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she did manage to teach herself to read and write Chinese over the years and became quite proficient at it. As the
eldest daughter, it fell on her to help her mother with the cooking and household chores.
At the age of 18, it was arranged for her to marry Wong Yung who had come from China to work as a
coolie. After working for a period as a coolie, Wong Yung was made a ganger on the railways in Brocks Creek.
The majority of the gangers working on the railways were of the Wong clan.
After her marriage, Linoy travelled with her husband to Great Northern, a gold mining settlement not far from
Brocks Creek. Her marriage bed was made from four pieces of strong sapling with a forked trunk and filled across
with available boards. Apart from being very poor, supplies were just not available and one needed to compromise.
It was here in Great Northern that their eldest child Mabel was born. As the only woman in Great Northern at the
time, Linoy had no choice but to deliver her own child. As the birth approached she had her husband gather what
she felt was necessary. He had water boiling on the wood stove, clothes ready for the baby and a pair of scissors.
When all was in readiness, her husband disappeared into the bush only to return some time later after she had
delivered the baby herself.
Women like Linoy deserve to be recognised as the backbone of the Territory. They travelled to isolated areas
with their husbands. They endured much hardship, loneliness from other female company and separation from
their own families, but they still managed to raise on very little their own, often very large, families.
After a few years in Great Northern, they moved to Brocks Creek where two more sons, Choo and Herbert,
were born. Whilst in Brocks Creek her mother sent her youngest sister Essie down to keep her company. This time
together forged a special bond between the two sisters that remained with them all their lives. Linoy and her
family remained in Brocks Creek until 1916 when they returned to Darwin where four more children were born.
They were Lily, Alfred, Bill and Noreen. They lived in a small hut built by her husband in the now Gardens area
where Linoy’s parents had a market garden.
Linoy’s husband at this time was a wood merchant, selling firewood using two horses and a dray and he grew a
few vegetables. His death in 1926 left her a young widow with seven children, the youngest barely six weeks old.
This was followed later by the death of her son Alfred of dysentery.
After the death of her husband, it was suggested to her that she would be eligible to receive help from the
government in the form of food handouts but being an extremely proud woman, she would not even consider it.
She raised chickens, sold the eggs and grew vegetables. Her son Choo, barely a teenager himself, worked at the
imperial Cafe for Gee Fong Ming as a waiter for seven a days a week for one pound per month. Her son Herbert
took over his father’s work as a wood merchant. This was a daunting task for one not yet 11 years old. He would
round up the horses, harness them where the Casino now stands and travel with an Aboriginal worker from the
Gardens area to what is now the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base. Here they would gather the wood and
chop and split the logs ready for firewood. Each load was worth one Pound 10 Shillings. He was to continue for a
time and as it became too much for the young lad the horses and dray were sold. Herbert then worked as a waiter
before and after school. Linoy’s daughter Lily became a housemaid when fourteen years old for Lyle Tivendale, a
stock inspector, and his wife Maisie. For this she earned seven and sixpence per week. After three years’ work, she
was earning 15 Shillings a week. It was with the help and hard work of the children that Linoy managed to keep
her family together.
The bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 saw the family separated. With her two elder daughters married,
Linoy and her youngest daughter Noreen were evacuated to Pine Creek for a short period. With the bombing of
Katherine, they were forced to travel by Army convoy and then by train to Adelaide. Her three sons Choo, Herbert
and Bill were all working for the Public Works Department. Herbert had purchased a one-ton Ford truck and
together with Choo was doing contract work for them. Bill who was a clerk with the Public Works Department
was transferred to Alice Springs.
As the bombing of Darwin, continued Choo and Herbert travelled down to Adelaide River in their truck that was
confiscated by the Army. Both enlisted in the Army there as all able bodied males were encouraged to do. Their pay
at this time was six shillings a day and of this both boys were to send four Shillings each to their mother in Adelaide
and retain two shillings for their own use. By the end of his time in the Army Herbert was earning 10 Shillings a
day. The money sent to their mother enabled her to survive. Herbert, with his commanding officer’s permission,
was able to rummage through a stack of old sewing machines found under the old primary school in Darwin and
from salvaging bit and pieces was able to get one working. He ended up a self-taught tailor after pulling apart a pair
of trousers and putting it together again. He was able to earn extra money on the side by shortening shorts for two
shillings each and for fitting shorts for four shillings. The more that he was able to earn meant the more he could
send to his mother in Adelaide. Herbert’s time in the Army was fraught with danger as there were near misses on
many occasions when the Royal Australian Air Force area, near where he was based, was bombed.
After the war, the family moved to Alice Springs for a period of about three years where Herbert had taken
over the lease of a shop there. From there, they returned to Darwin in 1949. Their first home was at the end of
Wood Street and from there they moved to what is part of the business area of Darwin today.
Life for Linoy began to settle down after the upheaval of the war years, but was shattered again by the death of
her beloved eldest son Choo in 1949. He had been travelling from Alice Springs back to Darwin bringing back their
furniture when he was involved in a motor accident. It was a tragic and devastating time for the whole family.
In 1955 Linoy’s youngest sister, Essie, returned to Darwin from Sydney where she had spent the war years and
where she had been widowed. It was a joyous reunion for the sisters who shared the same birthday. Their other
sister Sue Quen who had spent most of her years in Adelaide was also in Darwin for short periods and was able to
join them. Linoy, always the big sister, was able to spoil her younger siblings.