sunday I had spent the day at their house

which was above the shop. They had a grocery of some sort, but also sold squibs,

firecrackers and gunpowder, which were kept in large open barrels.

The whole place had practically disappeared and was just a mass of flame.

Fortunately there was a brisk north wind, and Telephone House to the north, now the site

of the Guyana National Co-op Bank, did not catch fire, as the flames went southwards

engulfing all the buildings on either side of the road, right down to Sprostons. This area

had been essentially occupied by the Chinese section of the community. The Fire

Brigades were working, but did not appear to be able to do anything to extinguish the

fire.

I met Oscar Reed, another student of Q.C., and the two of us raced down the middle

of the street, until we came to the wharf of the Demerara Co., on which hundreds of bags

of sugar had been stored for loading. The fire had not yet reached the wharf and from

our vantage point we had an excellent view of what was happening. We were the only

307
inhabitants on the wharf and we remained there for about 3 hours (midday), watching the

fire coming nearer and nearer to us, and hearing the roar of the flames and the crowds,

with buildings going up in flames and then falling into the flames. Eventually the

firemen put their hoses on the wharf as it had started to catch fire. Soaked to the skin we

were then compelled to vacate the spot and proceeded to the next wharf belonging to

Sprostons Ltd.

We had a good view of the wharf on which we had been lying when that caught fire

and saw the bags of sugar melting and flowing into the Demerara river from which

clouds of steam arose when the boiling sugar entered it. The river was full of small craft

with one or two persons in each, probably hoping to be able to rescue any who, in trying

to flee from the flames, may have jumped into the river. We remained on the wharf till

late in the afternoon, about 5.00 p.m., when the fire appeared to have burnt itself out, and

departed for home.

Not only did the Fire Brigade take part in the attempt to extinguish this massive blaze,

but the military was also called out including the Volunteer Force and the Artillery Co.,

who also rendered much assistance in moving hoses and blocking off streets, erecting

large barricades to hold the crowds back. A fire tender, the Vesta, was also in the river,

and that cruised along the water front spewing thousands of gallons of water from the

river on to the flames.

One horrible sight I personally saw was the mangled remains of a human being

hanging from the telegraph wires in Lombard street where apparently it had been blown

by the terrific blast. No member of the inhabitants of the Tang-a-Tak's family survived

the fire, but the majority of the other residents managed to escape. Marie Wong, eldest

daughter of the Evan Wong family, escaped by jumping through a window of their house

which was destroyed by the flames.

It was suspected that a match or lit cigarette may have been inadvertently thrown into

one of the open barrels of fireworks or gunpowder, igniting and exploding the entire lot,

308
but of course, this was never proven. However, after this incident a law was passed

prohibiting the use and sale of fireworks or any other combustible substances. It was

suspected that many people lost their lives in the opium dens which had been dug

underground, but no one would speak to say where these chambers had been as at that

time opium smoking was against the law, and they had been frequented not only by the

Chinese. In any case, those who knew said nothing as no one could have survived and

must have been dead.

The Charlestown fire actually started at the grocery belonging to Chin-a-Yong and

John Pait, in Lombard street. They carried on a wholesale and retail grocery where they

sold foodstuff, provisions and Chinese goods - food as well as curios, silks, etc., along

with the inevitable squibs, firecrackers, dynamite and gunpowder. These squibs and

firecrackers were much a part of Chinese life, as they were used to welcome the New

Year to chase away the Old Year, at weddings, funerals, christenings and the like, any

time in fact, that the Chinese felt it expedient to drive away the devil or the evil spirits

which may have been lurking around. Because of this, every Chinese grocery kept a

good stock of these for sale. The other nationalities also bought these, but more likely

for Christmas and New Year when they made merry.

When her father died in the explosion, for none remained to tell the tale, Elsie Ruth

Chang-Chun M.S. was 4 years 10 months old, and her father Chin-a-Yong was only

identified by a hand with his ring still on the finger. At that time his family lived in the

cross street between Hadfield and Brickdam, the corner house. He had left for work that

morning around 7.30 a.m. as was his usual practice. When the explosion was heard the

children were all very frightened and ran to their mother as the entire house shook.

Almost immediately they heard that Lombard street was on fire and her mother ran to the

window. She never got near the fire as by the time she could get someone to stay with

the children, the place had been cordoned off by the police and military and none was

allowed near. She was more lucky than M.W. Hing's mother, who ran into the area in an

309
attempt to get to their business in Lombard street and perished in the flames. John Pait's

two sons had left early that morning and so were not at home when the fire occurred.

His wife was Fung-a-Fat, the eldest daughter of Emma Wong, and the two sons opted to

go to their father's family in China rather than stay here where the tragedy had occurred.

Memories of K.I.R. Kirkpatrick (1898-1990), as recounted in Margery Kirkpatrick,

FROM THE MIDDLE KINGDOM TO THE NEW WORLD (Guyana 1993), pp. 53-59

CHAPTER NINE

LIFE IN THE INTER-WAR PERIOD: SOCIAL MOBILITY, ASSIMILATION AND

THE NEW MIGRATION 1918-1950

From the last two decades of the 19th century, and especially between 1910 and 1940,

years which coincided with the domestic social turmoil in post-imperial China, another

contingent of Chinese migrants made their way to the West Indies (and elsewhere in

Latin America). These came as free migrants, usually on the basis of some family or

310
district connection in the islands, and they gravitated right into the petty trading

community, bypassing the earlier agricultural option of their predecessors. [A

simultaneous migration of Chinese to Cuban plantations during this period was quite

specific to developments in that island. See Introduction]. Unlike the earlier period ,

which saw British Guiana as the major, and Jamaica as the least important, recipient of

newcomers from China, the new migration (between 5,000 and 6,000) went mainly to

Jamaica and Trinidad, and thirdly to British Guiana. A further 1,000 went to Dutch

Suriname. These migrants and their descendants became the basis of the modern

Chinese communities of the West Indies. [See Tables, Appendix]. From their mercantile

base, many of their children opted for the classic modern mobility options as they settled

into their new Western-oriented societies. By the 1940's, much progress had been made,

and the Chinese stood as an example of a successful immigrant minority group within

West Indian colonial society, building on the achievements of their nineteenth century

predecessors.

The following documents attempt to chronicle some of that progress in each territory

up to the 1950's, as much as possible through the words of spokesmen from that

community themselves. There are five assessments of Chinese progress, one by a visiting

China journalist, one by an English resident, and four by West Indian Chinese

themselves (sections 1-6). The progress of Chinese women is discussed in section 7.

The diverse directions of their loyalties at this stage of their assimilation are illustrated

in two sections concerning Trinidad (8-9). The ambivalent attitudes of the host countries

in which they found themselves were also reflected in various forms of local anti-Chinese

sentiment, including two riots in Jamaica in 1918 and 1938. These are partially

documented in section 10.

_______________

[1]

311
A visiting Chinese journalist looks at the West Indian Chinese in the late 1920's

A Chinese family in the West Indies was seated at the dinner table. The six-year old,

almond-eyed son rapped at his plate.

"I want a bigger piece," he cried.

"Now don't be greedy, sonny," his father soothed.

"No, but I want to grow big and strong to take mother to China with me," he pleaded.

His father was surprised. He looked at the defiant little yellow youngster, and then

remarked to his wife, "Where did he get the idea about taking you to China ?"

"Where do children get their ideas from but their elders ?" his wife replied. "He must

have heard us talking about going to China."

The family was British is every aspect but its skin. All were born on British soil. All

spoke English. All dressed in English clothes. Their friends were all born as British

subjects, and had never visited nor set foot in China.

There are thousands of Chinese in the West Indies, safe from the guns of soldiers or

the pillage of bandits. Emigrants from Amoy and Swatow and Canton half a century ago,

they sought the strangeness of Western lands, which they felt would bring them peace

and fortune.

Children came unto them, and unto their children's children. With each succeeding

generation, the picture of the land of Confucius grew more blurred, and finally

disappeared altogether.

First, celestial manners gave way to local customs, then Chinese speech was dropped,

and, in many instances, Westernised surnames were substituted for the high-sounding

Chinese titles. Chinese by blood, they were as English as Britishers. They knew as

much of China as Indians. They had never heard of Li Po. The great arts of the Sung

dynasty was unknown to them. Chinese music grated on their ears. Chinese speech was

anathema. They were Britishers under yellow skins.

312
 Unlike their [fellow] exiles in America who are mostly engaged in the chopsuey and

laundry business, the Chinese in the West Indies are engaged in shopkeeping and

planting. There are practically no Chinese labourers. Every Chinese aspires to own a

shop or a plantation. The stigma that China is a nation of shopkeepers is almost true, if

applied to the West Indies, for under the freedom of British rule, the retail trade,

especially in the towns and villages of the West Indies, are predominantly a Chinese

monopoly. Black, white, mulatto trade with their yellow brother without any trace of

racial awareness.

The new generation of Chinese in the West Indies, however, is more ambitious than

their forefathers. Brought up in Western schools, they seek freedom from their hemmed-

in lives and aspire to callings superior to those of shopkeeping and planting. That this

ambition has been largely realised today is found in the fact that the Chinese in the West

Indies have found a footing in the professions and higher commerce. There are few

Chinese in the West Indies who have not had the advantage of a high-school education,

and an increasing number attend Oxford, London and Edinburgh universities in search of

professional training.

In Trinidad, for instance, the Chinese have won an admirable place in the community.

There are Chinese physicians, dentists, lawyers. One is a member of the legislature;

another has been on the municipal council; a third is a senior medical officer in the city.

The leading drug house on the island is Chinese. One of the best known bankers is a

Chinese. Such examples may be multiplied, and reflect greatly not only the ability of the

Chinese in adapting themselves, but also the administration of the British in making

conditions favorable for their development.

But no matter how denaturalised the Chinese are, they always feel a faint sympathy

for the fatherland. Just as there are in America sons and daughters of immigrants who

occasionally think of the old country, so also there are in the West Indies sons and

313
daughters of Chinese stock who occasionally ponder about China. This phase is

emphasised during a national crisis.

When China made its attempt to cut itself off from the old monarchical form of

government in 1910, a latent patriotism in the hearts of West Indian Chinese came to the

surface. They were in sympathy with the movement, and contributed their financial bit

to its support. It was years later when one of its ablest sons rose to a position of
16
responsibility and for a short time was "China's man of the hour". Many misleading

things were said about Eugene Chen, the former foreign minister of the Nationalist

Government. Chen was born in San Fernando, a seaport town in Trinidad, from Chinese

parents who migrated from Canton over half a century ago. His mother still lives in San

Fernando where she is known as "Ma Acham" and is seen regularly on the streets on

Sunday mornings hurrying to Mass at the Catholic church a few blocks from her home.

When Chen left Trinidad he left behind a reputation as one of the best solicitors on

the island. He lived at St Clair, and maintained offices close to the Government Red

House. He wore a neatly trimmed mustache, was distinguished-looking, and spoke

English as a scholar. Except for his colour, neither his living nor his habits were

Chinese.

His residence was a showplace and a garden of rose trees. There was a pavilion

where parties would retire during the afternoon to sip West Indian cocktails and indulge

in games and open air meetings. His family was very fond of music. His library was

filled with morocco-bound volumes of Dickens, Shakespeare, Scott, and legal books.

The period following the Chinese Revolution saw the birth of a number of Chinese

clubs in the West Indies. Some were social; others political; and the majority a blend of

the two. Speakers on China were popular, and an October Tenth anniversary was made

the occasion of great celebration. It usually took the form of a concert and dance to

16 1926-27. Editor's Note.

314
which British officials and foreign consuls were invited. Young Chinese usually

contributed their talents.

While the belief is general that the overseas Chinese usually hoard their money to

return to China, it is not true of those in the West Indies. Here the Chinese are contented.

As British subjects, they have opportunities to embark in any adventure, enterprise, or

project as any other citizen. What savings are made are usually invested in West Indian

property. Then, too, the young Chinese are not acquainted with Chinese customs or

language, and were they to return to China, they would be as foreign as Americans.

Arthur Young, CHINA WEEKLY REVIEW, May 11, 1929

[2]

Trinidad Chinese Community in the 1930's and 1940's

.... In the early history of our people in Trinidad there were two distinct classes of

settlers, those who had emigrated as free people and those who had come here as

indentured labourers under contract to serve a period of years on various agricultural

estates of the Colony. At this distant date, no evidence of any kind is available as to the

kind of relationship which existed between these two classes; but, bearing in mind the
close contacts maintained between groups of our people who have migrated to other

lands, such as the U.S.A. where Chinatowns are the rule rather than the exception, I have

no hesitation in assuming that there must have been the closest possible relationship

between the two classes. Even if there were differences, they must have been removed

when the Chinese labourers completed their terms of indenture and were free to live their

own lives.

From the very beginning, the Chinese pioneers established themselves upon the land

and agriculture became the source of their livelihood..... By their industry and thrift,

many accumulated wealth which enabled them to branch out in other directions. Some

315
entered the laundry business while others chose the grocery and cocoa export trades,

others entered the restaurant business. Today, the Chinese have earned a name in the

agricultural and commercial world for their honesty and straight dealing.

It would not be out of place to mention here the names of George Marfoe, Edwin Lee

Lum, Albert Lucien, the late James Leung, Henry Leung, John and Eric Allum Poon,

William H. Scott, Joseph R. Hing King, Lawrence J. Wong, George F. Lau, who have

laid the foundation through their business acumen and foresight for the success of

Chinese agriculturists and businessmen of the present and future generations.

It is not, however, only in these fields of endeavour that the Chinese of this Colony

have made their mark. Many who adopted the Western mode of living gave their

children higher Western education. Some of these have won recognition by winning

Island scholarships, and in this connection the names of the Crichlow, Aleong and Lee

brothers, Oswald Fung and Roy Lau come readily to mind. These and others have gone

abroad to study professions at the recognised seats of learning in Great Britain, Canada

and America, and some have returned and set up practice in those three most popular

branches of medicine, law and dentistry.

The Government Medical Service has absorbed a large proportion of our Chinese

medicos who have rendered, and are still rendering, valuable service in their respective

specialised branches of the profession. Among these, Dr Joseph Tsoi-a-Sue, who retired

as District Medical Officer, South Naparima after 27 years' service can be mentioned, as

well as Dr H.P. Gillette and Dr D.R. Huggins who are the Colony's leading experts in

malaria and venereal diseases respectively.

As regards the legal profession, the Chinese can lay claim to the youngest barrister-at-

law to have been admitted to practise at the local Bar - Mr Frank Allum Poon, the

youngest son of the Chinese merchant J.T. Allum Poon of St Joseph, who was welcomed

to the Bar at the age of 25 years. Among practising solicitors, the names of J.L. Acham,

R. Nathaniel, E.J. Lai-Fook and L.A. Wong, are well-known. In particular, the name of

316
Acham is familiar since at one time three brothers practised in the Colony. The eldest,

Eugene Bernard Acham, later known as Eugene Chen, has a strong claim to the title of

"Trinidad's greatest son". Eugene Chen became Chinese Foreign Minister on two

occasions. He had an active career as a politician and journalist. He was reported to

have died in Shanghai on May 20th 1944, from a heart attack.

Among the leading dentists of the Colony today are Dr C.H. George, Dr H.P.

McClean, Dr E.C. Huggins and Dr Bertrand Chan Pong, all of whom have established

sound practices and are well known to the general community. The Chinese are also well

represented in the Civil Service and in the minor professions. Among the former, Mr

Hewlett Alleyne and Mr Solomon Hochoy can be singled out as holders of key positions

in their respective branches of the service - the former being Chief Excise Officer in the

South and the latter recently appointed Labour Officer of the Colony. Mr Hochoy was

granted special study leave last year to undergo a course of training in labour matters in

Canada. Among local druggists, Alfred Richards, Percy Sancho and the late Albert

Joseph are household names, while among the teaching profession, Mr Gabriel Wong,

the Head Teacher of the Four Roads Government School, is a fully qualified B.A. and a

licentiate of the College of Preceptors who is at present undergoing a special course of

training in English in the United Kingdom having been granted a British Council

Scholarship.

There is however one branch of activity in which the Chinese, with but few

exceptions, have failed to play an important part, and that is politics. Apart from Mr

Alfred Richards and Dr T.P. Achong, and to a lesser extent Mr E. J. Lai-Fook, the

contribution of local Chinese in the realms of politics has been very insignificant.

Trinidad Chinese have evinced no special aptitude for this line of activity and no likely

candidates for legislative honours have yet appeared upon the political horizon. As far as

foreign politics are concerned, Eugene Chen stood in a class by himself and it is hardly

likely that any local Chinese will ever attain to similar heights of achievements.

317
 In the field of sports, Trinidad Chinese have held their own, particularly in cricket and

tennis. Ellis "Puss" Achong is a professional cricketer in England and in former years

was one of Trinidad's best slow bowlers. He was instrumental on more than one

occasion in bringing victory home to the Trinidad side in the inter-colonial games with

the sister colonies of Barbados and British Guiana. In tennis, we have produced an

Island Singles' champion in the person of Samuel Aldric Huggins, Colonial Tennis Club's

star who carried off the title in 1935 from Cuthbert Thavenot, present Island champion,

while in 1939, G.E. Chen was runner-up to Hunter Archer. The Chinese Athletic Club

under the guidance of its founder, C.O. Lai-Fook, continues to provide healthy recreation

for a great majority of Chinese youths of Port-of-Spain.

I have attempted to survey the achievements of the Chinese in Trinidad. They have

undoubtedly made a substantial contribution to the social and economic life of the

Colony and their achievements are all the more noteworthy when it is considered that

they form a very small minority among the population of Trinidad. At the last Census

held in 1931, the Chinese totalled 2,027 out of a population of 412,783. At the end of

1943, the Chinese were estimated to number about 6,000 out of a total population of

535,499.

The progress of the Chinese in Trinidad would have been more accelerated but for the

unfortunate fact that there has existed for some time a cleavage between the local born

and the home born sections of the community. With the passage of time, many of the

original settlers had become entirely Westernised and their children had been brought up

with a purely English education, so much so that they had lost complete touch with the

traditions of their fathers. Some, however, persisted in their Chinese way of life and

educated their children in China. These and many others who emigrated from China in

recent years have clung to their habits and customs, chiefly through their connections

with the various associations which cater for their physical and material welfare....

318
 Efforts ... are being made by certain groups to weld together the Chinese community

into one solid entity. In certain quarters, these efforts have been criticised and deprecated

as tending to foster too much the national sentiments of a single community to the

detriment of the general welfare of the other communities which make up this

cosmopolitan population of Trinidad. It is argued that the Chinese should not keep to

themselves but should mix more with the other communities and cooperate with the other

races with a view to developing a West Indian outlook and so hastening the day for a

realisation of the ideal of a West Indian Federation.

I concede that as the Chinese have an economic stake in the Colony, it is right and

fitting that they should take an interest in the common development of the country to

which they owe in such large measure their shelter and existence. They should therefore

participate more fully in the affairs (especially in the political sense) of the country and

take a more active part in the shaping of this country's future and destiny. But this

should not hinder them from developing the spirit of nationalism. It was the English

poet, William Cowper, who wrote a poem which epitomises the patriotic feelings of the

great English people. He began this poem with the following words: "England, with all

thy faults, I love thee still, my country!" The spirit of patriotism is indeed one of the

highest and noblest of human emotions and he who remains entirely unaffected by the

call of love for country deserves to be dead rather than alive. And so, the Chinese, like

people of other nationalities all over the world, are answering the call of patriotism

today.

Time was when Chinese overseas were proud to be called citizens of their adopted

country. That was when China, torn by civil strife, was weak and helpless and at the

mercy of the Western Powers. Today, under the inspired leadership of the Generalissimo

and Madame Chiang Kai Shek, China has gained political equality with the great powers

of the world, thus fulfilling one of the cherished ideals of Dr Sun Yat Sen, the Father of

the Revolution. She was the first to encounter the menace of Fascism and was not afraid

319
to meet the challenge though it meant fighting with her flesh and blood against the highly

mechanised and strongly equipped forces of the aggressor nation, Japan. None can doubt

after seven years of conflict that China fully earned her seat at the Cairo Conference

when she was formally recognised as a copartner in the global war against tyranny and

aggression.

As a Chinese, I am not blinded by this newly won political recognition to the fact that

my country is weak industrially and economically and that it will take many years before

she can attain the economic status of Russia, Great Britain and the USA. Be that as it

may, her record since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese conflict has won her a rightful

place among the great democratic countries of the world, and Chinese the world over

have every reason to be proud of that achievement.

Here in Trinidad, this pride is manifested in more generous contributions to China's

Patriotic Relief Funds and in the desire on the part of many Chinese to provide their

children with purely Chinese education, now made possible through the establishment of

Chinese schools both at Port of Spain and San Fernando. Local born Chinese, who in

course of years had lost their real Chinese names and had adopted English ones, are

rediscovering their old Chinese names and resuming them.

Night classes in Kuo Yu (Mandarin, the official language of China) have been started

through the instrumentality of the Chinese Consulate, while private tuition in Cantonese,

the most widely spoken dialect in the island, is being given to a number of our local born

Chinese. Another development which served to increase the national spirit in our midst

was the appointment of a Consul de Carriere and a Vice-Consul by the Government of

China to this Colony, which showed very clearly that we were not being neglected by our

Government, though so many thousands of miles away. At the present time, China's

national holidays are being observed with unfailing regularity and the great majority of

our local born Chinese are coming to realise the true significance of such observances as

Double Ten and Double Seven.

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 A Chinese Study Group has been organised for the purpose of inculcating in our local

people a love for China and things Chinese, while a new Chinese Association has been

constituted with the avowed purpose of bringing together the home born and the local

born and of fostering the interests in all spheres of our Chinese community. Many are

looking forward to the day when hostilities in the Far East will cease, for they have

already made up their minds to go to China in order to help lay the foundations of a new

China which, they know, will prove to be more stable and lasting than heretofore.

The present nationalistic trend augurs well for the future of our people in this land.

Trinidad Chinese will take their stand besides their overseas brothers and sisters to

uphold the culture and moral principles of our race, which have won the respect and

admiration of the civilised world....

Excerpt from "Our Trinidad Chinese", by Chen Wei-Hong, CHIEN CHIAO, The

Chinese in Trinidad, December 1944, pp.23-5

[3]

An English Resident in Jamaica writes of the Chinese contribution up to 1940

.... It is only those who can look back, as I can, for 30 years or more, that the contrast

between the living conditions in those primitive days and those we enjoy in this year of

grace, 1941, can be understood, and the difference between Jamaica then and now be

appreciated. That difference is almost unbelievable and the change is, in my opinion in

large measure, due to our Chinese friends.

Thirty years ago the genius of the Chinese as shopkeepers was only just beginning to

display itself, and one of their shops on a Saturday night was often an extraordinary

sight, to say nothing of the sound. I well remember, early in November 1910, passing

one at Constant Spring in which it seemed, there was a sort of tumult going on. I stood

at the door for some minutes and was amused to notice that in front of the counter, were

perhaps 18 or 20 people, all shouting their orders in the loudest tones on the good old

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English principle that, if you want a foreigner to understand you, you must bawl at him

as loudly as possible. The noise was deafening and behind the counter were two placid

persons, each engaged in serving the customer immediately in front of him, while taking

no notice whatever of the racket made by the rest of the crowd. Those scenes died out

years ago, but the Chinese grocer remains, the same polite and affable person he always

was.... it is in the Jamaica customer that the improvement has been wrought.

