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expand the export trade of dried, smoked and salt fish from Darwin to China without much success, the enterprise
being finally ‘crippled through official impediments, shipping set backs and other causes’.
He died on 27 March 1935, aged 65, from a heart condition for which he had for some time been hospitalised
though he died at home, at his request, ‘in the back premises of the boot maker’s shop’. A wife in China and four
sons and three daughters survived him. His death had, according to Northern Territory Times obituary, removed
from the ranks of local Chinese citizens ‘an interesting and striking personality’. He was buried according to the
Chinese rites and interred in the Darwin Chinese cemetery at Stuart Park.
Northern Territory Archives probate records; Northern Territory Land Titles Office records; Northern Standard, 29 March 1935; Northern
Territory Times and Gazette, 17 June 1910, 17 August 1918.
HELEN J WILSON, Vol 3.
AH TOY, JIMMY (1915–1991), businessman and community worker, was born at Mount Diamond, Northern
Territory, on 1 June 1915 on a mining field under very harsh conditions. A second generation Australian of Chinese
descent, he was the son of Jimmy Ah Yu, a butcher, and Chun Lan Ah Yu.
In 1916 he and his family moved to Pine Creek, where they were involved in retailing and with a bakery.
Ah Toy received all his education at Pine Creek Primary School. One of his first chores was to find and bring in
horses early in the morning before going to school. He was so small that he had to climb a tree in order to get the
horses back! Later he and a brother came to Darwin and started a garden at the Two and a Half Mile, the later site
of Parap Shopping Centre. He returned to Pine Creek in 1935, taking over his family’s business interests there.
Ah Toy’s subsequent career was a reminder of the old Chinese proverb, ‘The longest journey begins with the
first step’. From his ‘first step’ in 1935 he provided tremendous input into the community and won great respect
as the head of his family, storekeeper, civic leader, pastoralist and businessman extraordinaire. He had the ability
to establish firm friendships, respect and rapport among people of all races. All through his life he was on good
terms with local Aborigines, who referred to him as ‘maluka’ or ‘old man’. He was always conscious of his own
humble beginnings.
He married Lily Wong on 9 November 1936 and they ultimately produced five children. Lily was also of
mining stock and later, as a grandmother, obtained an Associate Diploma of Ceramics. She proved a wonderful
mate for Jimmy. In 1942 she and the children were evacuated to Adelaide. Ah Toy initially stayed in Pine Creek
but later joined the family in Adelaide, where he was employed in munitions and canvas factories. The Ah Toys
returned to Pine Creek in 1945, reopening their store, which has continued to operate ever since. In 1947 he set up
a business in Knuckey Street, Darwin, which traded as J Ah Toy and Company. He commuted fortnightly between
his two businesses in Pine Creek and Darwin.
His children were of great assistance to Ah Toy and as they got older established their own careers. Edward
(Eddie) ran the Pine Creek store while Laurence graduated in Economics and became an accountant, Joyce qualified
as a teacher and was Head of the Department of Fashion and Fashion Design at the Northern Territory University’s
Institute of Technical and Further Education, and Grace and Elaine helped with the family business.
In 1954 Ah Toy met W J (Joe) Fisher, who was then exploring for uranium in the South Alligator Valley.
During the following years the Fisher and Ah Toy families became firm friends and many parties and outings were
enjoyed at the Ah Toys’ home in Pine Creek and the Fishers’ home at Moline as well as in the recreation areas of
the South Alligator Valley.
Backed by his family, Ah Toy was able to effectively supply the mining operations at El Sherana and Moline
during the 1950s and 1960s. He extended credit without collateral to all and sundry on the premise that good fortune
would follow and all who could do so would make repayments. He staked many of the early agricultural pioneers,
such as the peanut farmers on the Daly River, many buffalo hunters such as the well-known Allan Stewart, dingo
scalpers, prospectors, timber getters and many small pastoralists. His son and daughter in law, Edward and Pauline,
continued the family tradition, operating the Pine Creek Store and giving the same high level of community
service. With the help of Ah Toy’s brother Shin, they had the store modernised.
A strong supporter of worthy causes, he took a leading part in the McDouall Stuart centenary celebrations in
Pine Creek during 1961 at which the Minister for Territories, Paul Hasluck, presided. His family provided several
floats for a procession, with the girls riding on them in colourful Chinese costumes. Ah Toy served for many years
on the Pine Creek School Committee, receiving a letter of commendation from the Administrator of the Northern
Territory for this. He was Chairman of the Pine Creek Progress Association during the period when the town’s
electricity supply was first connected and the water supply was upgraded. He was a Trustee for Chung Wah Society
properties and on the first Northern Territory Churchill Fellowship Committee. He was a member of the National
Trust Council in the Territory for several years, also serving for a time as the Trust’s President and Chairman of its
Pine Creek Branch. In November 1982 he presented a paper on the history of Chinese miners in the Territory at
a seminar conducted by the Northern Territory Branch of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. A Justice of the
Peace, he often sat on the local bench in Pine Creek. In 1967, in recognition of his contribution to the Pine Creek
district, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
In later years Ah Toy acquired Claravale Station and Farm, which occupied a lot of his time. His one last dream
and accomplishment was to build a dam on Claravale that provided a haven for birds and other wildlife.
He died of cancer on 6 May 1991, survived by his wife, five children, 15 grandchildren and one great grandchild,
a fifth generation Territorian. His very well attended funeral took place in the Darwin Memorial Uniting Church.
Family information.
W J FISHER, Vol 2.