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H H Adcock was a most community minded man, forever seeking to better the lot of the Territorian. He was
Honorary Secretary of the North Australian League and prominent in the fight for Territory representation in the
South Australian parliament. In 1888 at the time of the visit of the Minister, J C F Johnson, he was Chairman of
the Reform Association. He was signatory to a number of petitions placed before the South Australian government;
among them were several relating to the cost of telegrams. Visitors to Port Darwin expected to be able to hear
the latest news but the South Australian government insisted that all news telegrams from overseas be received in
Adelaide before they could be released in Palmerston, at full commercial rates. It took three petitions before suitable
school premises were provided and Adcock was Chairman of the board of advice in 1884, which recommended the
exclusion of Chinese children unless they were ‘half caste’. He did not, however, sign the petition that sought to
exclude Chinese from government projects. In 1888 as Council Chairman he presided over several meetings called
to discuss the Chinese inroads into European business and on the petitions which resulted he was signatory.
In 1901 Adcock stood for election as a Northern Territory representative in the South Australian parliament.
He made no promises but relied on his 24 years of residency. In the event he was defeated by S J Mitchell, later
to become Government Resident.
Adcock was one of the executors of Joseph Skelton, Editor and proprietor of the Northern Territory Times and
Gazette. Skelton died in 1884 and at the time Adcock was acting as Sub Editor of the paper and was Palmerston
correspondent of the Adelaide Register. In 1897, by which time G W Mayhew was the proprietor of the Times,
Adcock acted in his stead when the former took a trip south. Adcock had a very long association with the Times,
often behind the scenes. He was Editor from January to May 1903 and fostered his literary interests by joining the
Pickwick Club, a literary and debating society, in May 1901.
By the turn of the century he seems to have become the town’s ‘secretary’. He was regularly elected Secretary
of the cricket club that was his sporting enthusiasm. He was elected to the committee in 1886 and re-elected in- In February 1887 he was a member of a team that won a match against a visiting Kimberley 11 and in
1899 was granted life membership of the club. In 1888 he was Secretary of the committee that organised the
Northern Territory display shown in the Melbourne Centenary Exhibition that year. For a number of years he
was Secretary of the Northern Territory Racing Club and in 1902 he received a 10 Pounds honorarium for his
work. In March 1902 he was Secretary of the committee working for the re-election of C E Herbert to the South
Australian parliament. He was on the committee of the Palmerston Institute in various capacities for many years
and ran the library, which his wife took over after his death. He served as Auditor for the District Council for a
number of terms, including 1903 and 1904.
He married Ellen Annie Pickford, daughter of a publican, on 16 June 1888 and a son was born in 1897. For a
number of years she and a sister ran a small drapery business with which ‘H H’ helped.
None of Adcock’s business dealings were attended with any great success and his last years were dogged
with chronic ill health, though he was still considered a ‘public spirited optimistic citizen’. He died in Palmerston
Hospital, where he spent the last few months of his life, on 28 February 1908, survived by his wife and son. He was
buried in the Palmerston Cemetery at Goyder Road according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church.
J Rich, ‘Port Darwin Mercantile and Agency Company’, in V Dixon (ed), Looking Back, 1988; Northern Territory Times and Gazette,
30 December 1882, 2 August 1884, 29 August 1884, 4 July 1885, 5 February 1887, 19 February 1887, 2 June 1888, 20 October 1888,
16 February 1889, 16 April 1889, 28 September 1889, 8 February 1895, 17 September 1897, 7 April 1899, 8 June 1900, 8 March 1901, 12 April
1901, 24 May 1901, 14 June 1901, 21 June 1901, 31 January 1902, 14 March 1902, 30 April 1902, 25 May 1902, 12 April 1904, 28 February
1908; North Australian, 9 September 1887, 8 October 1887, 17 February 1888, 16 June 1888, 14 July 1888, 24 August 1889, 21 September
1889; State Records of South Australia, GRS 1- 178/1884, 365/1884, 834/1884.
HELEN J WILSON, Vol 2.
AH CHEONG (c1870–1935), businessman, was born in Hong Kong about 1870. When he was about 13 he
came to Darwin (then Palmerston) to live with two uncles Wing Cheong Sing and Chin Wah who were already in
business.
As a British born subject he was not subject to the restrictions of some of the other Chinese in Darwin and
as an adult he prospered in business. For many years he was the principal partner in the tailoring and outfitting
firm of Wing Cheong Sing and Company who had their premises in Bennett Street on part of lot 397, on the
northwest corner of Cavenagh Street. As with most of the lots in Chinatown this was subdivided and in 1932,
in partnership with Took Fung, Ah Cheong (also spelled Ah Chong) obtained the freehold of about one third of the
lot facing Bennett Street. He also tried other business ventures and advertised in 1918 that he had recently erected
a photographic studio.
Ah Cheong was president of the Wah On Society, which presented greetings to new Government Resident,
Justice S J Mitchell and his wife when they arrived in Darwin in 1910. He also, with Yet Loong, presented a gift
from the Chinese community to the outgoing Judge Herbert. The press report noted their ‘picturesque appearance
as they appeared on the stage dressed in the loose and flowing robes of their own national costume’. By the 1920s
he was the recognised leader of the Chinese community but when the establishment of the Kuomintang society
split the Chinese community he remained active in the Wah On Society and kept a very low profile in the town.
Ah Cheong spoke English fluently and acted as interpreter and translator for his compatriots. He was a witness
to at least one Chinese Will. He was noted for his sense of humour with which he told ‘highly interesting stories
of the early life of the gold fields of the Territory, both of their rise and fall’. For many years held a mining lease
at Bridge Creek, a property in which he had great faith. Although he complied with the lease conditions he was
never able to realise on it, as he was unable to sell it before his death. He also made strenuous efforts to revive and