There was in 1912 or 1913, a somewhat acrimonious correspondence in one of the

two daily papers of that date, on what was called the "Chinese invasion", and some of it

was so grossly and absurdly unfair that I took a hand in it. It came to an abrupt end after

a letter which asked what the Chinese had done except to render efficient service by

keeping perfectly clean shops, with fresh stock, and by giving polite attention to their

customers? It was also observed that all that had been done by the "invaders" had been

accomplished by the very Victorian habits (though "Victorian" had not then the scornful

use it has today) of industry and thrift. And the correspondence died because of the

unanswerable question with which the letter closed, which was, " What has prevented the

average native-born Jamaican from doing exactly the same thing as has been done by the

Chinese shopkeeper?"

I was all the more able, at the time I refer to in the last paragraph, to speak feelingly

on the matter, as I had recently driven to a township 40 miles from Kingston, in my own

buggy and alone. I had been warned to take something to eat and drink, as nothing could

be procured on the road; but, as I like to observe conditions for myself, I purposely went

into two of the alleged "shops", ostensibly to ask the way. In each I found a most

primitive state of affairs, hardly any stock on the shelves and what there was was so old

that in many cases the labels on the tins were rusted through. Everything was dusty and

dirty, and the shopkeepers were as unclean as their shops, as well as being badly dressed,

uncouth in their manners and much more interested in trying to ascertain my business

than in minding their own. Today, on that road, there are half a dozen good sized shops,

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clean and attractive, with full stocks, well displayed, and, in most cases, polite smiling

attendants anxious to render any service possible.

The change in Kingston is much the same. There were, in 1910, only five groceries

worthy of the name, two of which have survived. The rest of the town was served by

smaller shops, very much the same as those in the country parts described above. Today

there must be more than 20 as well as a considerable number in the suburbs; and in many

of them light refreshments, lunches, tea and coffee may be had from quite an early hour.

This was entirely unknown down to 1923 when Mr Albert Chang pioneered in this line to

the great benefit of all of us.

As to the constant remark that our Chinese friends send away out of the country the

money they make, the substantial business houses erected by them, the almost palatial

residences owned by some, their motor cars and other possessions, as well as the

excellent education most of them give their children, give the lie to that story.... Instead

of sending the money away these solid proofs of their ability to create and conserve

wealth have added to Jamaica's wellbeing.

The Chinese community should certainly be proud of the attainments of some of their

number; they can muster among them University graduates, solicitors, barristers, doctors,

accountants, and the end is not yet. I was much struck, lately, at finding that a Chinese

girl, who serves in a downtown store was reading and enjoying one of Philip Guedalla's

historical biographies; while I saw another, a junior clerk in a wholesale grocery, put

down three pence for her weekly paper saying that it gives her a lot of good reading.

Very few indeed of our Jamaican girls will spend a penny on one of our weekly papers....

I say that from my own observation.

I shall probably be told that my picture glows with tints that are too rosy; or, to

change the metaphor, that there is a good sized fly in the ointment of which I ought to

speak. That is that our friends brought with them certain games of chance that so quickly

took such a firm hold on the natives of Jamaica that the Government had to make them

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illegal. It is of course a fact that the Eastern peoples are great gamblers; but those who

say that their love of games of chance was brought here with the games are confounding

the issues and are confusing inclinations with opportunity. The inclination to gamble

was not introduced by these games, but they certainly provided a new and attractive

opportunity. And it is, of course, necessary to give full consideration to the bad habit

fostered by that increased gambling, when weighing up the matters we are discussing.

But, I think, when everything which can be said has been said against the advent of

our Chinese friends, the "pros" far outweigh the "cons", and that the Chinese incursion,

judged by its net results, must be admitted to have been of very great benefit to this

island. It has certainly proved that the old Victorian habits of hard work, and of sticking

to it, as the old people used to say, "from can to can't" (i.e. from when you can see to

when you can't), together with the the thrifty habits which stop the little leaks, will still,

as they have always done, lift people from indigence to affluence and from little things to

big. This is the great object lesson which the Chinese have shown to Jamaicans and they

have done it all by themselves; have done it in spite of the great handicap of the "curse of

Babel" (i.e. thinking in Chinese while trying to speak in English); have done it without

going cap in hand to anybody. All honour to them, say I.

Excerpt from "The Chinese in Jamaica" by Major B.F. Caws, in V.P.O. Horton (ed.):

The Chinese in the Caribbean (Kingston 1941), pp.29, 83

[4]

Chinese entrepreneurs in Jamaica in the 1940's and 1950's

The various kinds of business that the Chinese participate in are : grocery stores,

bakeries, aerated water factories, ice cream parlours, restaurants, laundries, Chinese

groceries stores, hardware stores, dry goods stores, bars and taverns, haberdasheries,

wholesale groceries, agencies and others.

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Groceries. This is the basic trade of the Chinese residents. It is also the oldest and its

history goes back close to a hundred years. The pioneers in this field were the early

settlers who started small groceries of their own upon the completion of three years

contract as labourers. Such grocery stores made their headway solely by hard work and

extreme thrift. ....

The grocery trade saw its peak after the first World War..... [But] with the

depression of 1929, all Jamaicans suffered...... Between 1930-1938 the Chinese grocery

stores saw their worst. The situation improved somewhat during the Second World

War....

By 1930, the number of Chinese groceries was 1,200, with 400 in the Corporate area

and 800 spread throughout the parishes. After 1940, the number decreased to 1,100, with

700 in Kingston and about 400 in the various parishes..... A few have advanced to the

status of super markets.

Bakeries. Before the Chinese went into baking, all the bakeries were operated by the

Europeans and Jamaicans..... Yang Fah was the first Chinese to start a bakery business.

On the eve of the Second World War, there were about 40 bakeries in all.... At

present, there are about 400 bakeries throughout Jamaica's length and breadth. Most

Chinese owned bakeries are of a fairly large size and they handle about 40 per cent of the

total bread trade....

Aerated Water Factories. Carbonated beverages enjoy a good sale in Jamaica because of

the tropical climate. The first Chinese to manufacture carbonated beverages was Arthur

Hugh, at Orange Street in Kingston about 50 years ago. But in 1921, Mr Yap Sam

bought this factory from Mr Hugh and renamed it the Diamond Mineral Waters, which is

known throughout the island. After the Second World War, there was a tendency

towards mechanizing the production methods of aerated water. The Chinese-owned

factories such as the Diamond Mineral Waters, Crescent, Liquid Foods have all

modernised their equipments.... Jamaica has a total of about 15 aerated water plants,

325
with Chinese-owned plants controlling about 30 per cent of the total volume of

business....

Ice Cream Industry. Ice cream parlours owned by Chinese first came into existence

during the First World War and by the Second World War, they dotted the island,

especially in Kingston...... Statistics show that the island has a total of 400 odd ice

cream parlours of which the majority are Chinese owned..... [There are also ice cream

factory brands of which ] the most outstanding is the "Royal Cremo" owned by Mr

Charles Chin Loy.

Restaurants. The Chinese are praised the world over for their fine cuisine. Among the

Chinese, the Cantonese are the best cooks. This art of extracting many subtle tastes from

common foodstuffs is the secret of the success of Chinese restaurants, particularly in

America. In Jamaica, there is plenty room for improvement and expansion in this

business. It is a field which needs the attention of the Chinese here. There is a great

demand for first class restaurants with superb cuisine, artful dining rooms, central

locations and good service. The potentials of the restaurant trade are limitless, as

Jamaica is fast becoming a tourist paradise and most of the foreign visitors do like

Chinese dishes. Enterprising owners should send for first class cooks from Hong Kong

and Canton or send their sons to China to learn the art of cooking. Both Kingston and

Montego Bay, not to mention the other towns on the north coast, could do well with

more first class places to dine. There are over 200 Chinese restaurants in the island but

most of them are on a small scale.

Laundry. This business which has been traditionally linked with the Chinese has been on

the decline. The reasons are as follows:

(a) With the coming of the electric iron and washing machines much of the drudgery has

been removed from the family's wash.

(b) Domestic servants are usually employed to wash also.

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 However, clothes for dressing purposes are done by the dry cleaning process which

employes chemicals, etc. and in this department where there must be machinery and

chemically minded people not many Chinese have survived or grown and dry cleaning

establishments owned by Chinese are negligible in number. However, the United Dry

Cleaning Co. in the heart of Cross Roads does a flourishing business.

Chinese Groceries. The pioneers in this kind of groceries were Chin Chen Tse-Pui, Li

Tien-Pui.....

Chinese goods were first imported in 1920. The amount was only about £3,000 worth

and obtained from dealers in the United States. By 1935, there were over ten dealers in

this field with an annual volume of £30,000. At present the total volume of sales does

not exceed £60,000...... At the present these Chinese groceries pay much attention to

such items as embroidered silk, slippers, handbags, etc and cater to the general public.

Hardware. .... Before the First World War, very few Chinese entered this business..... At

present, many Chinese shops in the country areas either have a hardware section or have

become hardware stores. However, in the corporate area, it has proved difficult for the

Chinese to break into this field, as the hardware stores by other Jamaicans are well

established and progressive. The only Chinese-owned hardware store of fairly good size

is Fong Tom & Co.

Fong Tom started a little after the First World War.... With 30 years of steady work ...

and the boom afforded by the Second World War, the firm made great progress. It is

now ... an able competitor with the best of the rest..... In the country areas, Messrs Chin

See Bros of Falmouth and Messrs Samuel Chin and sons of Montego Bay have made

rapid progress as hardware dealers.

Dry-goods Dealers. After the First World War, some of the Chinese shops in the

country areas started to deal in dress materials.... In the corporate area, the Chinese have

not been successful with dry-goods stores..... Mr Chin Fook of Premier Store is well

recognised as a dry goods dealer.

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Liquor Dealers. This can be divided into bars and taverns. The licences are different

because they regulate different hours. The Chinese operate both bar and tavern

businesses but some of them operate both grocery and bar, while others, grocery and

tavern. Most of these businesses are located in the country areas.

There is no record stating the name of the first Chinese who ventured the liquor

business and how soon, but we do know that as far as 50 years ago and before the 1907

earthquake, the Chinese were selling alcohol. Feng Kuan, Chin Piao-Fuk and others

were all early bar tenders. However, in the early period the bars sold little else besides

proof rum, aerated waters and a few other brands of rum..... There are about 400 Chinese

stores with additional bars or taverns.....

Haberdashery. This is comparatively new as far as the Chinese are concerned. It was

only after 1930 that Chinese started this business. Items such as toilet articles, toys are

all included in this field. The Chinese crowded this business when an infinite variety of

novel items and low costs could be imported from Hong Kong and Japan. Albert Chang

& Co. was the first Chinese haberdashery establishment....

Wholesale Houses. There are wholesale dealers in groceries, hardware, haberdasheries,

dry goods, alcohol, etc. The first Chinese wholesaler was Chin Pah-Kung and his

business was situated on Princess Street. Other firsts were Chang Shun-Pah, Lyn Sam,

Huang Chong, Arthur Hugh, Dunbar Li Kong. Mr Chin started his business as far back

as 80 years ago...... [M]ore diverse commodities are stocked [today] and they are

steadily evolving into agencies, super markets, manufacturing concerns, etc. In 1956

there were about 100 wholesale grocery stores throughout the island.

Agencies. There are two different agencies where the Chinese are concerned. Services

for payments are rendered to Chinese not acquainted with the formalities of auditing,

income tax returns, licenses and arranging passports etc. This sort of agency started with

the early Chinese and it filled an acute need, when in the early days, most of the Chinese

settlers could not speak or write the English language. After the First World War, offices

328
handling such work were established. Bonnie Chen, Chin Tien-Hsiang, Leahing and

some others made good in this business.

Commission agency among the Chinese was first started by Alexander Tie Ten Quee.

After him, Kong Teh-Kon started with a small capital and with experience and business

acumen established himself. Shim Quee achieved his success in handling flour and

baking powder. Prominent among later day agencies include - Moo's Agency, Central

Trading Co, Wong Chew Onn and sons, Chin Yee Travel Service etc.

Miscellaneous businesses. Aside from the thirteen businesses listed above, the Chinese

have ventured into the following: records, photography, hairdressing, furniture, coffee,

native crafts, jewelry, optics, cigars, peanuts, glass, garage (motor vehicles, gas stations),

tailoring, livestock, building contracting, shoe-making, leather tanning, printing,

electrical appliances, brick making, taxies, theatres, clubs, pharmacies, biscuits,

confectionery, etc. Some have already met with great success, others have not begun to

scrape the surface....

Chinese Manufacturing Concerns

The most important Chinese manufacturing concerns now existing are:

Diamond Mineral Waters [aerated waters]; The National Baking Company Ltd;

Caribbean Products Co Ltd [coconut oil, soaps, chicken feeds, etc]; Cremo Ltd [ice-

cream, milk, frozen products etc]; Consolidated Bakeries (Jamaica) Ltd; Liquid Foods

Ltd [carbonated beverages]; Acme Manufacturing Co [ice-cream cones, coffee, baking

powder, curry powder, black pepper, paper bags etc]; Ly's Confectionery; Broadway

Leather Factory; Carib Metal Works Ltd [aluminium cooking utensils etc].

Lee Tom Yin: The Chinese in Jamaica (Kingston 1963), pp.46-55.

[5]

A prominent Chinese writes of the Chinese community of British Guiana up to 1940

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 The present size of the Chinese community is estimated at around 4,000. This would

seem a poor result to have obtained from the introduction of 14,000 people, reinforced as

they were, from time to time since 1879, by independent emigration from China. Sir

Cecil Clementi in his book on The Chinese in British Guiana has proved fairly

conclusively, however, that the chief explanation is to be found in the extremely low

percentage ratio of female to male immigrants into the colony.

The Chinese, therefore, form but a small part of the population of British Guiana. It

will be conceded, however, that their value is not inconsiderable; nor will it surprise any

one familiar with the characteristics of the race to find that their influence has been

practically confined to the economic side of the life of the colony. Introduced purely to

provide labour on the sugar plantations, it was not long before they penetrated into the

retail trade in which they quickly built up a reputation for straight dealing, and gained

with it an assured position. This business still provides the means of livelihood for the

bulk of the Chinese population.

The retail trade has been, and still is, the best means that this colony affords the

Chinese to fulfill his

deeprooted desire to be his own master in the quickest possible time. This done and the

wherewithal acquired .... his instinct for financial adventures urges him further afield....

(It) is difficult to think of any new industry or economic venture which this colony has

tried, successfully or otherwise, in which they have not done their share.

Perhaps a short survey of the history of some of these ventures may not be out of

place. Let us take agriculture. One of the first things in which the Chinese think of

investing, is land, and in the agricultural development of the colony they have not lagged

behind any other race, even in the disastrous experiment with rubber. In turning to the

hinterland, we find that in the gold industry, one of the best known names was that of a

Chinese, and even today, it is no unusual thing to hear an old "knocker" wish that "old

Ho-a-Shoo" were still alive. To a Chinese also fell the honour of being one of the

330
pioneers of our latter development of the diamond industry, which still continues and in

which the race is still represented. The first bauxite concession which led to the

establishment of the bauxite industry was held by a Chinese; while, if ever there is an oil

industry here, it will be remembered that a Chinese held some of the first concessions

and owned a half share in the first drilling rig that came to the colony; and may we not

prophesy that, when that happy day comes, the Chinese will also be there, or

thereabouts?

So much on the economic phase of Chinese activites during the past century of British

Guiana's history. The Chinese have won at one time or another, every scholarship or

exhibition available in the colony. In the professions they have produced representatives

in medicine, dentistry, law, engineering, surveying and agriculture; and it is worthy of

note that several of them in medicine are women. It would also probably surprise many

to know that the first Chinese land surveyor in British Guiana came here as an emigrant

from China. He was Mr Wu Tai Kam, who founded the ill fated Hope Town settlement

in 1865.

In the matter of politics, however, it must not be surprising, to students of the Chinese

character, to find the race in this colony definitely backward, as compared with the

others. It is true that there is a Chinese serving as an elected member of the Legislative

Council [Theophilus Lee] and that another has occupied seats on both the Executive

(Privy) and [1927] Legislative Councils [Robert Evan Wong], that there has been one on

the [New Amsterdam] Municipal Council [Francis Sam] 17 , and that one is also President

of the British Guiana Labour Union [Theophilus Lee]. But these are unusual instances.

The Chinese Association, the material embodiment of which is to be found in its

imposing headquarters on Brickdam in the city of Georgetown, might well rank,

however, in the forefront of colonial organisations of its kind. This was founded [in

1920] and has been carried on without assistance from any other race, and the success it
17 Elected Mayor of New Amsterdam in 1946: Editor's note.

331
has achieved is evidence that in British Guiana the Chinese have been true to their natural

reputation for independence and self help.

There is a special Church for Chinese Anglicans with an English Minister as

incumbent [St Saviour's]. There are a large number of Chinese Christians - mostly

Anglicans and Catholics and at least one Salvation Army Officer.

This record would no doubt be incomplete without some reference to sport. Here

again the Chinese have nothing of which to be ashamed. They have regularly appeared

in all the competitions and leagues run in connection with cricket, football, and tennis in

the colony. The Chinese Cricket Club was admitted to first class cricket this year after

being Garnett Cup (second class) winners last year. Several Chinese are among the best

tennis players in the colony. In athletics, we find that several of the records at Queen's

College were held by Chinese youths; one of these, the 100 yards in ten seconds, has

been standing for some years.

R.V.Evan Wong, B.Sc., in V.P.O. Horton (ed.): The Chinese in the Caribbean (Kingston

1941), pp.135-137.

[6]

A Guyanese Chinese Institution: St Saviour's Church

The history of St Saviour's Church is closely linked with the name of the late

Archdeacon Richard Legge Webber and the early history of St Philip's Parish of which

he was at first officiating Minister and later its Vicar, in the period 1845-74. On this

site, Lot 28, Broad and Saffon streets, stood the Mission Church of St Philip built in

1845 by Fr Webber, who became Archdeacon of Demerara in 1873 and recipient of the

Lambeth M.A. in the same year of his distinguished services to the Church of Guyana.

The lot was purchased in 1845 from Meinhard Johannes and Johannes Cornelius Schade,

administrators of the estate of Pierre de Saffon who died in 1784 and was buried in this

lot where the tomb stands bearing the following inscription:

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" Pierre Louis de Saffon, born in France in the year 1724 and died in Demerara in

August 1784."

.....For 21 years the congregation of St Philip's worshipped in that chapel until the

opening of the present Church in 1867, built in the disused cemetery in Werk-en-Rust.

The movement to provide a place of worship for the Chinese community of

Georgetown was inspired by Tsoi-Kit, the Chinese catechist of St Matthew's Parish, East

Bank . In a letter to Bishop Austin through the Rector, the Rev. David Smith, he

proposed the creation of a Church in which services could be conducted in the Chinese

language. His proposal found favour with the Bishop, who appointed a Building

Committee with the late Archdeacon Wyatt as Chairman and Father Smith as Secretary.

An appeal, written in the Chinese language, was circulated amongst the Chinese

community. This received such enthusiastic response, that on the 14th day of August

1874, the foundation stone was laid by Governor Longden in the presence of a number

of prominent officials, city clergymen and some 350 Chinese residents. The inscription

on the stone reads:

" In honour of the most Holy Trinity this Church for the use of Chinese Christians to be

dedicated to the Holy Saviour was commenced on the 14th August 1874, by the laying of

the cornerstone by His Excellency J.R. Longden, Esq, C.M.G. being consecrated

beforehand by solemn prayer and invocation of the Holy Name by William Piercy,

Bishop of Guyana, and R.L. Webber, Archdeacon."

This was the last official act of the Archdeacon, for he died within a month, mourned by

all for his indefatigable labours in southern Georgetown. The Governor sent an account

of the ceremony to Lord Carnarvon, Secretary of State, who laid it before Queen

Victoria, and Her Majesty expressed her satisfaction with the advance made by her

Chinese subjects......

By November 1875, the Church was completed and on the 25th of that month it was

licensed and opened by the Bishop [William Piercy] who celebrated the Eucharist. As

333
many as 60 Chinese communicants out of the large congregation of over 300, including

the Governor and other wellwishers, received the Sacrament. In a letter dated 23rd

December 1875, to the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.) ,

giving an accout of the proceedings, Archdeacon Wyatt wrote, inter alia:

" We have unfortunately no clergyman who can read and speak their language, but by

means of interpreters the Bishop's address was made intelligible to all present, and the

hymns and canticles were sung in their own language by a Chinese choir. The services

must for the present be conducted by a Chinese catechist, the clergy undertaking in turn

to administer the sacraments...."

Next to the original St Saviour's Chinese Church was another small building which

was referred to as the "Church house" and which accomodated the Chinese catechist who

was known as Mr John Paul, familiarly called "Sing Sang" or "Syn Shang" meaning

teacher. Though religious teachings and Sunday school were held in the Church,

members were required to attend St Philip's Church for baptisms, confirmation, marriage

and sometime for communion service. .... Mr Lee-a-Pen who joined the Church at the

age of 9 years, later became organist at St Saviour's. He died in 1921 and was the very

first Chinese organist to serve St Saviour's. When Syn Shang died , another Chinese

catechist , Syn Shang Chan Mun was brought from the Anglican Church at Plantation

Diamond to replace him, but after his death in 1938, the Church was closed for a short

period. It was later reopened after a delegation under the leadership of Mr Robert Evan

Wong met the new Bishop and discussed the situation. In June 1921, a dispensation was

granted to the Freemasons of Silent Temple [Masonic] Lodge 18 to hold Divine Service at

St Saviour's Chinese Church on St John's Day and the hope was expressed that such

service would be held yearly.

18Another Guyanese Chinese social institution , created in 1907. Editor's Note. See
Kwok Crawford, Ch.5.

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 On 1st January 1939, the Lord Bishop of Guiana created the St Saviour's Parish,

Georgetown, and appointed Rev. E.C. Lempriere as the first Vicar. On 7th February

1939, the Ecclesiastical District was constituted. The connection with St Philip's Parish

therefore ceased in 1939, and the word "Chinese" was then omitted from the Church's

name, and it is now known as St Saviour's Parish Church......

Diocesan Magazine, November 1974: H.S. Chan, "St Saviour's Church, Georgetown

Centenary 1874-1974. A Brief History " (excerpts)

[7]

Chinese women in the West Indies in the late 1930's: three articles

(1) Chinese women of Guiana by Chen Leen (Mrs Evan Wong)

It was the clipper ship Whirlwind that brought the first Chinese women to British

Guiana in March 11, 1860. It is on record that the emigrants on this ship arrived in

Georgetown in perfect health and spirits, and with trunks well filled with many personal

comforts ready to serve their terms of years as labourers on the various plantations.

Nearly a century has passed ! It is inevitable that the descendants of these pioneers

and others who followed them should have adopted Western speech and dress, and to a

great extent, manners and habits of living. There are a few women, mostly

grandmothers, who speak the Chinese language. English is spoken everywhere and there

seems to be no time in a busy Chinese woman's life to learn her mother tongue. The

Chinese costume is also a thing of the past. It is difficult to obtain real Chinese stuffs

and still more difficult to make them up. This, coupled with a feminine desire to follow

the prevailing fashions, has helped to popularise European dress. Combing their hair

smoothly off the forehead into a neat coil at the back was the old Chinese style of

dressing the hair. Heavy gold pins ornamented with gems on bits of jade completed the

335
coiffure. All this has long been replaced by the sausage roll, the bob, and now the

permanent wave - each in turn.

In character the Chinese girl has always been modest and retiring. Contact with her

franker and more vivacious creole sisters has altogether softened her native reserve and it

is no uncommon thing for her to have "dates" with boy friends for visiting cinemas and

for dances. The Chinese tastes for Chinese food has certainly remained. Recipes are

carefully hoarded in the memory, if not on paper, and given only to special friends.

