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water, and dingoes were prowling. Five weeks after leaving Boulia they reached the Plenty and the worst of the
journey was over. They established a base camp and a yard for the sheep while Chalmers scouted the countryside
for a permanent home.
Chalmers chose an area near the junction of the Bundy and Fraser rivers. Before applying for the 500 square
kilometre block, a name had to be chosen. They decided on Macdonald Downs, a combination of the names of
their two sons. They erected a tent and a large bough shed in which to live, and yards for the sheep.
Their financial position was worrying; as prices of necessities skyrocketed by the time they reached Arltunga,
which was a three-day ride each way from Macdonald Downs. Afghans carried the major stores and camel
teams.
Education was not neglected. Chalmers read to the children at night, but Cora taught from correspondence
school lessons. The Chalmers befriended the Aborigines and had much help from them. The children became
proficient in their language.
Sheep had to be herded during the day and yarded at night. Wells and troughing had to be put in for permanent
water. However, in one devastating drought the sheep had to be moved from Macdonald Downs. On the drive,
water was not found, and the family and animals were on the point of dying when help arrived. Many sheep
perished and then the floods came. The Chalmers deepened the wells, erected windmills, and became the first
Central Australian pastoralists to purchase a boring plant. After years of hardship in dealing with a harsh country,
the Chalmers gradually made good and added to their acreage. In June 1934 they shore 2 506 sheep.
In 1938 Jean Chalmers married Jack Weir, and in 1940 Mac married Rose Agars. Later Jessie married Geoff Holt;
Donald also married, firstly to Millicent Viner and later to Pam Davis. After the outbreak of the Second World War,
Donald travelled to Adelaide to enlist.
Cora Chalmers had only one trip back to her home in New South Wales. Years of hard living had undermined
her health and arthritis set in, so it became necessary for her to be near doctors. She lived in Bath Street in
Alice Springs until her death in 1958. An original pioneer, Cora learned to adapt to the environment, to face adversity
and uncertainty with courage while always maintaining a sense of humour, grace and kindness. Chalmers often
said, ‘I married the right wife.’ Chalmers continued to live on Macdonald Downs for many years, guarded by
the Aborigines he had always befriended, until his retirement to Alice Springs with his daughter Mrs Jean Weir.
He died on 7 December 1967.
Chalmers was an optimist. He was farseeing and a man of great vision. He never let his inner worries defeat
him. His complete and utter confidence was catching and gave those around him courage to go on. Chalmers’ rare
combination of uprightness, honesty and virtue highlighted his character.
All who met her, in a region where kindness and resourcefulness were all important, remembers Cora’s cheerful
hospitality and helpfulness. She was a rare person who had deep inner kindness. She helped people in need and
always put others before herself. On her death, a neighbour of hers, Alex Kerr, wrote to Chalmers: ‘In my life much
of which was unspeakably lonely, I always felt that in Mrs Chalmers was a person in whose home I was always
sure of a friendly welcome. Central Australia will not be the same place to me with her gone from it. I admired her
common sense, her capacity for adjusting herself to her environment, and her ability to make the best and not the
worst of circumstances.’
M Ford, Beyond the Furthest Fences, 1966; Family information.
HEATHER GOLDSWORTHY and JENNY SCHOLES, Vol 1.CHAN, HEN FOOK (HARRY) (1918–1969), storekeeper, politician and community worker, was born in
Darwin on 14 June 1918, the son of Chan Fon Yuen, who had migrated from the Chinese province of Kwangtung
as a young man and established a business in Darwin. His mother, Wong Quee, was also from Kwangtung.
Chan Hen Fook attended the Darwin Public School, where he was given the European name of Harry. He was
later sent to Hong Kong for four years to study the Chinese language and traditions. When he returned to Australia
he studied accountancy by correspondence and qualified as an accountant.
Chan married Lilyan Yuen in Darwin on 18 January 1941. The couple had three sons and a daughter. Lilyan and
the eldest son, Calvin, were sent south on the ship Zealandia when Darwin civilians were evacuated late in 1941
due to fears of a Japanese invasion. Chan remained in Darwin and narrowly escaped death during a Japanese air
raid when a bomb fell close to the trench where he had taken cover, killing the other two occupants. In 1946 he and
Lilyan opened a store in an Army style hut which they constructed themselves on the corner of Smith and Knuckey
Streets. Chan’s unfailingly cheerful personality and beaming smile earned him the title of the ‘Happy Grocer’.
Fourteen years later he leased the store to Woolworths. In 1959 he decided to contest a by election for the Fannie
Bay ward of the Darwin Town Council. With Lilyan as driver, he visited almost every home in Fannie Bay and
won by a large margin.
Chan was a conscientious alderman, devoting great energy to working for Fannie Bay. When the ward system
was abolished in 1962, he worked equally hard at duties to the Darwin electors as a whole. In 1962 he contested
the Fannie Bay electorate for the Legislative Council. He defeated Mrs Lyn Berlowitz and in subsequent elections
steadily increased his majority. In 1965 he was elected unopposed as President of the Legislative Council. In 1966
he was elected Mayor of Darwin, defeating the incumbent, Harold Cooper.
Chan’s political successes focused media attention on Darwin. That an Australian of Asian ancestry was
democratically elected to high offices was given wide publicity in Australia and overseas and did much to counter
the unfavourable reputation of Australia being racist.