Wong She & Co. History

A SHORT HISTORY OF WONG SHE & CO.

Wong She & Co. is the name of my family’s first green grocer in Wellington, New Zealand.  It also happens that it was the FIRST chinese grocery in Wellington (founded circa 1910).  This one fact makes me proud of my heritage – not only because the Wong family are obviously pioneers, courageous in the brave new wild world of New Zealand, but also, entrepreneurs!  

Wong Sik She was the first of my ancestors to arrive in New Zealand – landing around 1878 at the age of 20.  He (and many other Chinese arriving into New Zealand and Australia) was originally from Southern China.  His family and many others came from the Tung Jung District in the Guangdong Province, a small village named Gwa Leng.

Wong She was the family name when my family first arrived in New Zealand from China around 1894.  Rumour has it that when they first arrived in New Zealand, immigration officials did not recognise that the Chinese say their last name first, so when they listed his name it was Wong She instead of She Sik Wong.  However, I am not sure if this is true, but the name is on their naturalisation forms.

I have put my librarian skills to work and begun looking into my family history, and have discovered so much more than I knew previously.  Interestingly, my father, who keeps reminding me he is 87 now and cannot remember very much these days, never really told us about his family’s past.  Half of me is figuring that (like in many families) there are some dark skeletons in the closet that have still not yet come out, but the other half of me imagines that maybe typically of a Chinese family, things happened that he was not a party to when they happened and was never allowed to question.

No, there was no murder, or other terrible crime, but there was certainly some gossip that never seems to have been confirmed or denied and it has now been so long, no one really knows what happened.  And it has become something of a new pastime in my life to get to the bottom of it all.  Intrigued?  Read on…

Whenever my father has been asked to make a speech (or indeed whether or not he has been asked, he will do one anyway) he always begins “As you all know, I was born in CHINA!” and with that word China, he would fan his hands out in front of him in some sort of fanfare.  It conjures up images of mystique and grandness I think, when he does this and although most of these speeches are just to his family, he feels that it is worth mentioning, and that maybe he is proud.  It is only part of the story, of course.

PART ONE

Many years ago, he gave me a copy of a very old black and white photo and, pointing to the father figure in the photo, told me that he was his Grandfather (my Great Grandfather) Wong Sik She.  It was taken in approximately 1910.  The whole family (6 children) are dressed in western clothing – not just plain everyday clothing but rather fancy clothing – including my grandfather wearing a fob watch when he looks like he is about 3!  So I am going to say that the family were fairly affluent.  My grandfather is the fellow standing in the front with the big white collar.  

When my father gave me this photo, he also gave me a piece of paper (I don’t know who wrote it, but it looks like a younger person’s handwriting) which gave me a starting point into my foray into the Wong She family history.  

Wong Sik She arrived in New Zealand and it was not long (5 years) before he bought his first market garden in Wellington.  In 1890 it appears his business must have been going pretty well as he opened two stores in Greymouth (West Coast of the South Island) where there were many Chinese mining for gold.   He brought his two younger brothers over from China to manage these stores and it seems Wong Sik She maybe travelled between Greymouth and Wellington managing his businesses.  

In 1894 Sik She became a naturalised New Zealander.  At that time in New Zealand there was a poll tax charged to all Chinese arriving into New Zealand of £10.  This was increased to £100 in 1896 and there was a limit of 1 Chinese person for every 200 tons of cargo arriving on the ship. The poll tax was not removed until 1934.

He returned to China in 1897 to be married in an arranged marriage, which did not last.  He took a second wife (Sei Kung) and had a daughter.  Here is the first weird thing : Sik She wanted to return to NZ but his first wife insisted that he leave his child (born to his second wife) in China as “Insurance”.  He took Sei Kung back to NZ with him in 1899.  Why did she need insurance?  Especially if the child wasn’t hers?  Not totally, I guess maybe so that he would continue to send money to her in China?  But I really don’t know how I would feel leaving my only child like that!  

Wong She & Co became known as the place for immigrants first arriving off the ships into Wellington to go – helping with work, accommodation, visas etc. and the business grew as a green grocer as well as importing goods and ran a stevedoring business.  Sik She and his wife had six children, my Grandfather, Guy, being the 4th.  He was born in New Zealand but the whole family returned to China in 1909.  I am unsure as to why they returned to China, but I believe it could be due to the fact that he was now a wealthy man and he wanted his children to grow up in China, where they could be important members of the village and landowners.  By 1914 he had bought large blocks of land in Guangzhou and in their village.

Stay tuned for Part Two of the Wong She & Co. story!