At weddings it is still the custom for the mother of the bride to give a dinner before

the marriage ceremony, and there are displayed a dozen different kinds of dishes cooked

and served after the fashion of centuries ago. Everything else however is like any other

wedding in British Guiana. The preliminary courtship is the same, though not so long

ago a Chinese girl did not always marry the man of her choice. The "Mo-Yan-Po" or go

between, usually a very old woman, would bring the couple together. She would

describe to the mother of the man the good points of the future wife - a hard worker, a

good cook and seamstress, perhaps not bad looking. To the mother of the maid the

prospective bridegroom would be represented as a man of substance. That sufficed. The

"Mo-Yan-Po" received her fees and the marriage generally turned out very well. No

Chinese girl today would employ this method of obtaining a husband. Undoubtedly a

Western education has vastly changed her outlook on life.

The average Chinese girl has always had a good secondary education. Many have

won scholarships. Not many go in for higher education. In 1911 Asin Ho-a-Shoo, now

Mrs Ben Ho-a-Hing, graduated in medicine in Edinburgh, and in 1912 became a Fellow

of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. She was the first Chinese woman from

British Guiana to obtain a medical degree. Her daughter, Gem Ho-a-Hing, is the well-

known lawn tennis player. She was Junior Champion at Wimbledon and now spends

most of her time playing matches in aid of the British Red Cross.

336
 Four others have since taken their degrees in medicine. There are many capable

nurses at work in the hospitals and in private practice. Matron Alice Fung-a-Ling was

the first Chinese to qualify as a nurse in this colony. There are now a number of young

women in positions of trust as civil servants, typists and secretaries. Many are

accomplished in the finer arts.

The Chinese Sports Club, the Chinese Association and St Saviour's Church are

important centres of interest in the social life of the Chinese woman of today. In

cooperation with their men they should make these three organisations a living force in

this community. They will succeed if a small fraction of the kind spirit of enterprise

shown by the emigrants of the Whirlwind still exists.

V.P.O. Horton (ed.): The Chinese in the Caribbean (Kingston 1941), p.139

(2) Our women are an integral part of the community (Jamaica) by Cleata James Tam

It is not so many years ago, when some parents of the older school of thought

hesitated to allow their daughters to enter into any kind of business or profession. Mixed

bathing was unheard of and dancing was even regarded as vulgar. Then came the advent

of the one-piece, backless bathing suit and with it a "tall, dark, and handsome" Colonel

from General Chiang-Kai-Shek's 19th Route Army on a goodwill tour. The Colonel

waltzed divinely and tangoed exquisitely and was an immediate success among our local

debutantes. To see one of the officers of our beloved Generalissimo dancing was indeed

an eye-opener to our older friends. Very soon there was a rush of dancing feet, feet that

were not always kept on the floor ! And so there has been also seen a change in our

mental outlook.

Today, we have the distinction of having contributed to Jamaica her first lady

barrister, in the person of the former Miss Lily Tie Ten Quee, who is now happily

married to a Cambridge professor and is the mother of a lovely son. To that famous Tie

Ten Quee family also goes the honour of the first Chinese lady doctor of the island.

337
Chinese girls are now employed in every department of the business life of the

community. Today they are filling positions of trust and responsibility as secretaries,

accountants, cashiers, insurance underwriters, clerks, dressmakers, nurses and assisting

their fathers in business. There are however only a few in the Government Departments,

due primarily to the fact that applications have only been recently made. The American

Naval Department has also been giving a good deal of employment to our girls.

In the field of sport our girls have not achieved very much. It is regrettable when we

consider the progress we have made in other directions. This is due, I believe,

principally to a certain amount of conservatism, rather than from a lack of interest. Our

soft ball team captained by Miss Blossom Acquee has twice won the championship. Ten

years ago Miss Audrey Leahong won the tennis championship of the Melbourne Club,

and this year Miss Maisie Moo Young very nearly brought the laurels of the All Jamaica

Girls Championship to the Chinese Athletic Club.

As regards the social welfare work of the island, I believe that more could be done in

this direction by our women. Here again is a case of extreme shyness. However, when

asked to, our girls frequently assist at fairs and functions to aid charity organisations.

They have assisted too in collecting hundreds of pounds for the British war effort. Quite

recently we formed a unit of St John's Ambulance Association and in a few weeks time

we shall have our own brigade and, we hope, by then, to be able to do some voluntary

work for the hospitals, as well as ambulance work.

Our women re-echo Madame Chiang-Kai-Shek's dictum that "with a sound

foundation of knowledge, no force can prevent women from participating in those

spheres of social and public life, where they can be especially active and useful in

promoting the general welfare of the nation." ....

V.P.O. Horton (ed.): The Chinese in the Caribbean (Kingston 1941), pp.30-33

(3) Trinidad Chinese dancer performs in New York in 1938

338
 Miss Sylvia Chen, modern Chinese dancer, scored an artistic triumph in her New

York debut at the Windsor Theatre. She exhibited a wide reportoire ranging from the sad

to the satiric, and was well received by both critics and audience. She revealed a new

talent to the American dance world. Miss Chen's interpretation is individual and unique

and her style is Western with a strong Soviet influence.

This accomplished dancer who is also known as Si-Lan Chen is the elder daughter of

Mr Eugene Chen, forner Foreign Minister of China and she is a granddaughter of Mrs

Marie Acham of Port of Spain. Miss Chen was born and educated in Trinidad and has

many friends and relatives here. She took a course in classical dancing in London after

completing her education, and showed great promise in this direction. Before she joined

her father in China ten years ago, she was a well known dancer, musician and organiser

of revues locally. She produced the famous "Blue Bell in Fairyland" at the Empire

Theater which was a huge success. Miss Chen accompanied Mrs Sun Yat Sen to Soviet

Russia after the fall of the Hankow government in 1927, and has lived there ever since

where she won success in the Soviet dance world. Last year she arrived in the United

States and has been giving her services on behalf of relief funds for China. Her debut in

New York was made under the auspices of the American friends of the Chinese people

and the proceeds go to the medical relief work in China.

Trinidad Guardian, Saturday 12 March 1938

[8]

Two Documents on Chinese attitudes to assimilation:

339
(1) Captain Cipriani addresses the Chinese on the occasion of a dinner in honour of

Alfred Richards, Deputy Mayor of Port of Spain, in 1936

Mr Chairman and gentlemen, it is my pleasant duty tonight to support the toast which

has been so ably proposed by Mr Hing King. Alderman Richards has been elevated to

the post of Deputy Mayor of this beautiful city of ours. While we no longer live in the

age of prophesy, it may be that the next time we assemble here to honour Alderman

Richards it may be on the occasion of his election to the office of Mayor of Port of

Spain. {prolonged applause}

With the Chinese community feeling naturally proud of their fellow countryman, one

can also appreciate that the West Indian community in this city also appreciates what he

has done. He has many good qualities, but in a human being it is natural that there must

be some faults. What we all admire Alderman Richards for are mainly his fearlessness,

his outspoken manner, and his independence. It would hardly be possible for us under

the circumstances never to have crossed swords. We have on several occasions and we

are likely to draw them again. That is the thing which makes for progress as we both

have set about to strive for the welfare of Port of Spain and of the entire colony. I know

that a great deal of criticism has been levelled at him and at myself, but criticism is only

levelled at those who are worthy of it.

I want to say a word to the Chinese of this community in particular. You have a part

to play in the great reformation of this country of ours. My parents have come here from

the little island of Corsica, still I feel I belong to Trinidad. I would like some of my

Chinese friends who were born in this country as I was, to try and forget the homeland of

China and remember that they are West Indians. In so doing they will be helping

forward the work which Alderman Richards has been working at for so many years, and

giving it their support without which it cannot succeed. We who have a love for the

country from which we have sprung must remember that in adopting another country,

we must give it our support and strive for its advancement. The Chinese born in

340
Trinidad must thrown in their weight in the interests of the Federation of the West Indies

and Representative Government, and thus help to forward the affairs of this Colony. It

will be a reproach to the Chinese community if this is not done as it is only on the pulling

together of all the sections of the community that the best results are possible. I therefore

ask you to take Alderman Richards as an example and follow the good lead he has set....

Trinidad Guardian, Saturday 8 February 1936

(2) Chinese of Trinidad present loyalty address to British Crown in 1937

The Chinese community in Trinidad joined with the other communities and presented

an address of loyalty to the throne in the Legislative Council Chamber last Wednesday

morning. The address which was a well worded one was signed by the leading Chinese

of this Colony. Those who joined in the presentation were Mr S.A. Huggins, Mr F.

Marfoe, B.A., Mr S. Lee Lum, and Mr C. Allum. The following is the address which

was read by Mr S.A. Huggins:

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad,

12 May 1937

George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British

Dominions beyond the seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.

Our Most Gracious Sovereign:

We, on behalf of the Chinese community of Trinidad, beg leave, on this memorable

event on the coronation of Your Majesty and of Her Majesty, the Queen, to express our

loyalty to Your Majesties' Throne and Persons. Under the Constitution and Laws of this

island, the Chinese community enjoy equality before the law, place and opportunity for

economic effort, and, in consequence, have achieved a large measure of economic

wellbeing. We appreciate the privileges afforded us, and we on this auspicious

occasion rejoice at the opportunity of wishing Your Majesty and Her Majesty the Queen,

341
a long, peaceful and prosperous reign over the vast British Empire of which this island is

a unit.

SIGNED: Alfred Richards, Dr Tito P. Achong, P. Philip, James Leung, J.T. Allum,

Samuel Huggins, G. Aldric Lee Lum, Arthur Hing King, J. Leon Acham, Arnold R.

McLean, Frank Marfoe, Cecil Hing King, Arthur Wong, L. Ashing, Albert Lucien,

Gilbert T. Alleyne, Edward Lai Fook, C.B. Allum, Sydney Lee Lum, R.O. Allum, and

others.

Trinidad Guardian, Saturday 15 May 1937

[9]
A prominent Trinidad Chinese political figure dies in China in 1944

Eugene Chen, ex-Chinese Minister, dies

The death at the age of 66, was announced in the BBC's West Indian programme last

night of Mr Eugene Chen (Eugene Bernard Acham), Trinidad-born solicitor who rose to

be Foreign Minister of China. A leftist, Chen was at one time head of the political

bureau of the Kuomintang, and when, after the fall of the Wu-Wan states the seat of the

Kuomintang government was moved from Canton to Hankow and Wuchang, he

dominated it with the Communist Borodin. In 1927, the counter-revolution headed by

Chiang Kai Shek forced Chen to flee with Borodin and General Vassidy Bluecher to

Moscow. Later he returned to China and after serving in opposition governments was

Foreign Minister in the National government in 1932 and in the People's government in

1933-34 after the reconciliation. When last heard of Chen was living in Hong Kong
19
shortly before the Japanese capture in 1941.

Eugene Bernard Acham was born in San Fernando where Purcell street joins Mount

Moriah road. From the Borough school he went to St Mary's College and concentrated

on winning a scholarship but his hopes were not realised and instead of becoming the
19 Chen was removed to Shanghai where he was kept under house arrest by the
Japanese until his death in 1944. Editor's Note.

342
doctor he wished he became a solicitor. On leaving St Mary's he was articled to Mr

Edgar Maresse-Smith, one of the people's leaders at the time of the Water riots [1905],

and it is believed that it was because of Mr Maresse-Smith's influence that he began to

dabble in literature and to take an interest in politics. On qualifying as a solicitor, he

quickly built up a lucrative practice mostly in the city and northern districts, but in 1911

he suddenly vanished from Trinidad and the next that was heard of him was that he was

editor of the Peking Gazette. In 1918-19 he was editor of the Shanghai Gazette, and later

he became one of the collaborators of Dr Sun Yat Sen, the founder of the Chinese

Republic and a leading figure in the Chinese Revolution.

[Trinidad] Sunday Guardian, 28 May 1944

[10]

Anti-Chinese Sentiment and Policy in the West Indies

(1) The Anti-Chinese riots in Jamaica in 1918 : Report of Police Inspector Wright

SPANISH TOWN
20th August 1918

With reference to the recent anti-Chinese riots in this parish [St Catherine], I beg to

forward you the following resume of what took place. On Sunday the 7th July 1918 the
Police Corporal at Ewarton visited the room of a girl servant employed to a Chinese

shopkeeper there. He was found there by the Chinaman about 11 p.m. and apparently

stupidly did not divulge his identity to the Chinaman - to whom he was well known -

being in plain clothes at the time. The Chinaman hit the corporal a few licks with a stick

when he was trying to run out of the room; at this time 3 other Chinamen had appeared

on the spot. After escaping from the room the corporal from fright and shame hid

himself, and did not return to the station. He remained hidden for 2 days, not being

found until Tuesday night 9th July 1918. His disappearance caused some excitement in

343
the district, and the lower orders made out that he had been killed by the Chinaman.

Giving this as an excuse, big crowds assembled in the village of Ewarton on Monday

night the 8th, and started to beat down all the Chinese shops there, and loot the goods.

This they succeeded in doing, as only a handful of police were present, who were only

able to protect the Chinamen from being killed. On receiving the report on Monday

night, I proceeded to Ewarton with a carload of policemen from Spanish Town and found

that the shops had already been smashed up and goods looted.

The following day, whilst still at Ewarton, I received a telegram that similar rioting

against the Chinese had started at Linstead, this was at 12.30 in the day. I immediately

proceeded there with men from Ewarton, and found the majority of the Chinese shops

there already smashed up, similar to Ewarton, and a big crowd of rioters about 500 in the

act of smashing up and looting the last and biggest Chinese shop accompanied with the

usual hurling of brickbats, rocks, stones, etc.

I had all the battered shops guarded by police, and receiving similar report from

Bogwalk proceeded there with men from Linstead. Finding things quiet there, I gave

some instructions and returned to Linstead. Prior to leaving Ewarton, I wired to the

Inspector General for reinforcements. These arrived in charge of the Deputy Inspector

General by cars and by train about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. At this time all the

Chinese shops in Linstead had been smashed up and the goods looted, but big crowds

still hung about, but rioting had temporarily ceased. That evening I returned with

reinforcements to Ewarton where further trouble was threatened, leaving the D.I.G. in

charge of Linstead. Shortly after my return the missing corporal was found, and no

further rioting occurred at Ewarton. About 9.15 p.m. whilst at Ewarton that night I

received a telegram from the D.I.G. that fresh rioting had broken out at Linstead, and he

needed more help. I promptly returned to Linstead with 2 big carloads of men and found

a very large mob attacking a Chinese shop, in which about 15 Chinamen were being

guarded by the police. The mob being intent on killing any Chinamen on whom they

344
could lay their hands. After remaining there for some time, and things became slightly

quieter, a report was then received that rioting had broken out in the Bog Walk area. I

then proceeded there with men, and found that riots were occurring in the districts of

Knollis and Church Road where the Chinese shops were again smashed in, and goods

looted. I put men to guard the shops in these districts, and proceeded to Bog Walk itself,

which the rioters now threatened, and had started to march on. I arrived there with men

before the mob, and was able to prevent them getting into Bog Walk, where they had a

big target in the shape of several large Chinese shops, and these shops were all saved

from the mob. The mob, however, angered at their object being foiled, openly stated,

that they would smash up Bog Walk the next day or night. I would here mention that the

safe return of the corporal had been spread about in these affected districts with a view

to quieting the mobs, but this had no effect, and riots continued, thereby showing as I am

convinced , that the object of the rioters was not to avenge any supposed illtreatment of

the corporal, but purely and simply a desire to loot.

During the remainder of Wednesday the 10th, further riots broke out in the Troja and

Riversdale districts, where further Chinese shops were smashed and looted.

Reinforcements of police were sent out from Bog Walk and Linstead (the two chief

centres) to these affected districts, whenever possible, and during the afternoon a

detachment of 50 officers and men of the W.I.R. arrived at Bog Walk to reinforce the

police. Riots in outlying districts continued that night and a detachment of the W.I.R.

and police were sent to Riverdale that night, where fresh outbreak was threatened against

the Chinese and which was prevented by their presence; a considerable amount of arrests

were made at the time which had a good effect. At about 9.30 the same night whilst at

Bog Walk, I received a telegram from Spanish Town that riots were threatened there, and

the Chinese shops had to be closed. I proceeded there at once, taking with me

reinforcements of police from Bog Walk, and our timely arrival at Spanish Town

undoubtedly prevented the threatened outbreak there. A few Chinamen had already

345
been stoned in the Town, but no damage done. Shortly after our arrival at Spanish Town

the same night, I received a telegram stating that serious rioting had now broken out at

Old Harbour, and help was required. I despatched the few men I could spare, and again

had to apply to Kingston for further reinforcement. These arrived at about 1.30 the

following morning in the shape of 150 officers and men of the W.I.R. 100 of whom

were despatched to Old Harbour, and 50 remained in Spanish Town to prevent further

outbreak there. During the day (Thursday) small parties of W.I.R. were sent out in the

surrounding districts at Old Harbour, preventing further small outbreaks. The main

Chinese shops in Old Harbour having shared a similar fate to other districts the previous

night.

At this stage, one may say the rioting was now under control, and the police helped by

the military in some cases, started to make broad-cast arrest of rioters and looters

throughout all the affected districts, and the trials of these prisoners have been going on

since, but are now completed. The total number of persons arrested in connection with

the riots is 452 and of these 300 have been convicted.

I attach (1) a sketch of the parish, showing the centres of the outbreaks, and giving

populations of same; also names of places marked where Chinese shops were damaged

and looted. (2) A return showing the amount of Chinese shops damaged, and kind of

shop, and where situate. (3) A return of persons prosecuted and convicted, and how

dealt with.

Enclosure No 2: Return showing estimate of stock and damage done to Chinese shops
by rioters during the riots from 8th to 12th July 1918

OWNER DISTRICT DATE DESCRIP- APPROX. CONDITIO REMARKS

DES- TION OF VALUE N OF
TROYED STOCK BEFORE BUILDING
RIOTS

346
Ten Fo Wakefield 9.7.1918 rum, £1250. 0. 0. badly destroyed
How provision & damaged and looted
dry goods
Ed A. Chin do. do. do. 400. 0. 0. do. do.
Albert Chin Linstead do. dry goods 306. 6. 7. fair portion
provision destroyed
and grocery
Ah Ling do. do. do. 280. 0. 0. badly destroyed
damaged and looted
Loy Chin Cedar do. do. 180. 0. 0 damaged in portion of
Valley front stock looted
Wm Chence Arlington do. rum, 175. 0. 0 damaged stock looted
grocery and
provision
Thomas Linstead do. provision, 275. 0. 0 do. portion of
Fong grocery and stock looted
dry goods
Henderson Bermaddy do. rum, 400. 0. 0 do. destroyed
Lehong grocery and and looted
dry goods
Chin Look Linstead do. provision 600. 0. 0 damaged in portion of
and grocery front stock looted
Harry Lue Time & do. rum, 500. 0. 0 damaged completely
Ching Patience grocery and looted
provision
James Cedar do. do. 500. 0. 0 do. portion
Wong Sang Valley looted
James Redwood do. rum, dry 225. 0. 0 damaged destroyed
Wong Sang goods and and looted
grocery
Henry Fong Mt Rosser 8.7.1918 rum, 254. 3. 7 do. do.
provision
and dry
goods
Henry Fong do. do. do. 650. 0. 0 slightly only
damaged £.8.7.6.
destroyed
and looted
Smith Fong Ewarton do. dry goods, 190. 0. 0 damaged goods
salt looted and
provision destroyed
and rum
Fong Sue do. do. dry goods 335. 0. 0 do. do.
and salt
provision
Isaac Lucky 10.7.1918 dry goods, 300. 0. 0 badly do.
Chance Valley rum, damaged
grocery and
provision
do. Williamsfie do. grocery and 400. 0. 0 do. do.
ld provision
do. Hyde do. do. 600. 0. 0 do. do.
do. Hamwalk 9.7.1918 do. 800. 0. 0 do. do.
Ernest Pear Tree do. rum, 400. 0. 0 do. do.
Chang Grove grocery and
provision

347
Henry do. do. do. 425. 0. 0 do. do.
Ching
Young
Leonard Phillipburgh do. do. 500. 0. 0 do. do.
Chance
Albert Mongrave 10.7.1918 do. 200. 0. 0 do. do.
Chang
do. John Crow do. rum, 250. 0. 0 fair (not portion of
Spring provision bad) goods
and dry looted
goods
Lee Young Facey do. do. 450. 0. 0 good order very slight
looting
Lue Tom Gabay do. do. 300. 0. 0 badly goods
damaged looted
Lee Young Old do. rum, 1900. 0.0 damaged about 1/2 of
Harbour grocery and goods
ironmonger looted
y
Wong Watt do. do. grocery, salt 250. 0. 0 do. do.
provision
and dry
goods
Leo Jackson do. do. do. 300. 0. 0 slightly about 1/3
damaged goods
destroyed
E.A. Chin Church 9.7.1918 rum, 280. 0. 0 badly goods
Road grocery and damaged destroyed
dry goods and looted
Low Lin do. do. salt 200. 0. 0 badly small
Kin provision, damaged portion of
grocery and stock
dry goods untouched
E.A. Chin Knollys do. rum grocery 300. 0. 0 damaged about 1/2 of
and dry goods
goods destroyed
Isaac Knollys do. rum grocery 300. 0. 0 damaged portion of
Chance and dry goods
goods destroyed
E.A.Chin West do. do. 200. 0. 0 badly goods
Prospect damaged completely
destroyed
do. Edward do. do. 300. 0. 0 fair not bad portion of
Piece goods
destroyed
TOTAL 15,176. 1. 3

Colonial Correspondence (Jamaica) , C.O.137/727: Governor L. Probyn to Colonial

Secretary, Despatch #337 5th September 1918, enclosures and sub-enclosures from
police reports

(2) The Press in British Guiana complains of the Chinese immigration of the 1920's

348
 It may be stated as axiomatic that population, of the right sort, is the most desirable

commodity to any community, and the more of it that can be had the better. But, as in

every other question of its kind, there is population and population, or in other words,

population and parasites. And today we would direct the attention of our readers to a

question just now exercising the minds of those who see a little further than their noses,

and that is the steady influx of Chinese immigrants to the colony for some while past.

Perhaps, at the outset we should say we have no fundamental objection to Chinese

colonists. Those already with us have made exemplary citizens. They are the most law

abiding section of the community, without exception; frugal and painstaking in all their

undertakings, they provide a worthy example to other colonists; while they have

identified themselves with every form of colonial endeavour. But, nevertheless, we

suspect that this section of the community, no less than any other, is as anxious as

ourselves in their desire to ward off the evil we would today indicate.

Steamer after steamer arriving in the colony brings its quota of Chinese immigrants,

small in number it is true, but they come just the same, and were we assured that all these

immigrants were of a desirable class we would have nothing to say about the matter; but

are they? Jamaica has had rather bitter experiences lately, and it behoves this colony to

take steps before it finds itself in that into which Jamaica was plunged. Communities, no

less than persons, must benefit from the lessons of their neighbours. In Jamaica the

stream commenced in quite the same way as we now see it in British Guiana. First there

was a trickle, then it grew to a brook, and persons raised their eyebrows in gentle

protests; wherupon a benign government stepped in, and introduced an ordinance drafted,

we believe, by no less a person than the Hon. Hector Josephs.

At this sign of government appreciation of the danger ahead, public apprehensions

were allayed. Unfortunately, however, the ordinance became a dead letter, gradually the

brook became a wider stream, and eventually developed into a flood. When the good

people of Jamaica awoke in the tossing deep they realised that their armour and defences,

349
duly provided, had been sadly neglected, and the island was in the grip of an economic

situation brought about by the large influx of a most undesirable type of immigrant.

Immigrants who were neither agriculturists nor colonists in any sense, but just parasites:

gamblers, thieves and cutthroats were everywhere. Some embarked upon trade to the

great sorrow of those who gave them credit; others just gambled, and devoted their wits

to the exploitation of the unwary, while the growing effect upon the morale of the

community was being gradually undermined in another direction altogether, since these

men, of an extraordinarily low type themselves, consorted with such women as they

could find, possibly equally depraved as their husbands, and produced a type of half caste

which is even a greater menace than their fathers.

