Chun Yee Hop, 1870 - 1948

• Chun Yee Hop's Chinese passport

• Chun Yee Hop's black book

Chun Yee Hop was born on either 17 November or 16 October 1870. He was born to the Wong family of Bak Shek village. in Jung Seng county, Guangdong. His death certificate lists his father's occupation as "farmer".

Family stories say he was one of three brothers, but we've lost track of them. The family must have been poor because n his late teens he was adopted by Chun Chong Yik - a more well-off man from the neighbouring Sai Jo village. It was common practice for those without sons to adopt a young man into the family so they could perform the ancestral rites and ensure the family line continued. Wong Yee Hop changed his family name to Chun and moved to Sai Jo village.

In 1895 Chun Yee Hop decided to go overseas. At the time the situation is China was very bad. There was civil war, foreign occupation and a breakdown in the rule of law. It was very hard to make a living. Yee Hop originally thought to go to Canada, but at the last minute he was persuaded by fellow villagers to come to New Zealand.

He arrived in Wellington on the Hauroto on 5 December 1895. He was registered as Wong Yee Hop. On arrival he paid the 10 pound poll-tax. He immediately went to work in a fruitshop on Lambton Quay called Sing On Kee.

After about nine years he'd saved up enough money to go back to China and get married. He married a girl from his home village of Bak Shek. her name was Lei Yim Yung. There was still the problem of not being able to get any work in China, so he returned to New Zealand. Apparently he asked Yim Yung to go with him, but she declined, saying she didn't want to go and live where they only ate potatoes and didn't eat rice. She had no mind to live among barbarians. So Yee Hop came back alone on 23 May 1906.

Probably before he left, he and Yim Yung adopted a son - presumably to look at Yim Yung in Yee Hop's absence. The new son was called Chun Sun Teem. We think he was reasonably grown up when this happened.

Back in New Zealand we presume Yee Hop continued with the fruitshop Sing On Kee. He was also active in community affairs. New Zealand Chinese Association records show him as an associate member in 1910, paying 5 pounds. The first NZCA started in 1909.

He must have been feeling lonely because he returned to China, and in 1915 he took a second wife, Wun Choy Lin. Maybe he was inspired by Sun Teem, who a year earlier had his first son Chun Hum Mung.

The new wife, Choy Lin (Mary), was only 16 years to his 45. (Although the European records show her as being 18 at her marriage.) Choy Lin was the pretty only child of a Sun Tong village couple. If you go to Sun Tong - or Xintang as it is in Pin Yin, you can visit the street where all the Wun families lived - Wun Ok Gai.

The parents were reluctant to let her go, but Yee Hop promised to send them regular remittances. They were married in China, in the traditional way, but married again in Sydney in 1915 - that as for the New Zealand legal side of things.

I might as well just quote Nigel on this. This is what he said at Aunty Con's funeral:

"The only problem was that Yee Hop had to pay the £100 poll tax to get his new young wife into NZ. That was a heap of money which he really didn’t want to pay so he decided to borrow the naturalisation papers of his friend Ah Young. The wives of naturalised Chinese NZers didn’t have to pay the poll tax. Yee Hop couldn’t get naturalised though because the govt had stopped naturalisation for Chinese in 1908. Borrowing the naturalisation papers of someone else was the only answer. Yee Hop and Choy lin were married in the English way in Sydney and arrived in Wellington on 2 August 1895 as Mr and Mrs Ah Young. Because Ah Young was naturalised there was no poll tax to be paid on Mrs Ah Young aka Wun Choy Lin. Yee Hop had saved himself £100, or so he thought. Somehow the Customs Department found out about the deception and Yee Hop was convicted of evading the poll tax. This was a serious business as theoretically his new wife could be deported for this. Despite having minimal English he managed to hire one of the best lawyers in town – P J O’Regan (grandfather of Sir Tipene O’Regan) who took the case to the Supreme Court. The original conviction of evading poll tax was upheld and Yee Hop had to pay the poll tax, but Choy Lin was not deported, which was a victory in itself and ensured that Yee Hop and Choy Lin could stay in NZ and that the Chun family would become NZers."

So that was the start of this branch of the family.

To be continued . . .