Please make your way up Stafford Street to 96 Eglinton Road. You may take the transport provided. (Please do not enter the premises as it is private property)
This Stop should be completed by 3.15pm or earlier
Below: This is how the house looked some time earlier, somewhere between the 1920's - 1930's. Source: Ron & Colleen Sew Hoy's collection (G31, P75), helpfully obtained by Trevor Agnew
Below: A photo of the interior living room as of the 1920's-1930's. Source Ron & Colleen Sew Hoy's (G31, P75) collection, helpfully obtained from Trevor Agnew
Below: Certificate of Registration under the Immigration Restriction Acts - containing details on Kum Poy Sew Hoy. These were issued by the Collector of Customs in Dunedin, allowing Chinese and other ‘alien’ residents to re-enter New Zealand, if leaving temporarily. (Source New Zealand Archives)
A Historical Recollection by Kum Poy's Son (Arthur)
Arthur Sew Hoy, Kum Poy's son, was interested in the history of the Sew Hoy family. Arthur made 8 tape recordings of his memories of his early life - now held at Toitu Early Settlers Museum. [Walker St Oral History Project].
Archivist's summary notes: "He (Arthur) was one of a family of nine children, four girls and five boys. They lived above their warehouse in Stafford Street for the earliest years of Arthur's childhood. From the time he was three or four, they lived in Eglinton Road, Mornington. [1912-13?] However he still visited the warehouse and the Stafford Street area almost daily...The family was wealthy and lived in a large house with one live-in servant. He (Arthur) attended the High Street School and [King Edward] Technical College, and left to become a motor mechanic."
Below: This is a photo of an elder Kum Poy and wife Louisa (far left of photo), with their grown up family. Source Ron & Colleen Sew Hoy's collection. He had 9 children.
Below: Jan 1894 - Nokomai Creek. This was the public general notice for the application for special claim. Choie Sew Hoy and his second son Kum Poy intended to sluice the Nokomai Creek, and this was their initial application to do so. The hearing would be held a few months later.
Below: March 1894: The application for Choie Sew Hoy and Kum Poy's special claims at Nokomai were considered and granted. The capital required, ten thousand pounds, at minimum, would be the equivalent of an inflation adjusted $2 million today.
Like his father, Kum Poy seemed to be a generous donor to charities, and fireworks was often a nice way to aid with events. Numerous articles mentioned his involvement in the supervision of fireworks displays for the people of Dunedin.
Below: This article describes Kum Poy's appointment as president of the Chong Ching Tong Society of New Zealand after his fathers death.
What was the Cheong Sing Tong? The Cheong Sing Tong was an association founded in 1882 by Chinese men from the Poon Yu county of Guangdong Province. Its purpose was to send the remains of fellow Poon Yu villagers who had died in New Zealand back to their families in China for reburial. Funds were raised by subscription from around 2,500 members. Most were goldminers from Otago, Southland and the West Coast. The leader was the wealthy Otago businessman Choie Sew Hoy. When Choie Sew Hoy died in 1901 leadership was taken over by his son Choie Kum Poy.
Why was it only a Poon Yu association? Most of the Chinese goldminers in New Zealand were from Poon Yu, although there were some miners from the Seyip, Jung Seng and Dong Guan districts. Source (New Zealand Chinese Association Ventnor Project)
Via the Cheong Sing Tong, the ill fated Ventnor was chartered, to take remain of the deceased Chinese back to China, for which Kum Poy played a significant role.
What’s the story? In 1902 the Ventnor was chartered by the Cheong Sing Tong (a Chinese New Zealand community group) to transport the remains of around 499 men who had died in New Zealand back to their home villages in China for reburial. (The actual numbers vary according to different accounts.) Before it even left New Zealand the ship struck a rock and sank off the Hokianga coast. An immediate search was undertaken by the Chinese organisers, but all seemed lost. In the weeks and months following the sinking, remains washed ashore along the whole coastline. These were carefully gathered by the people of the Hokianga and reburied. Two known burial sites are in the Waipoua forest area and at Mitimiti (the ancestral burial grounds of Te Roroa and Te Rarawa). Both sites have memorial plaques in honour of the dead and thanking the iwi Te Roroa and Te Rarawa for their care through the generations. Local history also identifies Rawene cemetery as a further burial site.
Finding of the Ventnor: In early 2014 rumours began to surface of divers exploring the Ventnor wreck and taking artefacts. The community alerted Heritage New Zealand and the wreck was made a protected archaeological site. From May 2014, the modification, destruction or removal of parts of the ship or any other artefacts became illegal.
Source: The New Zealand Chinese Association Ventnor Project
Below: This article shows that Kum Poy died at his residence, 96 Eglinton road, on December 22, 1942, and he would go to the Southern Cemetery (your next stop) to be buried.
Below: The Obituary of Kum Poy Sew Hoy on 24th December 1942, two days after his death. Note in error it states his father Choie Sew Hoy died in 1902, it was in actual fact 1901.