These are dangers we would warn the community against today. The colony needs

agriculturists, not petty traders and laundrymen. However, we do not think it is

particularly the province of the government to keep out traders and laundrymen, provided

that in admitting men of that type we do not admit undesirables of the class we have

indicated! Already the city is flooded with Chinese laundries, and the homely old

washerwoman is being gradually driven out of business....

[It] would possibly be an advantage if the local government would explore the policy

pursued by the United States of America in its latest immigration policy, that only a

given percentage of the population of any one race already resident may be admitted as

residents in any one year; always, of course, inso far as this colony is concerned,

excluding immigrants brought in as agriculturists under any well thought out and

approved scheme with due rotection for those already in our midst, even of that class.

The Daily Chronicle, Sunday 1 April 1923, Editorial

(3) Restrictions in Trinidad in the 1930's: two documents

350
· Report of the Committee appointed by the Governor in 1931 to enquire into the
conditions, and effect upon the island, of alien and other immigration (excerpts).

1. The Committee held six meetings in all, on the 2nd, 18th, 24th of February, on the

10th and 24th of March, and on the 21st of April, 1931....

4. ... the two outstanding classes of aliens whose advent to the colony and methods of

gaining a livelihood had attracted most attention of recent years, were the Chinese and

the Syrians....

7. Immigrants to the Colony ... may be divided in two classes, those of (a) alien and (b)

British nationality. Included among the latter, however, are to be found more than one
class of persons of alien race e.g. Chinese from Hong Kong, and Palestinians and some

Trans-Jordanians.....

12. ... until the financial position of the Colony returns to normal, the Committee feels

that, with the poor prices ruling for all our agricultural products, and, owing to the

curtailment of work on all the oilfields, the Colony is passing through a severe economic

crisis which threatens to become even more severe as the crops are reaped, and

unhesitatingly recommends, as a temporary measure, for one year in the first instance,

that legislation to prohibit the free entry of all persons seeking employment who are

unable to show evidence of means with which to support themselves, should be

introduced at an early date. Power should however be reserved to the Government to

grant exemption to any person or persons unconditionally or upon such terms as he may

deem fit.

13. We feel ... that there is at present more than a sufficiency of labour to cope with the

work available in connection with the carrying on of the industries of the Colony, and of

such contemplated works as may be instituted by Government for the relief of

unemployment, and that, to allow new immigrants to enter the Colony in search of work,

would only increase the number of the unemployed.....

351
15. In further support of our recommendation for the early introduction of total

temporary prohibition of entry of all persons seeking employment, the Committee would

mention that an examination of the Immigration Statistics of the Harbour Master's

Department discloses that, considering the size of the island, the number of persons, both

of British and alien nationality, with little or no means of support, who arrive in the

Colony annually, is very large. Up to the present, this steady stream of immigration has

had no untoward consequences, as those unable to obtain employment locally have found

means of passing on to one or other of the South or Central American Republics. Now

that these avenues have nearly all been closed to this class of immigrant, it is feared that

to allow them to continue to enter the Colony without restriction, would aggravate an

already critical labour situation.

16. Incidental to our enquiry, and of subsidiary interest, is the question of peddling of

merchandise in country districts. Evidence for and against the present system of

peddling was heard by the Committee. It was pointed out, with some reason, that the

itinerant pedlar held an unfair trading advantage in comparison with the small country

shopkeeper who sells general merchandise, as the latter is restricted to definite days and

hours of trading, whereas the former is permitted to trade on all days, including Sundays,

and at all hours.

17. To remedy this unfair advantage it was suggested that the pedlar's licence, which is,

at present, for country districts, 16 shillings a year, should be substantially increased. A

licence fee of £50 a year has been suggested, and we endorse this suggestion for the

reasons given, in preference to the suggestion put forward for the total prohibition of all

peddling of merchandise.

4 May 1931.

C. de Verteuil, Chairman.
A.H. McShine.
J.W. Wilson.

352
A. Bertram Smith.
A. Cory Davies.
J.L. Mathieu-Perez.

· Excerpts from debate in the Legislative Council on a proposed amendment to the

immigration laws, moved by Captain Cipriani, 17 May 1935

That in the opinion of this Council the immigration laws should be

amended at the earliest possible opportunity with a view to preventing the
entry to the colony of persons in search of employment, irrespective of
their nationality, except in such cases where it has been proved impossible
to obtain suitable units locally.

Captain Cipriani .... We cannot allow people from outside to invade this country for the

purpose of seeking employment or getting employment when our own people here have

no employment. Only two weeks ago the "Lady" boat bought in 25 Chinese. I believe

she is in again this morning with 18. All that is demanded is a deposit of some £50 and

that deposit, I understand, is in the nature of a guarantee. Drawn to a logical conclusion,

if this wave of importation of people from outside - and I am not talking of one particular

nationality, as the same thing happens with the Chinese, Syrians, Venezuelans, and our

friends of the smaller islands, but being 100 per cent federationist myself I am not going

to claim that we should put the shutters up against us West Indians, and we know that in

many of these countries the Government policy is that 75 per cent of the natives of these

countries must be given work before any outsider can be provided for. All that we are

asking for is similar treatment in this country. We have to put our shutters up against

those who put their shutters up against us.

Amended Motion:

That in the opinion of this Council the immigration laws should be

amended at the earliest possible opportunity with a view to further
restricting the entry into the colony of persons in search of employment.

[accepted by Captain Cipriani]

353
Dr McShine. ... We ... insisted on [immigration restrictions] ... because other persons

came here including the Chinese and other West Indians as a jumping off ground to

countries like Venezuela, Curacao, Maracaibo, and British Columbia. Today these

countries have since prohibited the entry of these persons and the result of that is that

they are bound to be dumped here, and finding here perhaps the most prosperous-looking

country around these parts it is natural that they should settle down here....

Acting Attorney-General. ... The complaint of the Honourable Member about

immigration resolved itself into a few Chinese and some Venezuelans. As far as these

classes are concerned there is no reason to believe that they are going to be permanent

members of this community. In fact, from the information available they are only in

transit; and even if a few Chinese do come to settle down I do not think that there can be

any serious objection to them. Eventually their elders leave and transfer their properties

or businesses to them and I think I can safely say that the Chinese are very good citizens

indeed. They live well and spend money in the place, and I am not aware of any Chinese

subject who has been a charge on the community. With regard to Venezuelans, in a way

there has been a great influx of Venezuelans, and again I think that they are an asset to

the Colony. Many of them come here with money which they spend and many of them

return, and I have yet to learn that Venezuelans are a drag upon this community. There

may be a few undesirables but these are the exceptions and not the rule, and I think to

some extent we are indebted to Venezuelan capital flowing in this community ...

Captain Cipriani. ... The object of this motion was never to single out the Chinese at

all. On the contrary it refers to Syrians, Venezuelans, and others - and here perhaps we

have a difference of opinion. My friend the Attorney General believes a lot of people are

assets to this country and possibly we have a great difference of opinion on the subject,

but Venezuelans anyhow do not think we are an asset to ther country and keep us out. If

we are going to say to them to come into our country but keep us out of yours, that is

another matter....

354
 Let us go back to the Chinese and while I am not in a position to say who is my

informant I will say that it is perfectly reliable information. Hong Kong has told us that

they are not in a position to give certificates of character to any people coming from

there, and I say that no matter how we feel about other people, people who have no

certificates of character or who cannot be given clean certificates by their Governments

should not be allowed to land here.

I accept the amendment because I feel that perhaps in this instance it is far better to

accept the old story of half a loaf rather than none at all ....

Debates of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago (Hansard), 17 May 1935.

(4) A White Creole writer critiques the Chinese in Trinidad

THE FIRST STAGE

The first Chinese settlers in numbers to come to Trinidad arrived sometime about the

middle of the last century. They came as indentured labourers, or coolies. There were

no women among them so that their descendants today range from mixtures nearly pure

white to nearly pure negro. They soon lost identity as a race and merged into the pot-

pourri that is the West Indian. This was not alone due to the fact that there were no

women of their own race to keep up a racial purity; the reason was cultural as well as
physical. A more important factor was the inadaptibility of the Chinese coolie to the

climatic and agricultural working conditions of the West Indies. They would not stay on

the land. As most of them had come from the commercial towns of the Chinese seacoast,

they had a hankering after trade. As they were adept traders they soon got out of the

labouring class to which they had been brought. So the planters concentrated on bringing

the more pliable Hindus and left the few Chinese of this first immigration to disappear in

the melting pot of Trinidad’s class melee.

355
 With the prosperity of some of these first Chinese they felt the need of having people

around them whom they could trust and send to China for shop clerks. These would

work for a contracted number of years for their patron until they were free. They in turn

opened shop often with the assistance of their former employer for no one like the

Chinese realised the value of racial unity in the commercial battle of Trinidad’s

development. For the balance of the century a small but steady stream of Chinese

continued to arrive in this fashion. These slowly but surely wrested with their thrift the

small shop trade from the Portuguese, meanwhile laying the foundation for the

establishment of Chinese big business.

This penetration was effected with a stealthlike quietness . In the villages and in the

towns the people bought at the Chinese who lived at the back of the shop. But they never

saw Chinese anywhere but in the shop or occasionally in the streets of Port of Spain.

They never mixed with the rest of the community. A new clerk would appear at the shop

and after a few years he would be replaced by another, but nobody in the neighbourhood

knew where he had gone to. Only to the very observant was it evident that more and

more Chinese shops were appearing all over the colony. And not only more but bigger.

Although most of them acquired agricultural holdings through debts owing to their

shops, few went in for agriculture. They were traders pure and simple. Out of the odd

5,000 they represent in the population nearly all are in trade or the professions (which

some of them seem to regard as just another form of trade). Although they entered the

life of the colony as labourers, today there are no Chinese labourers in the island.

Among the commission agents and shopkeepers, restauranteurs, doctors and lawyers they

abound.

THE SECOND STAGE

A new infiltration of Chinese began with the revolution of 1912 in China. This

brought a new type of Chinese to the island. One with political ideas as well as

commercial ones. It brought in its wake also another type, a type that haunted the

356
underworld of the great cities of Imperial China in the grip of Western commerce. The

first were ardent Chinese nationalists, unfriendly to the regime of republican China, who

had to flee bringing their nationalism with them. The second, closely aligned with the

deposed Manchu officials, fled also bringing with them their vices and their gangsters’

methods. How many of these arrived in Trinidad no one knows but, where before you

hardly ever heard of a Chinaman in court now there were plenty of prosecutions for

breaches of the dangerous drug laws and for keeping gambling houses.

As an economic class in Trinidad they are the most powerful section of what can be

called here the middle class. They range from clerks, grocers, merchants down to not too

large scale financiers. They possess a free masonry of their own which is very powerful.

In fact so powerful that with a few exceptions they do not bother to watch their interests

in the political field. Like the class of which they form so representative a part they seem

to be entirely devoid of public spirit and to be arrogantly individualistic.

As a race, physically they have remained comparatively Chinese, mixing to a very

small extent with the other races of the island. But culturally they have lost almost all

connection with the country of their origin. In no other part of the world has this

happened so finally and so completely. In San Francisco, in New York and even in

London the Chinese inhabitants have their native festivals and follow the ways of their

people also. Here in Trinidad they ape the religion and manners of the white merchants

whom they are emulating in the unscrupulous acquisition of commercial wealth. It is to

be wondered if they are aware that those whom they imitate are backed by powerful

home governments in their ventures and that while they might tolerate another racial

group playing second fiddle in their commercial games they would certainly and

seriously resent any threat to their commercial superiority.

In art the loss of their traditional background shows painfully. They who belong to

the race that has the finest most delicate art values of all mankind make pretty-pretty

water colour sketches and horrible concoctions of modern European painting that are not

357
worthy of a pupil of a correspondence art course. The houses they build are quite the

worst among the worst in the Western world. Their only artistic contribution to Trinidad

seems to have been in the exquisite features and limbs of their women. In this exquisite

beauty and the effect it will have on the eventual West Indian type lies also one of their

only two permanent contributions to Trinidad. The other is that genius unobstrusive and

terrifically effective organisation.

Jean de Boissiere, Trinidad: Land of the Rising Inflexion (Trinidad c.1945), pp.24-26
APPENDIX ONE
_________________________

TABLES OF STATISTICS
_________________________

1. List of Vessels travelling to the British, French and Dutch West Indies from China between 1853 and
1884

2. Natives of China in the British Caribbean, 1861-1946

3. Area Distribution of China-born Chinese residents of British Guiana, 1861-1946

4. Number of Chinese emigrating legally from British Guiana 1872-1910

5. Destinations of Chinese travelling legally from British Guiana 1880-1905

6. Area distribution of Chinese community of British Guiana 1960-1991

7. Area distribution of China-Born Chinese residents of Trinidad, 1861-1931

8. Area distribution of Chinese community of Trinidad-Tobago 1946-1990

9. Area distribution of Chinese Community of Jamaica (local and China-born) 1881-1943

10. Area distribution of Chinese community of Jamaica 1960-1991

358
 APPENDIX ONE
_________________________

TABLES OF STATISTICS
_________________________

TABLE 1. List of Vessels travelling to the British, French and Dutch West Indies from China between 1853 and
1884

Name of Ship Whence Destination Arrived Total Total Landed Females Infants
Embarked Landed Landed
Glentanner Amoy B.Guiana 12.1.53 305 262 0 0
Lord Elgin Amoy B.Guiana 17.1.53 154 85 0 0
Samuel Boddington Amoy B.Guiana 4.3.53 352 300 0 0
Australia Swatow Trinidad 4.3.53 445 432 0 0
Clarendon Canton Trinidad 23.4.53 254 251 0 0
Lady Flora Hastings Swatow Trinidad 28.6.53 314 305 0 0
Merwede Batavia Surinam 20.10.53 18 14 0 0
Epsom H.Kong Jamaica 30.7.54 310 267 0 0
Vampire Panama Jamaica 1.11.54 195 195 0 0
Theresa Jane Panama Jamaica 18.11.54 10 10 0 0
Minister Pahud Macau Surinam 18.4.58 257 257 0 0
De Twee Gezusters Macau Surinam 21.4.58 243 243 0 0
Galilee Canton Martinique .59 426 (?)426 0 0
Admiral Baudin Shanghai Martinique .59 355 331 0 0
[?] Shanghai Guadeloupe .59 - 208 0 0
Royal George H.Kong B.Guiana 29.3.59 300 249 0 0
General Wyndham H.Kong B.Guiana 13.5.59 461 450 0 0
Whirlwind H.Kong B.Guiana 11.3.60 372 372 60 1
Dora H.Kong B.Guiana 3.4.60 385 383 133 12
Red Riding Hood Canton B.Guiana 8.4.60 314 311 10 0
Minerva H.Kong B.Guiana 23.5.60 310 307 67 2
Thomas Mitchell Canton B.Guiana 9.6.60 252 252 0 0
Norwood H.Kong B.Guiana 23.7.60 331 317 52 3
Sebastopol Canton B.Guiana 28.3.61 333 329 43 0
Red Riding Hood Canton B.Guiana 13.4.61 314 310 47 4
Claramont H.Kong B.Guiana 13.4.61 282 282 87 1
Saldanha H.Kong B.Guiana 4.5.61 500 492 67 1
Chapman Canton B.Guiana 9.6.61 303 290 53 1
Mystery H.Kong B.Guiana 9.6.61 360 337 40 1
Montmorency H.Kong B.Guiana 27.6.61 290 283 17 1
Sea Park Canton B.Guiana 7.7.61 293 263 40 0
Whirlwind H.Kong B.Guiana 31.7.61 365 352 51 2
Lancashire Witch H.Kong B.Guiana 5.8.61 461 433 26 3

359
Agra Canton B.Guiana 15.2.62 287 287 35 1
Earl of Windsor H.Kong B.Guiana 17.3.62 325 303 126 3
Red Riding Hood Canton B.Guiana 11.4.62 326 324 46 1
Maggie Miller/ H.Kong Trinidad 3.7.62 547 467 125 2
Wanata
Persia H.Kong B.Guiana 10.7.62 531 525 112 0
Lady Elma Bruce Amoy- B.Guiana 15.8.62 385 384 32 0
Swatow
Sir George Seymour H.Kong, B.Guiana 20.8.62 324 289 29 0
Canton &
Swatow
Genghis Khan H.Kong, B.Guiana 20.8.62 512 480 88 3
Canton &
Swatow
Ganges Canton B.Guiana 29.6.63 413 396 96 2
Zouave Canton B.Guiana 28.2.64 517 509 152 7
Brechin Castle Canton B.Guiana 26.1.65 270 269 76 2
Montrose Canton Trinidad 18.2.65 320 313 101 2
Queen of the East Canton B.Guiana 18.4.65 490 481 109 1
Paria Canton Trinidad 25.5.65 289 280 76 0
Light of the Age Amoy B.Honduras 12.6.65 480 474 16 3
Sevilla Canton B.Guiana 22.6.65 312 305 91 2
Arima Canton B.Guiana 18.7.65 343 311 50 0
Tricolor H.Kong Surinam 29.7.65 475 286 120 17
Bucton Castle Canton B.Guiana 28.8.65 353 325 60 4
Dudbrook Amoy Trinidad 12.2.66 286 272 1 0
Red Riding Hood Amoy Trinidad 24.2.66 327 325 6 0
Light Brigade Amoy B.Guiana 14.4.66 493 487 5 0
Whirlwind H.Kong Surinam 30.3.66 409 404 }
} 203 } 28
Golden Horn H.Kong Surinam 9.7.66 416 403 }
Pride of the Ganges Canton B.Guiana 31.7.66 305 302 30 0
Veritas H.Kong Surinam 28.1.67 291 } } 9 0
Marie Therese H.Kong Surinam 20.8.68 252 } } 516 3 0
Veritas H.Kong Surinam 13.5.69 202 } 0
} 405 } 11
Ferdinand Brumm H.Kong Surinam 23.8.69 298 } 0
Wilde Man Batavia Surinam 3.11.72 11 11 0 0
Krommenie Batavia Surinam 23.11.72 10 10 0 0
Kosmopoliet Batavia Surinam 6.3.73 13 13 0 0
Julius Batavia Surinam 21.5.73 5 5 0 0
Adriana Johanna Batavia Surinam 19.6.73 16 16 0 0
Willem Jacobus Batavia Surinam 27.8.73 7 7 0 0
Kosmopoliet Batavia Surinam 12.9.73 17 17 0 0
Lida Batavia Surinam 5.11.73 18 18 0 0
Adriana Johanna Batavia Surinam 18.12.73 5 5 0 0
Hendrik Daniel Batavia Surinam 12.2.74 13 13 0 0
Corona Canton B.Guiana 23.2.74 388 388 45 4
Dartmouth H.Kong B.Guiana 17.3.79 516 515 52 9
Clara H.Kong Antigua 1.2.82 128 100 0 0
Diamond/ Macao, Jamaica 12.7.84 681 680 122 3
Prince Alexander H.Kong

Sources:
(1) Annual Reports of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission , 1859-1873
(2) Gt Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, C.O.111 Series (British Guiana) and
C.O.295 Series (Trinidad)
(3) Cecil Clementi, The Chinese in British Guiana, Demerara 1915.

360
TABLE 2. Natives of China in the British Caribbean, 1861-1946

1861 1871 1881 1891 1911 1921 1931 1946

B.Guiana 2,629 6,295 4,393 2,475 634 376 423 548
B.Honduras 1 133 68 52 27 12 n/a 42
Antigua - - - 111 13 4 n/a -
Trinidad 461 1,400 1,266 1,006 1,113 1,334 2,027 2,366
Jamaica - - 140 347 1,646 2,413 n/a 2,818
All Others - - - - - - - -
TOTAL 3,091 7,828 5,867 3,991 3,433 4,139 n/a 5,774
n/a = not available
Source : West Indian Census Report 1946 (with corrections of 1946 figures)

TABLE 3. Area Distribution of China-born Chinese residents of British Guiana, 1861-

1946.
Counties 1861 1861 1891 1911 1931 1946
[20 +] [ -20 ]
Demerara (minus Georgetown) 1,117 130 1,236 [1,877] 235 [1,087] 92 [1,037] [797]
Essequibo 576 85 316 [478] 65 [370] 35 [324] [233]
Berbice (minus New Amsterdam) 416 117 288 [430] 72 [292] 34 [279] [253]
City of Georgetown 138 17 433 [615] 193 [627] 213 [1,118] [2,103]
Town of New Amsterdam 27 6 202 [314] 69 [246] 49 [193] [181]
TOTAL 2,274 355 2,475 634 [2,622] 423 [2,951] [3,567]
[3,714]

N.B. Numbers in parentheses [ ] represent total Chinese community, local and China-
born.

