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prejudice Chinese merchants gave credit to 80 per cent of the Europeans. Had this credit not been given, the town
of Palmerston would not have survived. This was the opinion of many older members of the Chinese community
including two of Chin Toy’s grandsons, who felt that the credit system was an important issue. Credit was given on
clothing, foodstuffs and even cigarettes that were sixpence a packet at the time. Chin Toy maintained a large ledger
where all accounts were kept, the majority of which were for government departments; most have never been paid
to this day due to the outbreak of war in 1942. Unfortunately this ledger has been destroyed in recent years.
Chin Toy’s business prospered over the years and he gradually accumulated about 15 other properties around
Darwin that he rented out. One that he purchased was known as the stone houses in Cavenagh Street, which was
part of the old Chinatown in the early days. The stonehouses were originally built about 1888 by a merchant named
Kwong Soo Duk for use as a warehouse and had a chequered history. It was built from local stone using Chinese
labour and was separated into five shops each with iron bars on the windows. It remains in near original condition
except for the roof, which was blown away by Cyclone Tracy and replaced by a flat roof. The long verandah still
exists along Cavenagh Street as it did originally. Stories told by the older Chinese tell of Kwong Soo Duk using
four of the shops as residences, and one as a shop. It was believed that he had four wives and 22 children and
so the four were housed in four separate shops with the business operating in the fifth. The business did not last
long and was soon closed down. The cyclone of 1897 was the major reason that Kwong Soo Duk left Palmerston
for Cairns where he became a prominent citizen and businessman. Chin Toy purchased the building for about
500 Pounds in 1921. He did not live there himself but rented it out to a variety of people including Japanese
seamen for accommodation, Murakami, a Japanese photographer, a Chinese restaurant and many others for about
10 to 15 Shillings rental per week. The stone houses, along with the rest of the land in Darwin, were resumed
and affected by the new leasehold regulations made by the government after the war. A claim by Chin Toy to the
government was settled for an amount of just over 3 500 Pounds. In 1953 the stone houses were purchased by
Sue Wah Chin, the daughter-in-law of Chin Toy and were later known as the Sue Wah Chin Building. As in the
earlier years it was used as a business premises and accommodation for the family.
It was on 27 October 1884 that Chin Toy, or Ching Toy as his Letter of Naturalization shows, at the age of
20 years and after spending a period of 18 months as a resident of South Australia was granted naturalization.
On a trip to Hong Kong via Thursday Island in 1933 Chin Toy lost his naturalization papers. He was returning to
Hong Kong together with his daughter-in-law and her children on the SS Taiping when there was a threat from
a typhoon. The boat carrying the luggage to the hotel was capsized and various pieces of luggage were lost,
including one belonging to Chin Toy containing his naturalization certificate. Many anxious months passed before
he was able to obtain a copy of the all-important document. After 1885 the South Australian government did not
approve any further naturalisations and up till that period only 102 Chinese had been naturalised. Those who were
not naturalised and stayed were given an ‘Exemption Certificate’, which allowed the holder the freedom to leave
Australia and return at will. The introduction of the Commonwealth Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 virtually
ended Chinese immigration to Australia.
Chin Toy’s first wife, Chin Liew See, was the mother of his four sons, Ack William Gong Chin, Ack Ming Chin,
Ack Sam Chin and Ack Nam Chin, and his three daughters, Ack Kim, Ack Yook and Ack Mon Chin, all of whom
were born in Darwin. Two of his sons, William Gong Chin and Ack Sam Chin, were to return to Darwin after
the war and continue their father’s businesses, which they still did in the 1990s. The Chin family continued to be
synonymous with trade in the Central Business District of Darwin with many businesses carrying the Chin name.
Toy Street in Parap was another reminder and recognition of Chin Toy.
With the continuing growth of his businesses Chin Toy started to invest in China, where he purchased large
portions of land and buildings. He was able to travel to and from China and records show he travelled in December
1923 and again in March 1930. On one such visit to China he financed the building of a large Clan Club in his own
village. In 1949, under reforms in land ownership in China, all such lands were resumed by the state.
Chin Toy remained in Darwin after the initial bombing on 19 February 1942 for two weeks, then, accompanied
by his grandson Ray Chin, left for Katherine. They were still in Katherine on the 22 March 1942 when the Japanese
attacked there. The following day he flew to Adelaide in a Guinea Airways Lockheed plane. Chin Toy was nearly
80 years of age at this stage. It was sometime before various members of Chin Toy’s family were reunited when
they purchased a home in the suburb of Payneham in Adelaide. The family then rented premises at Rundle Street
and started a restaurant there. The family was to remain there until they were able to return to Darwin after
the war. Chin Toy was able to see three of his grandsons enter the services—Sidney joined the Army, Alfred
the Royal Australian Air Force, these were the two eldest sons of Gong Chin, and Ray Chin who was the son
of Ack Sam Chin also joined the Royal Australian Air Force. When Chin Toy’s sons, William Gong Chin and
Ack Sam Chin, and their families returned to Darwin, Chin Toy remained in Adelaide until his death there on
3 December 1947 at the age of 83. His body was flown back on a chartered plane to be buried at the Gardens
Cemetery in Darwin.
Where most of the Chinese immigrants arrived to work in the goldfields or the railways, Chin Toy moved
into the world of business from the tender age of 18. He and his peers who came from China in those early years
proved to be adventurous and courageous young men for which their many descendants have much to be grateful
for. Chin Toy left a legacy of hundreds of descendants spread throughout Australia.
Interviews with R Chin, S Chin, E Fong; records of the Genealogical Society of the Northern Territory, Darwin; T G Jones, The Chinese in
the Northern Territory, 1990; National Trust files, Darwin; A Powell, Far Country, 1982; C See Kee ‘Chinese Contribution to early Darwin’,
1987.
GLENICE YEE, Vol 3.