Source: Census Reports of British Guiana

361
TABLE 4. Number of Chinese emigrating legally from British Guiana 1872-1910

M F TOTAL
1872 42 9 51
1873 34 1 35
1874 205 15 220
1875 37 9 46
1876 68 13 81
1877 199 11 210
1878 119 13 132
1879 268 31 299
1880 259 51 310
1881 408 56 464
1882 248 47 295
1883 183 72 255
1884 177 54 231
1885 104 39 143
1886 55 14 69
1887 65 20 85
1888 40 5 45
1889 91 10 101
1890 33 14 47
1891 25 10 35
1892/3 11 4 15
1893/4 16 2 18
1894/5 37 15 52
1895/6 13 5 18
1896/7 25 11 36
1897/8 12 6 18
1898/9 n/a n/a n/a
1899/
1900 24 4 28
1900/1 3 0 3
1901/2 9 1 10
1902/3 10 3 13
1903/4 2 0 2
1904/5 3 0 3
1905/6 8 4 12
1906/7 3 0 3
1907/8 1 1 2
1908/9 0 1 1
1909/
1910 0 1 1

TOTAL 1872-1910: (approx.) 3,389 (2,837M, 552F)

n/a = not available

Source: Annual Immigration Reports (British Guiana) 1872-1910

362
TABLE 5. Destinations of Chinese travelling legally from British Guiana 1880-1905
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
1880 197 54 34 95 - 2 29 - - - -
1881-84 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
1885 51 28 - 17 6 7 31 - - - -
1886 18 20 - 11 6 - 9 - - - -
1887 20 14 9 9 27 - 6 - - - -
1888 15 7 2 15 4 - 2 - - - -
1889 20 10 - 59 2 1 7 2 - - -
1890 4 8 1 15 1 - 14 - 3 1 -
1891 14 2 5 9 1 - 4 - - - -
1892/3 8 3 3 1 - - - - - - -
1893/4 6 1 4 1 - 3 3 - - - -
1894/5 22 7 3 5 3 - 12 - - - 1
1895/6 5 - 3 1 2 - 7 - - - -
1896/7 11 13 - 2 - - 10 - - - -
1897/8 4 3 - 1 - 4 6 - - - -
1898/9 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
1899/ - 3 - 1 2 - - - -
1900 19 3
1900/1 - 1 - - - - 2 - - - -
1901/2 4 1 - 1 - - 4 - - -
1902/3 1 3 - - - 6 3 - - - -
1903/4 - 2 - - - - - - - - -
1904/5 1 1 - - - - 1 - - - -

[1] Trinidad
[2] Surinam
[3] Nickerie
[4] Cayenne
[5] Colon
[6] Jamaica
[7] China
[8] Mauritius
[9] St Lucia
[10] England
[11] Barbados

n/a = not available

Source: Annual Immigration Reports (British Guiana) 1880-1905

363
TABLE 6: Area distribution of Chinese community of British Guiana 1960-1991

1960 1980

Georgetown 2,119 670

Suburbs of G’town 620 462
New Amsterdam 200 80
East Demerara 308 ---
Eccles to Soesdyke --- 96
Industry to Mahaicony --- 125
Upper Demerara River 147 57
West Demerara 332 153
East Berbice 145 99
West Berbice 49 22
Berbice River 1 ---
Essequibo Coast 60
}53
Essequibo Islands 28
North West District 14 8
Mazaruni-Potaro 42 13
Rupununi 9 4

TOTAL 4,074 1,842

[2,231M,1,843F] [1,023M, 819F]

Census of 1991:

REGION TOTAL MALE FEMALE

[1] Barima-Waini 4 2 2
[2] Pomeroon-Supenaam 12 6 6
[3] West Demerara-Essequibo 122 74 48
[4] Demerara-Mahaica 956 538 418
[5] Mahaica-Rosignol 22 14 8
[6] E.Berbice-Corentyne 181 105 76
[7] Cuyuni-Mazaruni 5 4 1
[8] Potaro-Siparuni 1 1 0
[9] Takatu-Essequibo 1 1 0
[10] Upper Demerara-Berbice 34 20 14
1,338 765 573

Sources: Census reports of British Guiana

364
TABLE 7. Area distribution of China-Born Chinese Residents of Trinidad, 1861-1931

Districts 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931

Port of Spain 84 220 333 285 200 252 409 670
San Fernando 94 146 138 68 33 17 57 155
Arima - - - 105 83 41 25 44

Counties
St George 97 361 399 227 144 147 76 170
St David - - 7 13 12 34 41 32
St Andrew 1 - 18 44 58 117 110 95
Nariva - - - - - - 35 55
Mayaro - 4 2 8 13 36 41 46
Caroni 42 203 175 137 150 148 132 140
Victoria 124 375 144 88 112 214 233 266
St Patrick 19 91 50 31 27 97 174 317

Ward of Tobago - - - - - - - -
Waters of the Colony - - - - - 10 1 35
Stragglers - - - - - - - 2
TOTAL 461 1,400 1,266 1,006 832 1,113 1,334 2,027

Source: Census Report of Trinidad & Tobago 1931

TABLE 8: Area distribution of Chinese community of Trinidad-Tobago 1946-1990

1946 1960 1970 1980 1990

Port of Spain 2,441 2,964 2,150 1,036 620

San Fernando 468 705 603 428 243
Arima (Borough) 183 250 233 231 172
Pt Fortin (Borough) -- -- -- 80 41

Counties
St George 961 2,315 2,887 2,473 2,251
Caroni 310 398 365 286 245
St Andrew 193 132 142 85 68
St David 58 49 36 18 8
Nariva 43 63 50 27 15
Mayaro 43 49 61 31 30
Victoria 369 516 629 566 421
St Patrick 530 860 756 267 154

Tobago 42 60 50 34 46

TOTAL 5,641 8,361 7,962 5,562 4,314

[3,749M, [4,709M, [4,282M, [3,000M, [2,317M,
1,892F] 3,652F] 3,680F] 2,562F] 1,997F]

Sources: Census reports of Trinidad &Tobago

365
TABLE 9. Area distribution of Chinese Community of Jamaica (local and China-born)
1881-1943
1881 1891 1911 1921 1943
Kingston & Port Royal 84 295 754 1,180 4,154
St Andrew 4 9 198 369 2,085
St Ann - - 66 131 441
St Catherine - 34 185 358 893
St Elizabeth - 1 54 105 293
St James 2 6 61 168 557
St Mary 2 4 225 296 645
St Thomas 4 33 67 178 457
Clarendon 1 13 95 269 832
Hanover - 3 - 46 190
Manchester - 4 91 146 557
Portland - 66 233 255 610
Trelawny - 3 57 92 328
Westmoreland 2 10 25 103 352
TOTAL 99 481 2,111 3,696 12,394

N.B. 1943 population (12,394) includes Chinese (6,879) and "Chinese coloureds" i.e. one Chinese parent
(5,515)

Source: Jamaica Census Report 1943

TABLE 10: Area distribution of Chinese community of Jamaica 1960-1991

1960 1970 1982 1991

Kingston 2,358 1,068 298 207

St Andrew 4,309 7,171 2,951 3,133
St Ann 239 292 130 184
St Catherine 676 651 529 476
St Elizabeth 137 118 60 50
St James 416 604 329 331
St Mary 204 171 91 132
St Thomas 245 174 97 95
Clarendon 551 456 234 234
Hanover 92 58 38 38
Manchester 307 405 259 239
Portland 277 212 124 107
Trelawny 184 152 84 48
Westmoreland 272 249 96 98

TOTAL 10,267 11,781 5,320 5,372

[5,693M, 4,574F] [6,324M, 5,457F] [2,987M,2,333F] [2,949M, 2,423F]

Sources: Census reports of Jamaica

APPENDIX TWO

366
 Biographies of Chinese Families

[based on personal interviews or written accounts obtained from

the following family members]

GUYANA

George Fung On (1921- )

Wilfred Phang Hing (1916- )

Randolph Choo Shee Nam (1936- )

Denis Yeung (1953- )

Leslie Chin (1937- )

TRINIDAD

James Lee Lum (1925- )

Father Arthur Lai Fook (1919- )

James Albert Chow (1916-94)

Edisel Choong-a-Fung (1925- )

Carlton Mack (1911- 95)

JAMAICA

Lincoln Williams (1912-87)

Easton Lee (1935- )

SURINAME

Afoeng Chiu Hung (1915- )

TRINIDAD AND CHINA

Dai Ailian (1916- )

GUYANA

367
Family History of George Fung-On (1921- )

George's grandfather, Fung-Aloy, was born in Canton, China, and migrated with his

family to New Nickerie, Suriname, while his cousin, Fung-Afat, came to British Guiana.

George's father, Walter Fung-On, was then 10 years old. When he was a young man in

his 20's he alone came to British Guiana to start his own business, having asked his father

for his share. He opened a grocery store in Kingston in Georgetown, then moved to

Camp street and later to Kitty. He married his first wife Mamie Ching, 19 years old, in

1916. She was a local-born Chinese whose parents came from Canton, China. Mamie's

own mother was married twice and had a sister named Princess. Her mother's second

husband was Benjie Woon-a-Tai and she was known as Miss Benjie. They had a rice

mill at Plantation Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara, which she managed on her own

when her husband left and went back to China.

Walter Fung-On and Mamie had only one child, Verna, born on 18 January 1918.

She was only 9 months old when her mother died during a flu epidemic. Her parents had

been married about 2 years. Walter Fung-On then remarried within a year to Hannah

Chung-Kee-Wong. Hannah was then about 18 or 19 years old, while Walter was about

26-28 years old. Hannah's parents came already married from Canton, China and were

indentured to Plantation Vryheid's Lust, East Coast Demerara. They had 5 children:
Mary, Peter, Rosalind, Hannah and Joseph. Joseph died young, around 1927 or 1928,

when his nephew George Fung-On was 5 or 6 years old.

George's parents Walter and Hannah had 13 children in all: Leslie, George, Lucille,

Samuel, Jason, Leila, Oscar, Pamela, Patricia, Marjorie, Jean, Gerald and Vera. Nobody

has been back to China. All of his grandfather Fung-Aloy's family are in Suriname. He

was also married twice. With his first wife he had 5 children, George's father Walter

being the eldest. With his second wife, he had 2 daughters. Their family surname

368
somehow changed from Fung-Aloy to Ho-a-Shoo when they took over a sawmill in

Nickerie, Suriname. Most of the family have now moved to Paramaribo.

George Fung-On grew up with his maternal uncle Peter and two aunts in Plaisance,

East Coast Demerara. George's father had joined the Chinese Association when he came

to British Guiana. Jason, George's brother, was a Freemason and member of the Silent

Temple Lodge, while George himself was a member of the Chinese Sports Club from

1942 to 1975.

George Fung-On is married to Gloria nee Choy and they have no children. He

worked in the British Guiana Public Service from 1942 in several departments in all the

administrative grades to Secretary of the Public Service Commission which is equivalent

to the level of Permanent Secretary, the highest level in the administrative service of

Guyana. After his retirement in 1976, he joined the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce

as Executive Secretary which position he holds to the present day.

Of George's brothers and sisters, Leslie and Marjorie now live in England; Samuel,

Jason and Vera in the USA; and Patricia in Spain. Leila died long ago when she was

about 28 years old, as well as Oscar, a land surveyor who was a Land Superintendent

when he died in the Rupununi. Pamela died when she was 7 or 8 years old during a

malaria epidemic. Lucille died in 1990. Jean, Gerald and his half sister Verna are still

living in Guyana.

George's sister Patricia worked in the Guyana Foreign Service and was a Second

Secretary in Brazil. Jason was Chief Meat Inspector in the municipal service of the

Georgetown City Council. Leslie retired as Head Master of St Barnabas Primary School

in Georgetown, then went to England where he taught in state schools in London.

Samuel had a bakery in Campbellville, Greater Georgetown, and an outlet in Regent

Street, Georgetown. He is now retired and lives in Long Island, New York, USA.

29th June 1992.

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Note for February 1994:

Since this interview, George Fung On was appointed a Minister in the new government

of Cheddi Jagan, elected in October 1992. He is a Minister in the Office of the President

responsible for the Public Service.

________________________________________________________________

Family History of Wilfred Phang-Hing (1916- )

Wilfred Phang-Hing was born on 24 March 1916 in Guyana. His paternal great-

grandfather was the first person to come from China (place and date unknown). His

name was Phang Hing. His grandfather, John Hing, had a grocery and farm at Canal

No.2, West Bank Demerara. He had 8 children, 6 boys and 2 girls. Wilfred's father,

Joseph, was the second child, and had a grocery also. He married Mary Alexandra Ting-

a-Kee, and they lived at 29 High Street, Georgetown and had 6 children, of whom only

Wilfred and 2 married sisters are alive now: Mabel now lives in Toronto and Mildred in

Vancouver. Mary his mother died in 1978.

Wilfred attended many Government elementary schools, and did several jobs after

leaving school, including baking and selling Chinese cakes, bread, etc. He then went into

the "bush" (Mazaruni area) to prospect for diamonds, and then worked as a General

Foreman with the Government Survey Department (Drainage and Irrigation and Roads

Division) from 1952 until he resigned in 1971.

Wilfred now lives with his niece Doris, daughter of his eldest sister Iris (now

deceased) who had married a Leow. Doris was married to Lloyd Hing but is now

divorced. Lloyd and their 2 children, Donna and Nicholas, are all now living in Toronto.

Donna is married and works at Toronto-Dominion Bank, while Nicholas works at

20
Canadian Tyre. Doris's brother, an Income Tax consultant, lives in Vancouver and

has 2 sons: Andrew, an accountant, and Stephen, a computer technologist.

20 Doris has since migrated to Canada (late 1992).

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 Wilfred's maternal grandfather, William Alexander Ting-a- Kee, came with his aunt

Rebecca Lee-a-Tak from China as a boy. She came to British Guiana on 9th June 1861

on the Chapman from San Wui district in the Province of Kwangtung, about 30 miles

from Canton. Her feet were bound, and so she was not able to do any work. Her

husband Lee-a-Tak also came from China, and became a moneylender, loaning money to

many of those who left the Chinese Hopetown Settlement at Kamuni Creek. (It is said

that Rebecca Lee-a-Tak gave an altar cloth which she brought from China to the

Anglican Church in Plaisance, and her great great-niece, Wilfred's cousin, still has a pair

of the tiny shoes which she brought from China.)

William Alexander Ting-a-Kee's wife was Louisa, and they had 12 children. They had

a grocery store at Plaisance, East Coast Demerara. Wilfred's mother, Mary Ting-a-Kee,

was one of the 12, 3 of whom are still alive. One, Winifred, emigrated to England. The

eldest sister Martha was allowed to marry, at age 13, to Edwin Lee, 21 years her senior.

The Lees had 6 coal pits and the largest holdings at Hopetown. Edwin and his father,

old Lee, were expert at packing the pits which they fired and set in 5 days.

Martha's granddaughter Gwendoline Cordetti nee Lee, who now lives in Toronto,

went to China on holiday to try and trace her roots, without success. Wilfred's own sister

Mildred and her husband Kenrick Wong also went to China on holiday in September

1991 for 3 weeks. They live in Vancouver where they emigrated several years ago.

Wilfred's family is today quite dispersed. Most of the surviving members of his

father's family now live in the USA. Some of his brother's family now live in the USA,

his sister's family in Canada, his maternal aunt in England, his nephew in Trinidad, and

some of his mother's family in Barbados and Suriname.

9 June 1992
________________________________________________________________

Family History of the Choo-Shee-Nams

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 Benjamin Choo-Shee-Nam was born on 20th August 1890 in Poon Yu, Kwangtung

Province, China. In 1914, he migrated on his own to Vancouver, Canada, and then

moved on to British Guiana in 1915 on the advice of his cousin who was visiting, and

since he had no relatives living in Vancouver at that time. In British Guiana, in 1924,

at the age of 34, he petitioned the then Governor to marry Marie de Freitas Santos, who

was not only under age but had no birth certificate, since she was born at sea on the Forte

Master Santa Maria when her parents were coming from Portugal. This marriage

produced 2 daughters and 4 sons.

Being a businessman, Benjamin Choo-Shee-Nam sponsored not only his brother

(Choo-y-Nam) and his nephew (Choo-Chan) but many of his fellow countrymen, since

he was in a position to offer them not only board and lodging but jobs at his shop at

Wismar. At the height of his business career, he employed over 21 Chinese shopkeepers

plus local personnel. The business at Wismar - up the Demerara river - was known as the

"Swing Gate" shop. He was a founder member and one of the driving forces in the

formation of the Chinese Association in Brickdam. He (and Mr Loquan) not only went

around at his own expense in a cab (horse drawn machine) soliciting donations from his

fellow countrymen, but he also reportedly gave a personal donation of $150 to this

association. (In those days it was reported that an Opel motor car was priced at less than

$500.)

The 6 children of Benjamin Choo-Shee-Nam and Marie de Freitas Santos were:

Olive, Elsa, Victor, Clement, Patrick and Randolph. The second and third generations

deriving from them all today number over 25, most of whom now reside in Canada.

Olive married Samuel Luck (now deceased). Of their children, Geoffrey Luck is a

medical doctor in Canada. He is married to Alana nee Hedeker, and they have one son.

Thomas Luck is an airline official trained in the United Kingdom, and works with BWIA

in Canada. He is married to Mary Wong You and they have 2 children, Samantha and

Christopher. Patrick Luck is an accountant in Canada. He has one child (Michelle) with

372
his first wife (now divorced) and a baby girl with his second wife Anne Marie nee Ting-

a-Kee. Roger Luck did Mechanical Engineering at New Brunswick University, is

married to Denise nee Subryan, and they have 3 sons. Katherine Luck is married to

Richard, a Canadian, and has 2 babies. She did a General Arts Degree (Languages).

Elsa Choo-Shee-Nam married Victor Fung (deceased). They had 7 children. Stephen

Fung is not married. He did Mechanical Engineering in the UK and now resides in

Canada. Derek Fung works at a nuclear power station in Kincardine, Canada. He got a

Guymine scholarship and did Electrical Engineering at New Brunswick University. He

is married to Joan and has 3 children, Dominique, Elliot and Daniel. Dominique will be

going to University in September 1992. Bonita Fung married Richard McGraw and they

have 2 sons, Brian and Peter. She did a degree in Math and has an executive post in the

New Brunswick government. Her husband Richard is an Economics Professor at the

University of New Brunswick. Brian Fung did Chemical Engineering at New Brunswick

University. He works with Shell, Calgary and is married to Margaret nee Luck, and they

have 2 sons, Nicholas and Carey. Dohne Fung was a Guyana scholar in 1970 and

attended St Rose's High School. She went to Reading University in England and is a

Chartered Landsurveyor (Valuation). She was married to Anthony Arnold but is now

divorced and has one daughter Rebecca, 2 years old. Ian Fung is a bachelor, and did

Mechanical Engineering at Toronto University. He works at a nuclear power station in

Ontario. Leslie Fung is a bachelor who obtained his M.Sc in Microbiology from Toronto

University. He is now reading for his Ph.D. degree.

Victor Choo-Shee-Nam married Neila and is now divorced. They have one daughter

Ave who is married to Michael Wong You and they have 2 children. He was married a

second time, to Pauline, and they have 2 children, Julie-Ann and Brian. Clement Choo-

Shee-Nam married Lounette nee Foo, and they have 3 children, Patrick, Guy and Luana.

Luana represented Guyana at badminton and squash successfully. She was Guyana's

youngest badminton champion in her day. Patrick Choo-Shee-Nam died at age 20 years.

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 Randolph Choo-Shee-Nam (born in 1936) married Rosamond nee Ganpatsingh, and

they have 6 children. Lovatt is an entrepreneur. Randy graduated in 1992 as a medical

doctor. She was in the first batch of students at the Guyana medical school at the

University of Guyana, which was launched in 1985 to produce doctors of a high quality.

Robert is pursuing studies in Civil Engineering in California. Donald is pursuing studies

in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Guyana. Rosemarie did a degree in

Management at the University of Guyana.(1993) and is now studying to be an attorney.

Lise is doing a degree in Accountancy at the University of Guyana.

Randolph Choo-Shee-Nam qualified in the United Kingdom as a Chartered

Landsurveyor in 1975, and since then is the only chartered landsurveyor in Guyana, and

is also the only chartered hydrographic surveyor in the West Indies. In 1976, he was

elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in 1976. In 1978 he was

transferred to the University of Guyana from the Ministry of Communications and

Works, where he was Superintendent of Surveys for 10 years. He is now a Senior

Lecturer in the University's Faculty of Technology. Randolph is a member and past

President of the Rotary Club of Georgetown Central, and is the Corresponding Secretary

for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (R.I.C.S.) He is also a member of the

Silent Temple Masonic Lodge. Only Randolph, of all Benjamin Choo-Shee-Nam's

children, is left in Guyana. The others are all in Canada, while Randolph's niece Dohne

lives in the U.K. No one in the family ever went back to China.

1st August 1992 (updated to February 1994)

Family History of the Yeungs

Leslie Yeung You (uncle of Denis Yeung) was the first member of the family to come

to British Guiana in 1933. Chiang Kai-Shek was in power in China at the time, and

because of the unsettled conditions there Leslie felt he would seek his fortune elsewhere.

He really meant to go to Suriname but as there was no direct flight there he had to come

374
to British Guiana first. Since he was offered a job in a grocery store by another Chinese

immigrant, he decided to remain in British Guiana Six years later, in 1939, as a result of

his success, he sent for his brother Cecil Yeung Yuen Kim (Denis's father, born 4

December 1918) to come and assist him in his business. The Yeung family came from

Tung-Koon in Kwangtung Province, China.

In 1941 Cecil branched off and started a grocery business of his own, and on 5 March

1950 when he was 32 years old a marriage was arranged for him with a 20 year old girl,

Yvonne Ling Yee Fun (born 18 October 1930) from the same district he came from in

China, and who was a distant relative of his grandmother's. She already had a sister in

British Guiana who was married to another Chinese immigrant. Cecil's business was

located in Lombard Street, Charlestown and in 1959 he became the proprietor of L.

Yeung Company, General Importers of Chinese goods. He continued to import Chinese

goods until these were banned around 1965 by the Burnham government.

Five children were born of this marriage: Philip (1952), Denis (1953), Eileen (1957),

Babsy(1959) and Patrick (1963) who died by accident in April 1989. Both Philip and

Denis won the prestigious Guyana scholarship in 1970 and 1972 respectively and also

were awarded Demba and Guymine scholarships. Babsy also obtained a Guymine

scholarship to study accountancy in the U.K. There she met and married Colin Yim from

Singapore and both of them are now working as accountants in Singapore.

Philip obtained his B.Sc. with Honours in Mechanical Engineering at Queen's

University in Canada in 1974 and returned to Guyana where he has been working with

Guymine (now Linmine) since 1974 and is now its General Manager, Processing. He is

married to Nola nee Reece, and they have 2 daughters and 1 son. Denis is a bachelor

and pursued studies at the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College of Science and

Technology, University of London, England where he obtained the B.Sc., A.R.S.M.

Mining Engineering in August 1976 graduating with First Class Honours. He was

second in a class of 23 students winning many prizes while at university. He also

375
obtained the M.S. degree in Mining Engineering at Pennsylvania State University,

U.S.A. in March 1981 and is the author of several publications. From August 1976 to

August 1978 he worked as a Project Engineer with Guymine, Linden and was then

Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the Division of Mining Engineering at the University

of Guyana until 1989. He is now working with Aroaima in Guyana but has just this

week been transferred to its operations in Venezuela.

Eileen is now a housewife and is married to Paul Rebeiro. They have 2 daughters,

Paige (5) and Giselle (3). She worked for 11 years with the Royal Bank of Canada in

Georgetown until her marriage in 1986.

No one ever went back to China except Philip who went on a business visit in 1985.

Eileen also went on a holiday to visit her sister in Singapore in 1984. Cecil Yeung Yuen

Kim and his wife still live in Guyana but his brothers and their families have all

emigrated to Canada and Denis has 2 cousins living in Trinidad. Cecil had sent to China

for his younger brother Yeung Yuk Choy to come and assist him in his business after

which he too branched off on his own. Only his eldest brother had remained in China

and some of his children still live there while one daughter is married and lives in Hong

Kong. Denis also has some other cousins in Hong Kong.

Cecil is a member of the Chinese Association and was its Chinese Secretary for many

years. Philip is the President this year of the Rotary Club of Linden (1992/93) and is a

Past Master of the Silent Temple Masonic Lodge (1987 and 1988). Denis is also a

Mason and is a member of Silent Temple Lodge.

13th August 1992

Family History of Leslie Chin

Leslie's father Chin Kim Suey came to British Guiana in 1934 from Niew Foo (New

Village) in Bao On county in Kwangtung Province. This was the name given to him at

birth, and on his marriage to Elaine Fong (Sue Yin) in 1934, he was assigned an

376
additional name of Chin Yet Fat. Leslie's parents were married again when they arrived

in British Guiana and his father's English name is Clarence Eric Chin.

Chin Kim Suey's mother Wong Chung Kiau (English name Susan) and father Chin

Sam (English name Samuel) had emigrated earlier to British Guiana leaving him with

their family to be brought up in China. They had hoped to acquire great wealth and

return to China, but his mother died during childbirth when his sister Doreen was born in

British Guiana. Chin Sam then got married again to Wong Kon You (English name

Marjorie) from China, with whom he had 7 children: Inez (still lives in Guyana),

Rudolph and Lucille (both in Canada), Cecil (New Jersey), Edgar (London), Philomena

and Cyril (Canada).

Chin Sam (Leslie Chin's grandfather) and his brother Chin Yee had come to British

Guiana since the 1920's. Chin Sam had 2 shops,one in La Penitence on the southern

boundary of Georgetown, north of the Car Bond which at that period garaged tram cars

during the night and another in Lombard and Drysdale streets. In 1940 Chin Sam opened

another shop in Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara. No doubt because of population

pressure in China, Chin Kim Suey (Leslie's father) and a number of his friends including

Young Sam You from the same village, decided also to come to British Guiana to try and

make their fortune. Chin Kim Suey worked for a few years with his father before

starting off on his own with a grocery shop at the corner of Lombard and Drysdale

streets, Georgetown, helped financially by his father. In 1956 he moved and opened a

small supermarket at 48 High street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown. Chin Kim Suey was a

member and Chinese Secretary of the Chinese Association. He lived in Guyana until

1973, when he migrated to Toronto to join his family.

Leslie Chin is one of three sons. He was born on the 14th July 1937. He obtained a

government of Guyana scholarship in 1958 and attended the University of Aberdeen,

Scotland where he graduated with the B.Sc., First Class Honours in Biochemistry. In

August 1962 he obtained a Rockefeller grant to work under Professor B.S.Platt at

377
National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London and in January 1965 he was

awarded a Ph.D (Human Nutrition) at the University of London. He returned to Guyana

in February 1965 and has held top positions in various companies, the last one being

Executive Chairman of National Edible Oil Company Ltd (NEOCOL) which he held

from June 1985 to March 1991, when he resigned to become Program Director of

Canadian Executive Service Organisation, Business Advisory Service. He has been a

member of the Board of Directors of several companies including Guyana

Pharmaceutical Corp, GUYSUCO, Institute of Private Enterprise & Development and

Demerara Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd and is a member of the Silent Temple

Masonic Lodge, was a Past Secretary of the Guyana- China Friendship Society, and a

Past President of the Rotary Club of Georgetown Central. In 1989 he was awarded a

Golden Arrow of Achievement by the Government of Guyana for long and dedicated

service in the edible oil industry.

In 1985, Leslie went with the second delegation of the Guyana-China Friendship

Society which visited China as guests of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship

with Foreign Countries. Leslie had the opportunity to visit his home village. His parents

also visited China on holiday in 1988. Leslie Chin is the 19th generation of 3 brothers

who migrated originally like many Hakkas from northern China. They settled in the hills

of Lau Woei (Old Village) which was next door to New Village, referred to earlier.

Leslie's Chinese name is Chin Hon Kuoy.

Leslie is married to Eileen nee Ngui Kon Sue and has 3 sons and 1 daughter.

Christopher, the eldest, won the Guyana scholarship in 1986 and is studying Computer

Science at the University of Toronto. His sister Donna is a qualified pharmacist from the

same University(1993) Bryan will be attending High School in Canada, grade 12 in

September 1992 while Alec will remain with his parents in Guyana and continue his

education at Queen's College.

378
 Leslie's brother Gerard Chin Sam won the Guyana Scholarship in 1963 and attended

King's College, London University, graduating in 1967 with a B.Sc. (Hons) in

Mathematics. He is now a Vice-President of Confederation Life Insurance Company in

Canada and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries as well as a Fellow of the Canadian

Institute of Actuaries (1980). Winston, another brother, qualified as a Chemical

Engineer from the University of New Brunswick. He is an Accounts Engineer with

Canadian Industrial Risk Insurers, Ontario.

24th September 1992 (updated to February 1994)

* * *

TRINIDAD

Family History of the Lee Lums

The original Lee Lum who migrated to Trinidad from China did so as early as 1880.

John Lee Lum (as he became known) was born in 1842 in Hsinhui (Sun Wui) county in

Kwangtung province. He was one of thousands of Chinese who left China in the 1870's

for the gold mines of California. For a number of years he lived and worked in

California, on the Trans-Pacific railway in Canada, in Brazil, and in British Guiana

before arriving in Trinidad. After arrival, he worked in the well-known Chinese trading

firm of Kwong Lee & Co. at the corner of Charlotte and Queen streets before branching

off and setting up his own independent firm a few doors away, at 31 Charlotte street, in

1885.

Within the next 10 years, John Lee Lum succeeded in becoming one of the most

prominent Chinese businessmen in the island, dealing in the lucrative cocoa industry as

well as in general foodstuff, hardware, liquor and Eastern goods imports. He was the

first to establish a chain of general stores (about 20) throughout the rural areas of

Trinidad, and was even allowed by the colonial government to operate his own internal

coinage system between 1890 and 1906. The first major oil exploration efforts of the

379
Englishman Randolph Rust in Trinidad were actually a joint partnership between Lee

Lum and Rust in the Guayagayare Oil Company on lands owned by Lee Lum. Rust later

struck oil with the backing of the Hiram Walker British firm in the La Brea district, but it

was his initial partnership with, and financial backing from, Lee Lum which created the

basis for his later success in 1902. By the late 1900's John Lee Lum was the

acknowledged head of the Chinese community in Trinidad, and not only served as

benefactor to his own community, but also contributed to the larger society efforts: to

education, and to the museum of the Royal Victoria Institute. He was also the only

Chinese member of the West India Committee.

John Lee Lum returned to China in the early 1890's, and fathered 2 children with his

China wife, a boy (Edwin) and a girl. He returned in the mid-1890's and married a

second time to a Trinidad-born Chinese, with whom he had 3 sons and 2 daughters:

Aldric, Oliver, Ronald, Inez and Gladys. He retired in 1908 and with his youngest son

Ronald, returned to Hong Kong, where he died in 1921.

His oldest son, Edwin, born in 1892, had come to Trinidad in 1912 after the death of

his own China wife to join the family business, leaving behind a boy (Sydney) and a girl

(Maude). He remarried in Trinidad to Minnie Assing Chow and together they had 4 boys

and 1 girl: John, James, Wilfred III, Kingsley, Gem. John's other 3 sons managed

various aspects of the Lee Lum business with elder brother Edwin.

Aldric, who married one of the daughters of Kwong Lee, his father's ex-employer in

the 1880's, was variously involved in soap manufacturing and insurance, but was also

well known as a journalist, being the publisher and editor of Argos, a weekly newspaper

in the late 1910's which identified with the emerging labor movement in the island. He

died in the early 1950's. He had one son, George, who became an engineer, and now

lives in Florida.

Oliver did a B.Sc. degree in Agricultural Science in Britain, and returned to manage

the agricultural estate side of the family business. He married Vinetta Assing and had 2

380
boys (Desmond and Tony) and one girl (Betty). Oliver died in the late 1950's. His son

Desmond was a Managing Director of the family firm Lee Lum & Co, and is now

retired. Tony is involved in selling Chinese food and luxury imports, and is married to

Winnie, a daughter of Chinese businessman (late)Lincoln Williams of Jamaica. Betty is

married to an American and lives in the USA. Ronald, the youngest Lee Lum who

returned with his father John to Hong Kong in 1908, never returned to Trinidad, and

indeed died as a young man in Hong Kong.

Sister Gladys became well known in Trinidad for her charitable religious social work,

and was connected with the work of the Flying Angel Hostel (for British and foreign

seamen in transit) for many years. She retired in the 1940's, lived in the U.K., and

returned to Trinidad in the 1950's. She was living at the home of elder brother Edwin at

the time of her death in the 1950's. Sister Inez married John Allum of Hock San district

(county) in Kwangtung. They owned Kwong Hing on Charlotte street plus other

businesses in San Fernando, including J.T.Allum. Their children were: Ralph Allum,

who became Managing Director of United Grocers on Frederick street; Cecil, who

became Managing Director of National Trading Company Ltd; Frank Allum Poon, who

became a lawyer; and Joan Allum Poon.

The main figure in the firm Lee Lum & Co. after the passing of John Lee Lum was

China-born son Edwin. From the 1930's to the 1960's, he was a dynamic innovator and

key player in the world of Trinidad business, taking the family firm away from its

agricultural and trading base into manufacturing and agro-industrial activity, specifically

concrete block manufacturing (Bestcrete), food canning (fish, fruit, vegetable), and

poultry farming. He also introduced the mechanised steam laundry into Trinidad, and the

Trinidad Steam Laundry with its many branches became a household name on the island.

In the 1950's the firm went into the housing construction industry.

Edwin Lee Lum was the founder-director of International Foods Ltd, International

Fisheries Ltd, Bestcrete Ltd. He was a Director of Royal Bank Trust Co (Trinidad) Ltd,

381
West Indies Stock Exchange Ltd, and the General Building and Loan Association. He

was also Director of many leading Chinese firms in Trinidad such as National Trading

Co Ltd, United Grocers Ltd, General Transport Ltd, General Plantations Ltd, and the

Trinidad Coconut Growers' Association.

Like his father John, he contributed to many social and charitable organisations,

including the Red Cross, the Princess Elizabeth Home for the handicapped, the Deaf

Association of Trinidad and Tobago. He was also President of the China Society. In the

1950's he served for 4 years as an Alderman on the Port of Spain City Council, and was a

Justice of the Peace for more than 10 years up until his death. In the late 1950's, he was

awarded the O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire) title by Her Majesty's Government in

Britain. In 1970, he was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold). He died in 1973, at the

age of 81. His wife, Minnie, survived him and died in 1989.

Of Edwin's children, China-born Sydney came to Trinidad in 1934, married a

Trinidad-born Chinese, Emmeline Leung, and had 2 children, Vance and Frances.

Sydney ran Atlas Trading, an import-export firm, insurance, travel and shipping agency.

He also established Trinidad's first private security firm, Wells Fargo, in 1962. Vance

his son is now at the University of Florida studying commercial art, and Frances is

married to a Canadian banker and living in Canada. Sydney Lee Lum died in Canada in

retirement in 1993. China-born Maude never lived in Trinidad though she did visit it

twice in the 1950's. She graduated at the University of Hong Kong as a medical doctor,

married a doctor from Malaysia, and settled in Malaysia. They had 2 boys and a girl, all

of whom studied in Britain, the boys at Cambridge, the girl at Edinburgh: medicine,

physics, and biochemistry respectively. The boys are now living in Canada, the girl

married to a Scotsman and living in Britain.

Of the Trinidad-born children of Edwin, John studied at McGill and Boston

Universities (business administration), was employed in the Canadian Air Force in the

1940's, married a Canadian and settled in Toronto. They have one son, Robert, an

382
aeronautical engineer in Toronto. James (Jimmy, born 1925) studied at Stanford and

University of California-Berkeley in the 1940's, majoring in Physiology, returned to

Trinidad in 1949 and remained within the family business. He married Penelope Wong

of British Guiana in 1952. They have no children. Penelope is the daughter of Helena

nee Tjon-a-Kien of Surinam and Claude Wong. Her brother Roy, an US trained

optometrist, now lives in Canada. James and his brother Kingsley jointly run the firm of

T.S.L. (1961) Ltd, operating the Spra-Glass and Ezee Products Division, which

manufacture fibreglass products (fishing boats, storage tanks, building equipment,

furniture, plastic bottles) and household cleaning products and gardening equipment.

James is an active member of the Rotary Club of Port of Spain, China Society, and other

welfare organisations including the Salvation Army.

Wilfred is a former manager of Bestcrete Ltd, and is married to Pat Collier-Crabbe.

They have 3 boys, 2 of whom studied accounting and business administration in the

USA. Kingsley is married to Jean Lee of the well known Lee family of doctors and

dentists. They have 3 boys and a girl, all of whom studied in Florida (accountancy,

marketing, interior design). Sister Gem lives in San Francisco, involved in the real estate

and jewellry business. She was twice married and divorced, and she has one daughter

from the first marriage. February-December 1993

________________________________________________________________

Family History of the Lai-Fooks

About 100 years ago 2 young men left the village of Ngan Ten Li, Hock San district

in Guangdong (Kwangtung) province, and came to the Caribbean to operate shops for

their China-based brother- in-law. They were the 3rd and 4th sons of Lai Jiune, a man

who was sufficiently respected in the community to have the village school named in his

honour. But he fell on hard times and his 4 sons were forced to leave, one after the

other, with the intention of making their fortune and returning home to live in

383
comfortable retirement. Two went to the USA. The older of the 2 Caribbean-bound

brothers, Lai Awa, went to Trinidad, and the younger to British Guiana. His name was

Joseph Lai Fook, and he was born on 17 August, 1860.

In British Guiana he met and married Jessie. Jessie's own mother was born in the

province of Sichuan (Szechwan) and as a young girl had been kidnapped and sold to a

woman who took her as her maid to Guangzhou (Canton). She was later shanghaied and

brought to Guyana to work as an indentured labourer. On the boat she met a young man

called Yung who was on his way to Guyana to practise his trade as a carpenter. They

were married in Guyana and had 2 children, a boy and a girl, Jessie.

Jessie was born on 8 February 1878, and grew up on Plantation Ogle. She was

baptised in the Anglican Church and her godmother was the wife of the Portuguese

shopkeeper. But when the time came for her to make her first communion she decided

that she did not like the idea of drinking out of the same cup as others and became a

Roman Catholic. As a child her playmates were the children of the East Indian labourers

on the plantation, so that she acquired a speaking knowledge of Hindi and a taste for

Indian cooking. Even as a child she discovered that she possessed practical skills and

used them to good purpose. She showed her entrepreneurial talent by making dolls'

clothes and selling them to her playmates. When she was about 13 years old an East

Indian woman came to her with her young daughter and asked her to make a dress for the

child. She told the woman to bring all the material required together with her favorite

dress. She then proceeded to take the dress apart piece by piece which she used as a

pattern and then went on to assemble the two dresses. This was the start of her career as

a dressmaker.

Jessie's brother married the shopkeeper's daughter. But they both died at an early age

leaving 2 sons and 2 daughters for Jessie to bring up, together with the boy and girl she

then had.

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 At the turn of the century, Joseph's brother encouraged him to migrate to Trinidad, as

presenting better prospects of making money. Their first venture was a shop in St

Joseph, where one of Jessie's nieces died. They then moved south to the newly opening

oilfield area. In Princes Town Jessie buried her mother and her second niece. During the

next 20 years we see them moving from one place to another: Brothers' road, Sisters'

road, Fifth Company, Eight Mile, Moruga, Penal and finally Tabaquite.

Joseph and Jessie were blessed with 8 children, 5 boys and 3 girls: Edward (1899),

Ellen (1901), Peter (1907), Doris (1909), Stephen (1910), Cecilia (1912), Cecil (1914),

and Arthur (1919). As he had come from China as a grown man, Joseph never spoke

English well. He was a religious man, a good husband, a kind and gentle father. He was

a good role model to his children: he did not indulge in alcohol, he did not smoke or

gamble. He was hardworking, doing all the things a country shopkeeper had to do to run

a successful business. Jessie did her share, sewing things to be sold in the shop. She

even learnt to make suits from a neighbour who was a tailor, so that she made all her

children's clothes including their suits. Living in the country far removed from service

centres, she had to turn her hand to any and everything. Joseph and Jessie were neither of

them very demonstrative, and so there were very few external signs of affection. There

was just an unspoken sense of family solidarity, mutual help and loyalty. Religion was

just one of those things that had their proper place in the life of the family, like monthly

mass in Brasso, even if it meant walking there from Tabaquite.

Having been born and grown up in the region, Jessie saw the need to prepare her

children for life in this country. So that, in spite of the disapproval of many members of

the Chinese community, she insisted that her children be given a good education. The

eldest boys were first sent to board in Port of Spain in order to attend St Mary's College,

and when the eldest girl was old enough, a house was rented in which she was put as

housekeeper. Joseph wanted his eldest son to become a medical doctor, but Jessie, ever

the realist, saw that that was an impossible dream, and suggested that instead he become

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a solicitor. As Edward was agreeable to the idea, he was articled to Mr Leo Pujadas, and

became the only Chinese solicitor in the country at the time, with a readymade clientele

in the Chinese businessmen, many of whom spoke English with difficulty.

Having been provided with a profession, it was now his turn to help the next son to go

to medical school in the University of Edinburgh. Peter returned in 1930, but died at the

early age of 38, leaving behind him a reputation as a kind and gentle and caring doctor.

The third son, Stephen, went into business. The fourth son, Cecil, was awarded a

scholarship to attend the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, where he studied

sugar technology and worked for some time in the sugar industry before himself going

into business. The second girl, Doris, learned shorthand and typing, and worked as a

secretary for a number of years before getting married. The third girl, Cecilia, won a

teaching bursary and went to Bishop's High School (as it was then called), and to the

Government Teachers' Training College, where she topped her class. She taught for 3

years before going into business.

The youngest boy, Arthur, was sent to Port of Spain at the age of one year to be cared

for by his eldest sister, Ellen. He seems to have benefitted from the care and example of

his older brothers and sisters, because he had a brilliant scholastic career, winning first an

Exhibition to St Mary's College, then the Jerningham Silver Medal, Book Prize and Gold

Medal, and the Mathematics Scholarship [Cambridge Higher School Certificate

Examination] the first time it was offered in 1937. He joined the Holy Ghost Fathers and

became a priest, taught mathematics at St Mary's College for many years, and became the

Principal of the College between 1971 and 1978. He was awarded the Chaconia Medal

(Gold) in 1990 by the Trinidad Government.

Edward, the solicitor, specialised in labour compensation cases. He was always

concerned for the "underdog" and was considered a radical, and even called a

communist. He was elected to the Port of Spain City Council in the 1930's and made an

unsuccessful bid for the Legislative Council in the General Elections in 1951, and again

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in 1961, when he went up as a member of the Independent Labour Party headed by

Raymond Hamel Smith, the Judge's father.

He married Alice Hochoy, who had placed first among all the girls in the British

Commonwealth at the Cambridge School Certificate Examination. She came from a

family of 6 girls and 3 boys. Both her parents came from China. The eldest boy, Noel,

was born in Costa Rica; the second, Solomon, in Jamaica. Solomon himself eventually

worked his way up the Trinidad Colonial Civil Service to become in turn Colonial

Secretary, the first local Governor and then the first local Governor-General of

independent Trinidad-Tobago in the 1960's. The third boy, Henry Hochoy, retired from

the Civil Service as one of the 3 Commissioners of Inland Revenue. Edward and Alice

had 7 children, 3 boys and 4 girls. The first son died on his second birthday. The eldest

girl, Dorothy, won the Girls' scholarship in 1949, the second year it was offered. She

went on to study medicine in Edinburgh. The second boy, Neil, was awarded a Shell

scholarship to study engineering.

Ellen Lai Fook, the eldest of the Lai Fook girls, married Louis Jay Williams, a well

known Chinese businessman, born in Trinidad in 1898, who was a pioneer in introducing

many familiar commercial products into Trinidad. Some of these products are Green

Pastures Butter, Cow and Gate Baby Milk Food, Ferrol Compound, Limacol, Whiteways

Devon Cydrax and Peardrax, P.V.C. pipes from Japan, and Naco Louvres. After the

Second World War he went to Australia and brought back a shipload of food - beef,

mutton, rabbit, preserved fruits, chocolates, milk powder, butter, cheese. In this way he

showed that it was possible to trade with other countries on the other side of the globe.

He was also appointed Honorary Consul-General for Japan in Trinidad (1966-68).

Ellen and Louis Jay had 10 children, 4 boys and 6 girls. His sons have followed in his

footsteps, and in addition have been active in the political life of the country. Ronald

was a Senator in the first P.N.M. government, a member of the Federal Parliament, was

elected to the seat left vacant by Dr Eric Williams after his death in 1981, and was a

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Minister of government (1981-86). Michael was President of the Senate in the N.A.R.

government (1986-91).

Joseph Lai Fook died of a heart attack on 1st May 1927 on the train from Tabaquite to

Port of Spain, on the way to seek medical attention. Jessie died on 16 November 1939,

after a long and painful illness. The 8 children of Joseph and Jessie gave them 30

grandchildren, all born in Trinidad between 1924 and 1945. One third are still in

Trinidad, the rest have migrated with their families, mainly to Ontario and Alberta in

Canada. The next generation numbered 76, and the present one - most born in North

America - numbers 41 so far.

Written and Submitted by Father Arthur Lai Fook, July 1992.

Family History of James Albert Chow (1916-94)

James Albert Chow was born Chow Kai in the Sun Wui district of Guangdong, China

probably on September 12, 1918, though the more accurate date may be 1916 according

to his Hong Kong relatives. While still a child, his mother died and his father remarried.

However, he could not get on with his stepmother, and at age 11, he gladly accepted the

offer to come to Trinidad with an uncle who travelled to and from the island.

On arrival in Trinidad in 1929, he first resided with the Chow Quan family in
Newtown, attending Newtown Boys' R.C. school for a short time before choosing to go

to work in a shop in Siparia, where his uncle's family lived. After his stint there, he went

on to Mayaro where, besides his work in a shop, he acquired a fishing boat. He was

baptised an Anglican in Mayaro, but later became a Catholic to accede to the wishes of

his family. At age 18 he went to Rio Claro, where he began to buy and sell cocoa with

Mr Poon wah, and also started his own grocery.

It was in Rio Claro that he married Cecilia Stephen, a pupil teacher at Rio Claro R.C.

school on September 3, 1939. Before the birth of his first child in 1940, he applied

successfully for a job at Marlay's General Store in Sangre Grande and had to travel to

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work for a while. Soon after the birth of his daughter, Mary (Assimoy), they went to live

in Sookram village, Sangre Grande. During his stay at Marlay's he was transferred to the

cocoa store and he remained with them for many years. While working there, he opened

a factory for processing cocoa and coffee, selling chocolate bars and ground coffee.

On July 29, 1952, James became a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom and

colonies, Trinidad and Tobago being at that time still a colony. Soon after in 1953, he

started a business on Eastern Main Road, Sangre Grande, dealing in cocoa, nutmegs,

coffee, tonca beans and copra. His partners were Crawford Marchie, Reynold Marchie

and Edwin Chow. They bought cocoa, coffee, tonca beans and nutmegs and exported

coffee, tonca beans and nutmegs, but the cocoa had to be channelled through the big

dealers in Port of Spain.

Always enterprising, he expanded into hardware and motor car accessories, and at one

time or another, owned a saw mill and inverts factory. His business ventures and spirit

of adventure led him to acquire land in Cumana, Tamana, Matelot and Turure. He was

also responsible for the first nail factory in Trinidad, Caribbean Nail Works and later

Trinnail Company. His strength lay in his quick assessment of business possibilities,

rapid decision making, and willingness to take risks.

In 1946, the family moved to Barataria, where at 168 Eastern Main Road, they bought

a shop as a sideline to help in the educating of the children who were now 4 in number.

James continued to travel daily to Sangre Grande, while his wife, Cecelia, managed the

shop. This was given up as the family moved to Quarry road, San Juan, to facilitate the

education of the children, tutored by Theo Vincent Mitchell and his wife, Iris, Cecilia's

early teachers, who helped to prepare them for St Joseph's Convent, Holy Name Convent,

and St Mary's College.

Throughout his life, James depended on his wife, Cecelia, who helped in the

management of his business and in relationships with the workers. Together they

assured that their 8 surviving children would receive tertiary education. The eldest girl,

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Mary, helped in the business for a short while, modernising and updating methods before

becoming a lawyer. One of her 3 children is a computer specialist, and resides in the

USA. The others are a medical student, and an advertising layout artist.

The second girl, Annette, is a Sister of St Joseph of Cluny. In 1982, she resigned as

Vice Principal of St Joseph's Convent of San Fernando, to take up retreat work and

parish renewal ministry. She has university degrees in Education and Theology. Lynn is

a multi-talented tailor/dressmaker who owns her own business, making custom tailored

designs. Her 2 children are still studying.

The family deeply felt the death of the fourth child, Jean, when she was only 13

months old. However, joy followed soon with the birth of the first son, Alwin, who later

qualified in Accountancy, and is at present Managing Director of the Trinidad Publishing

Company Ltd, which publishes the daily newspaper, the Trinidad Guardian. His 4

children are still studying. Margaret graduated from York University in Toronto in

Psychology, and subsequently earned her MBA. At present, she is the Managing

Director's assistant at Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO). Hyacinth qualified in

Agriculture and later Nutrition at the University of the West Indies (UWI). For a while

she worked in a wholesale shop at Turure, then more recently went back to university

and completed her Master's in Health Services Management at Florida International

University in Miami. Her daughter is still in high school. Albert, a chartered accountant

with a Master's degree in Marketing, works with National Canners Ltd as an Export

Manager. His 2 children are still at school. Arlene, the youngest child, has a first degree

in Geology and a Master's in Information Systems, and works as a specialist in

Geological Information at Petrotrin in Pointe-a-Pierre. Her 2 children are still at school.

The family appreciated James's homely qualities. His Chinese cooking was enjoyed

by all, and he was always happy to go to Mayaro for August holidays, where he enjoyed

teaching his children card playing skills. Good with his hands, he could keep electrical

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items working and resurrect old ones. He loved agriculture and walking through his

estates was a joy to him. He planted his own vegetables in the home garden.

He maintained links with the Chinese community, fully involved in the activities of

the China Society, which at his death, acknowledged that "his achievements in our

community will always be respected and looked upon as an example for our youth".

James returned only once to China in 1988, accompanied by 2 daughters, Margaret

and Annette. He met his only living sister, her sons and their wives, as well as his sister-

in-law and her 5 children in Hong Kong. He also has a half-brother who accompanied

him to China for an emotional homecoming to the tiny village of his birth. On his return,

he kept up correspondence and maintained carefully the relationships for the remaining

years of his life.

James Chow died on February 18, 1994 after a long struggle with emphysema. His

wife, all his 8 children, their spouses and some of his 14 grandchildren, were at his

bedside as he peacefully breathed his last.

Written and submitted by Sister Annette Chow, 30 June 1994.

________________________________________________________________

Family History of Edisel Choong-a-Fung (1925- )

Edisel Choong-a-Fung (Zhong Kim Heung) and popularly known as Ed Fung, was

born in 1925 in New Amsterdam, Berbice in Guyana, formerly British Guiana. He was

the eldest of 5 brothers. His father was David Choong-a-Fung, a Guyana-born Chinese,

and his mother Euris was of Afro-Portuguese origin. David was the son of John and

Sarah Choong-a-Fung, who are believed to have arrived in Guyana among the wave of

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indentured immigrants of the 1860's. The family settled in Hopetown, where they

engaged in small trading.

Three of the Choong-a-Fung daughters (David's sisters) married home Chinese

merchants, William Choo Kang (Choo Kang Yen), Benjamin Sue Ping (Sue Ping Chee),

and Cho Ming. Eliza, the eldest daughter, married Ho Koon Chung and migrated to

China with their 5 children. With the exception of David himself and younger brother

Joe, the entire family moved to China between 1930 and 1937, taking with them the 12-

year-old Eddie Fung in 1937.

Eddie Fung lived with his aunt's family, the Choo Kongs, and received part of his

education in Hong Kong. He attended St Joseph's College as well as Chinese school.

His father David died in 1941, soon after Ed had returned to British Guiana.

Ed Fung started his broadcasting career at Radio Demerara in 1952. He subsequently

relocated to Radio Guardian in Trinidad on contract, and which station he helped to start

in 1957. He has lived in Trinidad since 1957. In short order he was made News Director

as well as Associate Programme Director. He served as Senior News Editor at Trinidad

and Tobago Television after which he was transferred back to Radio 610 (Guardian) to

restructure the station's programming, which he successfully did. He pioneered the

establishment of the first radio news operation in Trinidad and the Caribbean,

broadcasting news every hour, 17 hours per day. He is the first citizen of Trinidad-

Tobago to benefit from a US government award for advanced studies in mass

communications at the University of Syracuse in New York. While in the USA, he had

tours of duty at US stations in Long Island, Los Angeles and Kansas City. He was an In-

Studio Foreign Observer at the Great Debates between the late Presidents Kennedy and

Nixon, as well as the historic election which followed. He also followed and reported on

the infamous Watergate scandal.

But the lure of business was strong, and feeling the need for a change , he joined with

3 friends to open the first ever Wimpy in Trinidad. To manage the complexity of this

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new field, he went to the Wimpy Training School in London. After setting this

establishment on assured "growth path" he decided to strike out on his own, to establish

Ed Fung Foods, a frozen foods operation specialising in hamburgers, wontons and spring

rolls. This company still operates on a reduced scale. He returned to his first love,

communications, in 1990, joining AVM television station where today he is Head of

Research and Writing.

Of Ed's 4 brothers, James, born in 1927, is currently living in Coral Gables, Florida.

He has 4 children, all living in the USA, one of whom is a doctor, one a computer
scientist. Rudolph, born in 1929, an artist and film producer, is living in retirement in

New York City. One of his 3 children is a prize winning mathematician. Patrick, born

in 1932, works with American Airlines and currently based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

He has 3 children, the eldest is in the US Navy, 2 girls at the University of North

Carolina. Clement, born in 1941, is married to a Jamaican, and has been a small

businessman in New York City since the mid-1960's. He has 2 children. Rudolph and

Patrick have both been to China to visit their relatives living there.

Ed Fung attributes his family life as well as his stay in China at the formative stage of

his life to be responsible for his very strong oriental outlook. Although he admits to

being a bit rusty, he still speaks some Cantonese. His one regret is that he did not follow

up on his Mandarin, as well as his calligraphy, of which he claims to be an above average

practitioner. He went to China in 1975 as part of the tour to China and the Far East of

the late Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams. He was the Prime Minister's Press Officer as

well as Television Producer. One of the highlights of his trip was meeting Chairman

Mao and Madame Mao, as well as Premier Chou En Lai, Li Chen Nien and other

members of the then hierarchy. His stay in Peking, reacquaintance with his family in

Hong Kong, return visits to Guangzhou and Shanghai and to many of China's historical

sights, constitute lasting memories. He was also privy to witness the birth of China's

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industrial revolution. Very much travelled, Ed Fung is acquainted with much of Japan,

Canada and the United States. He has also spent time in England, Holland and Germany.

Ed Fung has one daughter by a previous marriage (Fung Kim Cha, born in British

Guiana) who resides in California, USA. He remarried in 1984 to Zeta Ali of San

Fernando. He is a student of comparative religion and Eastern philosophy, a sculptor in

wood, a fairly good cook and a member of the China Society.

Written and submitted by Edisel Choong-a-Fung (Ed Fung), 27 September 1994.

_________________________________________________________

Family History of Carlton Mack (1911- 1995)

Carlton Mack was born Mack Chuck Kwong in Hock San district (county),

Guangdong (Kwangtung) in 1911, to Mack Wah Pui and Hui Shee. He was the last of 4

children, 3 boys and 1 girl. Both his parents and his eldest brother died before he had

reached the age of seven. After the death of his mother in 1918, he was taken care of by

his loving grandmother and his elder sister, Hong Choy, and he attended school until the

age of 13. In 1924 his elder brother James Mack, who had been working in Hong Kong

with distant relatives, the Allum family, who had commercial businesses in both Hong

Kong and Trinidad, arranged for Carlton to join him in Hong Kong. There the young

Carlton worked with the Allums as an office boy for about 7 years (1925-32), learning

English in the evening with private tutors, as well as in classes organised by the

Y.M.C.A.

With the kind help of the Allum family, Carlton was sent to Trinidad in 1932. He had

never heard of Trinidad before 1932. The journey took him 42 days, involving travel by

ship over the Pacific to Vancouver, by rail overland to Montreal on the East coast, and

then by ship from there to Trinidad. Passage cost $192 B.W.I. [$4.80 = £1]. The young

Carlton worked initially as a grocery clerk at Kwong Hing Company Ltd in Port of

Spain, a well known Chinese firm in the Charlotte street business district owned by the

Allums. His salary was $15-25, plus board and lodging. After 2 years, the Allums

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acquired a small grocery business on High street, San Fernando, from James Lee Kee,

who was retiring and planning to return to China. The place was called J.T. Allum &

Co., and Carlton, who became its manager, was allowed to acquire one-ninth share of the

business through an interest-free loan from the Allums. This firm was incorporated in

1943, and a new branch opened in Couva, the sugar cane centre in central Trinidad, at

which time Carlton Mack became its Managing Director. J.T.Allum, the Chairman, died

in 1949; his brother and successor, Eric Allum Poon, died in 1961, and in that year,

Carlton Mack became the firm's Chairman. In 1959, lands were acquired in Marabella

which were transformed into Trinidad's first mini-shopping centre. Three acres were also

acquired in downtown San Fernando in 1962 which were transformed into the $2.5

million landmark shopping centre in 1964 known as the Carlton Centre.

In 1943 Carlton Mack married Elaine Assing, a Trinidad-born Chinese whose parents

had migrated from China, and whose father had lived initially in Surinam before moving

to Trinidad. They lived in San Fernando, and had 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl, born

between 1944 and 1951. Carl and Cyril were educated at Presentation College, Carlyle

at St Benedict's, and Carol at Naparima Girls' High School. Cyril went on to study

business administration at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and Carl also did

a number of business management training courses in Toronto. All 3 sons have remained

in the family business. Carl, the eldest, is now the Managing Director, and Cyril, the

youngest, the Financial Director of J.T.A. Supermarkets Ltd, a subsidiary of J.T. Allum

& Co. Ltd. Carol is married to a Trinidadian Chinese electronic engineer, and is now

residing in Canada. Mr and Mrs Mack now have 5 grandchildren, 4 born in Trinidad,

one in Toronto. One of Carl's sons is now at the University of Toronto.

In addition to his activities as Chairman of J.T.Allum & Co.Ltd and J.T.A.

Supermarkets Ltd, Carlton Mack is a member of the Board of Directors of several other

companies, among them the Trinidad Express Newspapers Ltd, of which he was also a

founder in 1967, along with Vernon Charles, Edward Habib, Hamilton Holder, Tajmool

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Hosein, Neil Lau, David Law and Elton Richardson. He is also a retired Director of the

Royal Bank of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd (1972-81), Point Lisas Industrial Port

Development Corporation Ltd (1971-82), a retired member of the Board of Governors of

the Academy of Insurance, and a Past President of the South Trinidad Chamber of

Industry and Commerce.

He was President of the China Society from 1968 to 1991, and is now Honorary

President for Life. He has visited China and the East several times, including visits to his

home village, Lung San, in 1979 and 1984.

He has received a number of prestigious national awards for civic service, including

the Scarlet Ibis Medal in 1971 (for contribution to the scout movement), the Humming

Bird Gold Medal in 1975, Father of the Year Medal in 1985 from the National Fathers'

Day Council of Trinidad & Tobago, an award for outstanding and dedicated service to

the Academy of Insurance in 1987, and an award in recognition of his pioneering skill in

the development of the business community in South Trinidad from the South Trinidad

Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 1989.

Carlton Mack is now in semi-retirement, but is still working a few hours a day, and

continues as Chairman of J.T. Allum & Co Ltd and J.T.A. Supermarkets Ltd, Director of

Trinidad Express Newspapers Ltd, and a few other companies.

30 July 1992.

Editor's note. Carlton Mack died in April 1995.

JAMAICA

Autobiography of Lincoln Williams (1912-87) [excerpts]

To begin to write my life story, I have to trace my roots. From the 14th century, my

ancestors came from the north of China, they first settled down at Kwangtung, gradually

coming south to a district named New Foo meaning Cow Lake. We belong to the Hakka

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tribe. My great grandfather was a peasant's son, but he worked with a merchant about 20

miles away. During his working life he saved a lot of money so that he built a mansion

in the village, a big house like a town hall with 8 apartments, with an open garden inside

the house. The garden had flowers and also gold fish, also many pictures along the wall,

hand crafted of different history, pictures telling stories in gold color. The columns were

round stones as tall as 20 feet high, it is really a wonderful architecture outside the

mansion. It has 9 houses adjoining it like a big bird spreading its wings beside him.

In front of the house, there was a concrete ground about an acre square which used to

dry rice which my great grandfather collected from his tenants or rice cultivated by his

family. In front of the land, there was also a fence with fruit trees and flowers. My great

grandfather was a big landlord, he had plenty of rice lands rented out to poor people. He

also collected his rental by getting the rice from his tenants twice a year. In China we

have two crops of rice a year. He also has shops in the nearby town, he also bought rice

and wet sugar to store up and make a profit whenever the price go up or down.

He had 2 sons and 7 grandsons. The Chinese tradition does not count girls, therefore

I don't know how many grandaunts I have. I do remember I have 2 aunts, one was

married and the other one was given away to a next villager when she was a baby. By

this instance you can understand that Chinese customs dislike girls which was very unfair

to the female sex.

My great grandfather was so rich that his grandsons should have had many

opportunities to study or to do good business, but I only see one of my uncles get a

degree. He was very educated, but he was so spoilt, that he only smoked opium at home

and had 2 wives. The other boys were lazy and hardly knew anything, but the women all

worked hard in the rice field. Our village has about 200 families with different names,

but all lived peaceful and united. Each one helped one another, during the big event such

as weddings and festival times.

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 Chinese New Year was the best time for everybody young or old. We always spent

10 to 15 days festival in New Year time, poor and rich enjoyed a very happy holiday.

Fire crackers, dragon dance, friend to friend, family to family visited one another,

bringing one another presents and food to their homes. It was a wonderful and enjoyable

time. The village had a large pond which has about 5 acres square which has plenty of

fish. I remember I used to catch cray fish in this pond with my cousin when I was a little

boy. We also had a large well which supplied fresh water to supply the whole district

with a population of over 1,000 souls.

The society of those days had little or no crime, we always brought the case to the

older people to be pacified, they always obey their elders and settled the case peacefully.

We never had any religions, we worship our ancestors, each name has their own temple.

We also follow Confucius' teaching, we respect the older and take care of the young. We

also have our sport, such as boat racing, flying kite, dragon dance, catching fish in the

pond, catching bird in the bush, playing football and basketball.

Time was changing with the foreign intervention, the Boxer Rebellion, the open war

with England, the Japanese cheap goods, then the revolution and civil war began, the

country became disastrous, life was changing for everybody. After my great grandfather

died, his sons and grandsons mismanaged his business, the family split up, and lands

were sold, business closed down. Hong Kong was ruled by the British. China was

defeated in the Opium War by England. In the meantime, America was opened up and

recruited laborers to work on the Panama Canal and railway in Canada. Gold rush was in

California.

Because our village is near to the railway leading from Canton to Hong Kong, many

Chinese went to Hong Kong to get work and take a chance to go abroad as a contract

laborer. My father was a rich son, but life was changing, he has no other means to

support his family with my mother, myself and my sister, he decided to try his luck and

went to Hong Kong, and from there to Jamaica. I was born in 1912. My father left

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Hong Kong in 1913. My mother told me when my father left, she had another girl, but

through the shortage of food, she has to give away my sister to somebody. From then we

never heard about her anymore. What a pity...

My mother alone support the 3 of us. I remember one day, she was sick, her feet

were swollen, I was only 4 years and I and my sister had to carry a big basin of water for

her to bathe, her face always looked sad and always had tears. One day my grandmother

(mother's mother) came to visit us, she saw our condition, she decided to take us to her

home, which is about 5 miles from our village, she hired 2 men who carried chairs with

my mother and me in the chairs. Grandma and my sister walked behind. My grandpa

was also a rich man, he still flourished in his business, he had 6 pawn shops in a small

town, he had 6 wives and many grandchildren. I began to stay at this new home but I

never liked it much.

My father was away for 6 years, he never send money nor any letters home. My

grandpa suggested that my mother should go to Jamaica to join him, he found out that

many people had their wives abroad and get rich, come home and build a new house, so

she decided to go. One day mom told me she would be leaving us to go to Jamaica. This

is the year 1918, I was 6 years old. After my mother left, I slept with my grandma in the

winter; during the summer she put me into another bed in the same room. I was always

suffering from a broken heart, I go through a terrible life for almost 8 years.

My grandpa's family was so large, they have over 20 persons in the house. Of course

food is scarce, sweet potatoes is the major diet, greens and corn cabbage, I hate to

swallow. Anytime I have fuss with my cousins, I was always on the losing side, because

I was a stranger, I was alone when they kick me down to the ground. Sometimes I have

to run to my sister to get comfort and shelter. I never handle any money anytime, when

peddlers came to sell sweets or cakes, I only stand up and nip my finger, or wait to see if

anyone give me a taste. Grandma gave me a pair of wooden slippers which was lost for a

month. I have to go bare feet to school, in the school I always find myself isolated

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because I am a stranger. My school mates always tease me and give me a nickname, they

take advantage of me, sent me to the shops to buy sweets for them and push me to the

ground if they dislike me and made fun of me with their dirty acts. A few times a year, I

may go home to my own village with my sister to attend weddings or New Year festival.

This is the only time I get a little enjoyment.

After 8 years suffering a miserable life, I graduated to second school and I have to go

to Hong Kong to further my study. In that time, my parents started to send money to

support us. When I first came to Hong Kong, I believed I was in Heaven, just like a bird

come out from a cage. I was free, I was happy. I started to see money, I started to eat

good food. My sister got married. She only have one daughter and her family also poor.

Anyhow, my parents sent money to support her. I was studying English in Hong Kong

for 2 years. I felt that I am a Chinese, I should be studying Chinese in China, so I left

Hong Kong and went to Canton to study. I entered a High school, but my standards were

poor, I can't catch up with my lesson.

The civil war become intense which reach Canton, communists were active

underground. One day they managed to make a riot and capture the city for those days.

They burn down a lot of buildings and the war was fighting in the street and the suburbs,

school was without food, without water. We were hiding under beds and heard the

crackling of fire burning and guns rolling in the street. Machine guns and cannon sound

just like we were celebrating Chinese New Year holiday. Luckily, they did not trouble

the school. They were looting shops and government buildings. Almost two streets were

destroyed by fire. At last the government army got reinforcement and recaptured the city

back. The fighting stopped, we went out and walked to see the war zone, we saw dead

bodies by the thousands, the dead horses, the wreckage of houses and shops still burning.

The army also captured 6 Russians and many prisoners, whom they shot down by firing

squad, by machine guns, life in those days was worthless.

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 School was closed, I had to take a train back to the country, I decided not to go back

to Canton again and go back to Hong Kong to continue my studies. When I reach the

station and came out of the train, my sister was there to greet me. We reach 3 miles on

the road, I suddenly saw a line of people who were on a wedding procession carrying red

flags and drums, I thought these people were soldiers of the Red army, I started to run to

the bush to hide, but my sister called me back and explained to me that it was a wedding

procession, then we went home safe and happy. We stayed in the country for a few

months and went to Hong Kong to continue my study, but I still don't like school, so I

changed my mind again and went to Shanghai to study. I wanted to be a doctor or

officer in the government, but all these dreams failed. When I was in Shanghai, the

political situation worsened in the school. They always found pamphlets in the class

room, slogans, posters on the wall, students went to jail or disappeared from class. 1930,

my cousin wrote and told me, many family and friends are going to Jamaica. In our

village, they also not safe, bandits invaded few times and people got killed, so I have no

choice but decided to leave the country and go to Jamaica to join my parents.

I travel by steamer named Empress of Japan, the ship stopped at Shanghai, Kobe, and

Japan. It took 18 days across the Pacific Ocean and landed in Vancouver. We stayed on

the bottom of the ship like a prison camp 50 to 100 passengers in a large compartment, it

is hot and smell bad, food was poor, but you can buy your lunch specially from Chinese

sailors or stewards if you have money. We also play mahjong and card games too. So

the 18 days journey was not too lonely. We reached Vancouver, they put us in

quarantine and sent us by train across Canada from West to East at Montreal. It took 5

days to reach there, train was hot and shaky, 5 days journey was terrible. We only stop

there for one night and board a banana ship for Jamaica.

I was so glad to see my parents. Dad took me to a barber shop, bought me new

clothes and visit his friends all around. We stayed in Kingston for 2 days, we went to the

country, travelled about 130 miles by rough road, it took 5 hours by car before we

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reached home. At last I came to a strange land, a different kind of people. I had never

seen black people before. They made a lot of noise, they used filthy language, because

most of the people are working from the sugar estate. They came to the shop with a very

strong odour, which make me feel bad, I believe instead of landing in a Paradise, I

landed in an African jungle. I was really disappointed, the people really look savage, I

saw my father with a machete hidden behind the counter ready to attack anyone who

troubled us. It took a whole year to adjust myself and try to be friendly with these

people. Of course they are human beings, they even themselves feel inferior, I admitted I

am a kind of person and I know little English, I can understand them.

My Chinese name is Wei Hon Ming. When I arrived in Jamaica, my father gave me

an English name "Lincoln Williams" because the Wei family in Jamaica were also called

Williams. I asked some of my relatives how come. I found out later that the first Wei to

migrate to Jamaica was Wei Fee Len. The post mistress who was teaching him English

gave him the name John Williams, just like the old time slave masters gave English

names to their slaves. From then on, all the Wei family who came to Jamaica changed

their names to Williams.

I went to the school and study private lessons. I work in my parents' shop, the work is

not too much because I have some cousins also newcomers, they are all staying in my

father's shop and learn how to do the business. Mom told me that dad had a rough time

in the first few years, the first year he worked with an uncle, he got only $10 a month,

the whole year he received $120. When he went to Kingston, he found his cousin sick,

he gave her the $120. With the help of Mr John Lodenquai he got a small shop at Top

Darliston, but because of lack of cash he could not make any money, until my mother

came. My mother told me that since dad went away so long and didn't make any money

or progress grandpa decided to send her to join my dad. When she arrived in Montpelier

station, dad took her home in a buggy (horse cart). Mom asked him why he don't want

her to come, he said he alone can't make two ends meet, the two of them will starve.

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 Mom really came and saw the shop almost empty, she stayed for a year and tried to

understand the business. She went to New Market to beg Mr Lodenquai to help her buy

more goods, then through her efforts, the business really improved little by little. The

second year she arrived, she had a baby boy born, but because they were poor, they can't

afford to hire a nurse, the baby died 9 days after birth. After 5 years of my mother's hard

work she made enough money, she bought a big shop at Petersfield which had a sugar

estate nearby, the business was so good that she sent money to me in Hong Kong for

school. The shop is one mile from the sugar estate. During pay day on Friday and

Saturday a lot of workers came to the shop to purchase their needs. We sell grocery and

dry goods,also a rum bar. The natives love rum drinking, they spend their money freely,

they make a lot of noise and always drunk and curse bad words. My mother advised me

not to listen to them, only remember to collect the right change.

I came to this strange land just like Alice in Wonderland, but I have no choice but to

obey my mother and help in the business. My sister, I was thinking about, she is my only

kin and used to take care of me, when my mom was away, I urged my parents to come

out to Hong Kong to live, we sent home some money to her and bought a property in

Hong Kong, that she can rent it out and collect rent to support her there. The first year I

arrived, my parents wanted me to get married, they try to find a girl for me, they

arranged for me to meet a girl from Mandeville, I love her at first sight, when I come

home I wrote her a letter but no answer, her parents found out we are not rich, match

their daughter, so she married someone else. I was very disappointed, my sister send me

dozens of photos to make me choose one, but not to my approval. My father had a

friend, he agreed to send his daughter to marry me, so they both make the engagement,

and sent the girl an engagement ring, I don't know, they even had an engagement party to

celebrate the occasion. When my sister heard about it, she wrote and told me, this girl is

no good because she has a boyfriend in school, so we broke the engagement. My mother

then wrote to my grandpa to find a girl for me, they found one in the same village, where

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I stayed for 8 years. I know the family, but I don't remember this girl, maybe I never met

her before. When I saw her photo, I did not like her, she was a country bumpkin, but my

mother forced me to accept this girl, of course in those days, you cannot go against your

parents' will.

It is my destiny, our marriage did come out successful. She went to Hong Kong and

stayed with my sister and studied English. I started to write to her, during the year she

was in Hong Kong we wrote to one another every week. To my surprise, we fell in love

by correspondence, when her letters came, I read them over and over, I read them in bed,

in the bathroom, the letters were in my pocket until its edges tore up. December 1933,

she sailed from Hong Kong to Jamaica. January 1934, she arrived in Kingston, my

parents went to meet her on Saturday, I was working in the grocery with all my head and

hand smelling of saltfish and mackerel. I woke up Sunday morning, I travelled to

Kingston to attend church and get married. We have a big reception in Chinese Free

Mason Hall with 500 guests, came back home same night, and wake up on Monday

morning and back to the saltfish counter. Nothing called spending honeymoon. The

following Sunday, we have another reception with 200 people.

We have 4 sons and 3 daughters. They all got their education, only Arthur was away

to Hong Kong for 4 years. When he came back, he could not catch up his lessons, he

remain and help me in the store. Marie was born November 1934, she was really smart,

she can talk in 10 months and walk in a year. She can speak Chinese, she learnt from her

grandma, she even tell Chinese stories to her godmother next door, who was post

mistress at the post office. Arthur was born 1936, first grandson, my parents were very

glad, my father kept up a birthday party for him with a big feast like my wedding day.

Winnie, Wash, Winston and Shirley were all born one year following the others.

In those days, things were cheap, we have a school and the sugar estate near

Petersfield, the business really flourished and busy. I have to wrap hundreds and

hundreds of parcels of sugar, flour, salt, rice, cornmeal everyday, almost no time to sit

404
down and rest. Shopkeeper life was not so easy. When the world war started, I apply for

a wholesale licence and we have goods and a gas station, then I run a black market

business and make some good money. Bim was born just as the war over, 1946.

After the war, I sent home some money to my sister to invest in real estate business in

Hong Kong, unfortunately she is a woman, she can't do much. Anyhow, I get a good

price for one of the property in Hong Kong, and the money coming in just in time for our

needs. After the war I sent Arthur, Marie, Winnie, Wash to Hong Kong to learn the

culture. Well, through the Korean war, they only stay 3 and 4 years, they all came back

and continue their studies in Jamaica. Marie graduated in UCLA, California, she married

and settled down in California. Winnie did not go to University, but she went to England

to learn Hairdressing, she also work in a bank and married Tony who came from

Trinidad. After they married, they stayed with us for a few years to help in the business,

then they went back to Trinidad and had their own business. Winston graduated as a

civil engineer at McGill University, Montreal, and worked at C.P.R. for 4 years. In 1967

I went to Montreal to attend Expo '67. He told me that Canada was hard, salary small, he

wants to come home, then he came to join the business. He married and has 2 sons,

really did a wonderful job, the business has expanded, he built a new factory, built a

motel in Montego Bay. Shirley married Ted Wong and had 2 sons. Ted had his own

business in Sav-la-Mar and Shirley had her own sewing and dress making. Wash also

came back after he graduated, he looked after the cultivation and married to Hyacinth, 13

years before they produce a son. Now Wash has 3 sons. Bim also came back after he

finished school and join in the business. He also married recently, Janet is a white girl,

her parents came from England, she was born in Jamaica.

I was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1955. Being a JP, I have plenty of work to

do for the people; almost every hour, somebody came to see me to sign a document.

Once a month, I have to sit in the court and try cases, such as disorderly conduct, curse

bad words, and so on. If I found them guilty, I used to make them pay a fine or sentence

405
them to 10 days jail. JP also do a lot of signing documents, even sign a warrant to arrest

a prisoner or to search people's house.

I and my wife did a lot of travelling, we went to Hong Kong 4 times, we tour the

world, we went to Trinidad, Surinam 3 times, we even stay in Hong Kong for 2 long

years. We also have 300 acres of land, planted with 6,000 tons of cane a year, 2 big

shops and a big house. We used to employ 40 people working in our factory, cane fields

and in the stores. Winston also built a hotel in Montego Bay. All the children live a

good life. Winston was the chairman of the Rotary Club, Wash was the President of the

Lions' Club. Bim was in the PNP youth football team as a manager, they have many

friends such as judges, lawyers, doctors, bank managers, police superintendent and so on,

they live in high society.

In 1972, the PNP got in power, people started to worry about the future, started

smuggling money abroad, starting to get papers to migrate. Manley preached socialism,

people lost confidence in the government, and through this, the oil prices and the sugar

drop, the economy became a disaster, goods are short, prices are high, and the money is

devalued. Manley was friendly with Cuba and the communist countries. People believe

he is heading for communism, more people migrated, more money is sent out of the

country. I was in Hong Kong for 2 years, my sons did not follow the other people to

migrate abroad, meanwhile they are still expanding the business. Arthur built a big

house in the hill top. Keung bought machines and expanded the stone crushing factory,

built a motel in Montego Bay.

We are now living with Wash's family. We already live together for over 15 years,

we never have any friction with them. I have to admire my wife and daughter-in-law

Hyacinth, both making the family happy. I never forget the day when Wash told me,

Daddy, you first, my family second. I also remember my daughter Winnie told us she

will take care of us whenever we are getting old and unable to manage ourselves. She

has been treating us with plane tickets whenever we want to go to spend our holidays. I

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never thought of migrating to another country. Jamaica is a beautiful country, I regret I

had to leave, and migrate to Miami to live. I did stay in Hong Kong for 2 years. I liked

Hong Kong very much, but my wife did not like it, so we came back to Jamaica for 2

years, before we moved to Miami. Now I have gotten through with my US citizenship, I

have become an American, so I may have to live and die in the USA. January 1984 will

be our 50th wedding anniversary. We have 16 grandchildren, the eldest is 24, the last 2

years old.

Written in 1983. Reprinted with kind permission of Williams family.

Editor's Note: Lincoln Williams died in 1987.

________________________________________________________________

Family History of Easton Lee (1936- )

My grandfather, Lee Lip Fan, was one of 4 sons of his father. These four were the

19th generation of continuous inhabitants of our village. Grandfather himself had 6

children: one daughter, the first, and 5 sons. My father was the third child and second

son, and was named Kin Wah. He married Soong San (a relative of Sun Yat Sen) and

had one son Fai Yan.

Our village is Cher Ha near Lung Kong, Tai Ping and Sap Kong cities, and very close
to Hoy Len, a market town. The village is situated in Pao On county. Legend says Li

Shimin gave it to an ancestor who had assisted him in his struggle to overthrow the

former dynasy, hence our family owned vast acreages stretching from "mountain to

mountain" and Grandfather was regarded as a rich landlord, but strangely, not considered

"oppressive".

My aunt, the eldest of Grandfather's children, married into the Ho Tom family and

migrated with him to Jamaica in 1920 or thereabout. My uncle Chen Wah and my father

were Communist sympathisers who were forced to leave China for their safety, and since

they had a sister living in Jamaica, it was the logical place. They arrived in 1925. Later,

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our eldest uncle came but left soon after - he could not adjust and was very unhappy.

While my uncle Chen Wah lived in the city and sent for his wife as soon as he could, my

father who loved the outdoors lived in deep rural Jamaica and took, in turn, two Jamaican

wives. He was a very skilled carpenter and went often into the woods to cut and saw

boards from the mahogany trees abounding there. My brother, born in China, joined the

army and disappeared. We heard he was killed by the Japanese.

Our father had 2 daughters with his first Jamaican wife. The first of these, Violet,

now lives in Grand Cayman with her 3 daughters and their families. She had married a
Caymanian sea captain , O'Connor. On his retirement he moved his family from Jamaica

to family property in Cayman. The second child, now deceased, married a Chin and

migrated to Canada. She had 3 girls and 3 boys. One boy, a computer specialist,

married a Hong Kong Chinese girl, has 3 boys and lives in Los Angeles. The eldest, a

chef, lives in London and is married to a white woman. Another is a police officer in

Miami, Florida, and married to a Hong Kong Chinese girl, a nurse. Her 3 daughters all

live in Canada: one a hairdresser, one a travel consultant, the other in hotel management.

When my father's first Jamaican marriage ended in divorce, he married my mother

who was a cousin of his first wife. I am the first of 6 children, and the only surviving

son. My brother died at birth, as did one sister. There were twin sisters, one of whom

died at 16. There are 3 of us surviving. One sister married a Lea, lives in Florida and is

the mother of a son and daughter - her daughter is married to a Cuban and has one son.

My other surviving sister married a Chin Loy and has 2 daughters and a son. The son

married a Lue and has one daughter. Her 2 daughters are unmarried. One is a Public

Health consultant and broadcaster, the other a beautician.

I married a Lowe (one branch of that family is called Lodenquai), and there are 2

boys and 2 girls. The 2 girls and their elder brother live in Florida and are in business -

computers. A grandson is on scholarship at Berkley College of Music in Boston, and one

granddaughter is on scholarship at Florida State University and will do Law. Our

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youngest son lives in Jamaica and is married to a white Jamaican girl and has 3

daughters. All my children have married non-Chinese.

I operate a Public Relations Consultancy with a partner, having been a trained

broadcaster in radio and television. I have worked as a media consultant to the

government of Jamaica and for 4 years was Special Assistant to Prime Minister Michael

Manley. I also have a diploma in Theatre Arts (UCLA) and have published poems, plays

and short stories. One of my interests is Caribbean Folklore in which I am regarded as

very knowledgeable.
My uncle Chen Wah who came to Jamaica with my father sent for his wife. His

eldest son, born in China, remained and entered Sun Yat First University in Canton. My

uncle Chen Wah had 3 daughters and 4 other sons. The 3 girls all married and are living

in Toronto. Of the 4 sons who live in Jamaica, one is a quantity surveyor, the other a

scientist and is the government pathologist. One other brother is a land surveyor, the

other an architect. They live in Florida. The eldest brother who was born in China, is

now retired and living in Calgary, Canada. He has 2 sons and 3 daughters, one son an

architect, the other a building contractor. One of his daughters resides in Hong Kong,

and is with her husband in an export business.

We also have cousins - children of my other 2 uncles living in the village in China -

dispersed in several countries: Jamaica, Florida, USA, England, Surinam, Australia,

Hong Kong and Singapore.

There are relatives still living in our house in the village. The home consists of 10

houses set around a courtyard. Among the relatives is our cousin who keeps the family

records, and the wife of my youngest uncle. My grandfather's house is used as a small

factory where about 12 young people make costume jewelry. The house is still habitable

- a modern three storey house added by my cousins accomodates the visiting relatives.

This has modern conveniences. Over the last 5 years many of us have visited the village

- some, more than once. My last visit was in 1992. My wife and I were in China for the

409
placement of my stepmother's bones in the ancestral tomb, which is on a small hill at the

back of our property.

We are at present negotiating with the Chinese government for return of some family

land. We hope, too, to restore the house which is a typical Chinese family/clan dwelling

style, since everything around us is being torn down to make way for modern, western

style opulent buildings.

My father was not a good businessman. He tried to establish business in several

villages but was unable to make a success of any. He was also a very good baker and at
one time went into partnership with one of his friends (a Chinese) who turned out to be a

dishonest, selfish man and cheated my father out of the bakery they had established. My

earliest childhood memories are of our life in a small grocery shop in a deep rural

district, and long hours of work and hard sacrifices. There were no luxuries and we

existed on the barest minimum - few clothes, sometimes no shoes, but always plenty

nutritious food and books. "Get a good education", was our father's admonition, "so you

can go back to China to build that country." China, he predicted, would in the 2000's

become a rich and powerful country.

His failing health was a constant source of concern and expense, and at age 57 he

succumbed to the illness that had plagued him since childhood - emphysemia. He spent

many days in bed but tried constantly to work hard and provide for his family, and we

moved to several villages trying to make a success of the little business. My mother who

had no Chinese at all - she was a mixture of Scot, African and Indian ancestry - became

very Chinese in her outlook and even learned to speak Hakka. On Sundays, while our

father went to play mahjong with his friends, we went to Church with our mother.

In all these years we have never lost direct contact with our relatives in the village.

My father sent money regularly for his parents and his Chinese wife who remained

faithful to him and took care of both our grandparents till they died. We were always

taught to respect her and even after his death we continued to send her what we could.

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We made arrangements for her to join us in Jamaica but she declined and went to Hong

Kong to our cousin. After they migrated to Canada she returned to the village where she

died. My wife and I went to China to see the placement of her bones in the family tomb.

My mother also sent her money and gifts, and she sent some carefully preserved family

jewelry for my mother.

I have received several awards for work in the Arts, particularly in theatre and

broadcasting. In 1961 I was awarded scholarships from the government of Jamaica to

the United States to study Theatre Arts. I entered Pasadena Playhouse, California, in the
Diploma program for Theatre and Television Arts. I was that same year awarded the

trophy for Best Actor in the Jamaica Drama Festival.

In 1983, I was appointed a Justice of the Peace and Lay Magistrate. Among the

recognition I have received are:

1. Gold Medal for Television Direction in 1965

2. The Institute of Jamaica Medal for Cultural Development

3. The Prime Minister's Medal 1983 - Culture

4. The Silver Musgrave Medal 1988 - Culture

5. National Journalism Award for Radio Series of Caribbean Cultural Interest

6. The Commander of the Order Distinction 1991 - Culture and Broadcasting

7. The City of Kingston Tercentenary Award 1992.

Written and submitted by Easton Lee, April 1994.

* * *
SURINAM

Family History of Afoeng Chiu Hung (1915- )

Afoeng Chiu Hung was born in Canton, China on 13 April 1915. He was 3 years old,

when his father died. His mother, Lieuw Tjong Jong, was now left alone to care for him,

his brother and 2 sisters, a task which she performed well. In his native town Afoeng

went to school, and at the age of 16 he obtained his school certificate. After that he left

411
for Hong Kong, where he worked at a hotel for some time. When he gave up this job, he

was employed in an import-export firm, where he worked for about one year.

His uncle, Tjoe A Long, who at that time was living in Suriname, decided to send his

wife and 4 children to Hong Kong. His wife was a Javanese from the Netherlands East

Indies (Indonesia after 1948). As she did not know Chinese, husband and wife

communicated in Sranantongo, a mixture of English, Dutch, Portuguese, together with

elements from African dialects. This language, which at that time was known as Negro-

English or takki- takki, was used by the Chinese immigrants in Suriname as a contact

language to make themselves understandable to other groups of the population (Creoles,

Hindustanis, Javanese), who had been brought to Suriname as slaves from Africa and as

contract immigrants from India and Indonesia to serve as laborers on the plantations.

Afoeng's aunt - the wife of Tjoe A Long - persuaded Afoeng to go to Suriname.

Travel costs from Hong Kong amounted to about $1,000 in those days, which was too

big for the 18-year old Afoeng. But his aunt was willing to borrow the money for him,

and his mother, Lieuw Tjoen Jong, did not raise serious objections to this voyage.

Afoeng left Hong Kong in September 1933 by boat, which brought him via Japan to

Vancouver, Canada. From Vancouver he travelled to Toronto by train, which took 4

days and nights. In Toronto Afoeng boarded a ship bound for Demerara. He arrived

safely in Georgetown, Guyana, from where he started the last stage of his journey to

Suriname, which took 3 days. On 19 December 1933, Afoeng set foot on the soil of

Suriname, where he was welcomed by his uncle Tjoe A Long.

In order to enable Afoeng to provide for his own living, his uncle decided that he

must become a goldsmith. Although this work did not suit him well, Afoeng had to

obey. His uncle arranged everything, so that Afoeng could open in partnership with his

uncle a goldsmith's shop in 1934. This shop was located in a rented building in the

Steenbakkerijstreet No.6 at Paramaribo. After a year the owner of the building raised the

rent from f.60 to f.100 a month. As this rent was too high, they decided to move to a

412
building in the Maagdenstreet No.61 (rent f.30 a month). To help him expand business,

he let his cousin J.F. Tjoe A Long come over from Hong Kong to Paramaribo.

Unfortunately, his uncle became ill and died in 1938.

Business flourished, and the shop became too small for their activities. So they

moved to a more spacious location in the Steenbakkersgracht No. 28-30 (this street is

now called Dokter Sophie Redmondstreet). The goldsmith's business was enlarged with

a pawnshop. The business prospered, and Afoeng began to cherish the hope of having a

property of his own.

In 1946 he married Agnes Sy A Foek, and with her help business could be enlarged

further. In 1948 his wish became true to start his own business - he could buy two

adjacent buildings No.71 and No.73 in the Zwartenhovenbrugstreet, where up till now

Chiu Hung's firm is located. In 1951 the buildings No.75 and No.77 were also

purchased, and to the already existing activities of goldsmith, dry goods and small wares

were added an import- export business, agency activities and a business for buying up

gold. In 1961 a further extension took place with the opening of Chiu Hung's Travel

Bureau in the Zwartenhovenbrugstreet No.77 (the first private travel agency in

Suriname).

In 1963 R. Chin Ten Fung, Afoeng and others had started the "Margarine-en

Vettenfabriek" in the district of Suriname (now Wanica), a factory for the production of

butter and margarine, which has proved its viability. In the same year Afoeng, together

with a few Chinese friends, also started a soft drink factory. However, the new softdrink

("Greenspot") experienced stiff competition from the already established soft drinks

(Coca Cola, Canada Dry and Seven Up), and after two years the factory had to be closed

down. In the year 1967 a new branch of activities was added: Afoeng bought the match

factory "Snake Fight", located in the Molenpad No.27.

It is a testimony to the fact that Afoeng was in good repute in the Suriname society

that the family of Fernandes, the owners of the "Snake Fight" factory, sold it to him

413
without an advance payment of even one cent! Afoeng's good name was also evidenced

by the fact that the biggest bank in Suriname, "De Surinaamsche Bank N.V.", invited him

in 1967 to become a member of its Board of Advisers, which function he fulfilled

satisfactorily for a period of two years.

In the meantime the travel bureau, under the inspiring guidance of Mrs Agnes Chiu

Hung nee Sy a Foek, was expanding very fast, so that in 1970 a new building had to be

purchased: Dokter Sophie Redmondstreet No.27. The travel bureau was moved to this

location, where it still is today. It is a pity that his wife Agnes could not witness this

transfer, for she was ill at that time; she died in 1971.

The loss of his wife forced Afoeng to pay more attention to the travel bureau, and

therefore he decided to turn over the store to one of his sons. Afoeng, who remarried in

1979 (his second wife is Marie Kasnawie), has always enjoyed a good health, till on 9

November 1987 he met with a traffic accident, which compelled him to take a rest for

about half a year. Hereafter he decided to withdraw from active business life and devote

himself exclusively to social work.

In the field of social work Afoeng has also left his traces. For meritorious service to

the community he was appointed Knight in the Order of Oranje Nassau by Her Majesty

Queen Juliana of the Netherland on 21 April 1964. A few of his important social

activities may be mentioned here.

When the country of his birth, China, was engaged in a war with Japan, Afoeng

together with others formed a committee, which had the task of remitting money to

China every month, as a support to that country's war effort. After the capitulation of

Japan (1945) this committee was dissolved.

From 1944 to 1988 Afoeng was a member of the executive board of the Chinese

society Kong Ngie Tong Sang, during which period he has held different functions;

chairman (14 years), vice- chairman (8 years), treasurer (2 years). During his leadership

Kong Ngie Tong Sang was expanded and also the home for "elder Chinese". In 1989 he

414
was appointed honorary chairman of this organisation. Afoeng has been an active

member of the executive board for a shorter or a longer period of other Chinese

organisations e.g. Chung Fa Foei Kon, Kuo Min Tang and Fa Tjauw Song Foei.

In 1958 a few Chinese - Mrs B. Tjoe A Long and Messrs Kong Ngai, R. Jong Tjien

Fa, C. Jong Tjien Fa, Kong Sien Fa, G. Tjong Tjin Joe and Tjon A Kwie - came to him

with the idea of building a swimming pool for the Chinese community. The execution of

this plan was placed in the hands of a specially appointed committee: Wong Chung, Tjon

Hing, C. Jong Tjien Fa, R. Jong Tjien Fa, J. Tjong Tjin Joe, G. Tjong Tjin Joe, A. Tjong

Soei Len and Afoeng Chiu Hung.

The Chinese swimming club "Witte Lotus" became a reality and a swimming pool

could be opened in 1964 by the Acting Governor F. Haverschmidt. Accommodation for

other sports was successively realised. In 1970 the main club building with provision for

indoor games was opened by Dr J.H. Adhin, Minister of Justice and Police, who has

always taken an interest in "Witte Lotus". Later on facilities for basketball, tennis,

football were also created. Afoeng has been a member of the executive board for many

years, and even now he is connected with the "Witte Lotus" as an esteemed adviser.

From 1967-71 Afoeng was an active member of Lions Club Paramaribo Central.

Afoeng has served the Surinamese community also with a lot of other social activities

and during the last 20 years he is undoubtedly the leader of the Chinese community in

Suriname. He has helped a lot of Chinese families and has been consulted for many

reasons by the Chinese community. A lot of young Chinese immigrants were brought

into Suriname through him and received his support to start their own business. Most of

them are today established businessmen.

Afoeng Chiu Hung has 4 sons, 5 daughters, 20 grandchildren and 3 great

grandchildren.

415
Excerpted from A SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF AFOENG CHIU HUNG,

ALSO KNOWN AS GHIEUW AFOENG (1990).

TRINIDAD AND CHINA

The story of Dai Ailien [Aileen Isaac Tai] (1916- )

Aileen Isaac’s childhood dance classes have taken her a long way from home - to
China, where for 50 years she has been a leading figure in the world of dance. Now
known as Dai Ailien, she features in a recent issue of the monthly magazine China
Pictorial. Dai was born in Couva in 1916, the third daughter of Fred Isaac and Irene
Francis-Lau. She attended Bishop Anstey High School and also began to learn ballet
before her family migrated to London in 1931. There she continued to study dance under
Sir Anton Dolin, Marie Rambert and Margaret Craske. In her last year in London she
studied with Jooss Leeder, a protege of Rudolf Laban.
After one of Dai’s sisters married a lawyer from Singapore, she visited them and
travelled further in the Far East. In Hong Kong she fell in love with a Chinese painter,
Ye Qianyu, and she first went to China with him. In Chongqing she taught ballet and
modern dance in the state opera school and the state social education college. It was
during this time that she first became interested in Chinese dance, to which she has
devoted the rest of her life.
As well as studying the history of dance in China, Dai created original works based on
her research. She visited different areas of the country to find out more about regional
dance traditions such as those found in Guangdong and Guangxi operas. She has also
visited the homes of ethnic minorities such as the Tibetans, Yis, Dais and Naxis in order
to study their local dances.
In the summer of 1945, Dai visited Kangding in Sichuan Province, where she spent
two months collecting information on Tibetan folk dances. The following spring, she
and her pupils performed several minority national dances at a conference on folk
dancing and caused a stir. When they performed in Chongqing and Shanghai, the

416
theatres were packed. In 1947, Dai took these dances overseas to the Brooklyn Academy
of Music.
After the foundation of the People’s Republic, Dai became Vice Chairman of the
Dancer’s Association of China and Director of the Central Ballet Group. In the ’50s she
created the Lotus Dance and Flying Apsaras which won folk dance awards
internationally. She also trained an outstanding group of ethnic-minority folk dancers.
During the Cultural Revolution, Dai, who had been friendly with members of the
government, fell foul of Madame Qing. She spent several years as a labourer on a
communal farm, as a result of which her health suffered. Dai later returned to favour,
and in the early 1980’s, worried about the loss of China’s regional folk dances, began the
process of recording them by means of Laban dance notation. She also wrote two books
on Tibetan and Yi national dances. In 1982, Dai was elected Vice Chairman of the
International Dance Association Council of UNESCO. She travels extensively in Asia,
Europe and America to lecture, to participate in conferences or to judge international
ballet competitions. In China, she set up the Everybody Dances Club.
Dai has visited Trinidad to see friends and relatives, who include Chen, Francis-Lau,
Lee Lum and Allum Poon families. She has also received visits from family members
and others from the Chinese community in Trinidad. Although she is now 73, Dai
continues to be active in dance, both as a teacher, and, amazingly, as a dancer.
[Trinidad] Sunday Express, 26 November 1989

Editor’s Note. Further materials on Dai Ailian can be found in the following Chinese-
language publications: Encyclopedia of China, Volume on Music and Dance, pp.107-8.
Beijing: China Encyclopedia Press, 1st edition , 1989. Women of China 5 (May 1996),
pp.24-6.

417
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