Chinese canegrowers in the Cairns area, late 1880s

Andrew Leon (circa 1841–1920) was a Chinese-born Australian businessman in northern Queensland, predominantly in the Cairns district. He established the Hap Wah plantation that pioneered the Cairns district sugarcane industry.[1][2] He was the acknowledged leader of the Cairns Chinese community from the 1870s well into the 1890s.[3]

Early life

Leon, the son of a Cantonese merchant, came from Zhongshan, China.[4] As a young man he gained agricultural experience in Cuba where sugar production was a major industry.[5] He migrated to the Colony of Queensland where he settled in 1866.[6] The earliest known evidence of Leon was in Bowen, where he was baptised in 1868 at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church before his marriage to Irish-born Mary Piggott in that church in February 1869.[7][4] While in Bowen, he became a naturalised British subject in September 1869 which enabled him to own land in Queensland. At that time he had been in Queensland for three and a half years.[6][8][9][7]

Over the next six years the Leon family moved from place to place following the discoveries of gold across North Queensland. Their four children were born in different towns: Elizabeth in Bowen, William in Townsville,[10] Mary in Millchester,[11] and Annie in Cooktown.[12] In 1870 and 1871 he held miners rights on the Ravenswood goldfields [13][14] and in 1874 he was in Millchester where he interpreted in court.[15] By 1875 he moved his family to Cooktown, the new port and service centre for the Palmer goldfields. There he signed the petition for Cooktown to become a municipality, was employed by Sun Tung Lee and Co., and managed the Sun Yee Lee and Co. stores.[16][17][18]

Cairns business activities

1884 Cadastral map of Cairns, showing the Hap Wah plantation, selected by Andrew Leon. The selections were 6 and 15 (Portions 52 and 75) south of Chinaman Creek.

Leon was an early arrival in Cairns in 1876 where he established one of the first Chinese businesses, Sun Chong Lee on Abbott Street, with Cooktown businessman Chuck Lum,[18] and purchased its allotment. Two years later he commenced Hap Wah plantation (1878-1886) that pioneered the Cairns district sugarcane industry.[2]

In 1878 and 1879 Leon selected 1,250 acres (510 ha) of agricultural land near Cairns. A group of Chinese traders in Hong Kong joined with local businessmen to form the Hap Wah Company and invested £45,000 in the venture to establish tropical agriculture.[1] This was the first large scale sugar cultivation in Far North Queensland. Leon was the manager and only spokesman for the enterprise. The “Pioneer” sugar mill on the Hap Wah plantation was the first in the Cairns district. Its opening in 1882 was a large event attracting many stakeholders and official guests.[19] The trial crushing was undertaken by early April before full production commenced in June. By the end of December 110 tons of Hap Wah sugar had been exported with a total value of £3,060.[20]

The Hap Wah plantation and mill were located along Mulgrave Road (formerly Hap/Hop Wah Road). The plantation consisted of two parcels of land (known as Portions 52 and 75). Portion 52 was bounded to the north by Chinaman Creek with the following corner points:[21]

In terms of current suburbs, it included the eastern part of Earlville, the north-western corner of Woree, and the north-eastern edge of Bayview Heights.[22]

Portion 75 was bounded to the north by Portion 52 and extended south to Anderson Road with the following corner points:[21]

In terms of current suburbs, Portion 75 included the north-east part of Bayview Heights and the western part of Woree.[22]

The plantation was at its peak in 1884 with 200 Chinese workers employed[23] when world sugar prices fell by a third, depressing the emerging industry.[24] Although the Hap Wah plantation produced at least as well as others of the period, it left the severely depressed industry in 1886.[24] Swallow & Derham's Hambledon plantation had first crushed in 1883 and Loridan's Pyramid plantation in 1885 but none of the three had made a profit by 1889. Pyramid closed around 1890 while Hambledon continued for more than a century but broken up into small allotments.[24] When the Hap Wah enterprise closed, the plantation land was sold to Charters Towers businessman Thomas Mills and the final standing crop to a group of Cairns businessmen.[7][25] The sugar mill was sold to Noakes Bros of Bundaberg, dismantled and shipped in December 1887 to Bundaberg where it was re-erected. Despite the short life of the Hap Wah enterprise, its entrepreneurial investment and production were significant in the establishment of the Far North Queensland sugar industry.[24]

Leon was an innovative agriculturalist and businessman. After the sale of Hap Wah plantation, he established orchards and sold timber from Maryvale Estate, his 1,280-acre (520 ha) property above the Barron River Valley.[7][26][27] The growing agricultural industry in the Cairns region supported a large number of Chinese who were also involved in associated industries such as market gardening and shop keeping. In 1886 the Chinese population of the Cairns district accounted for 60% of all farmers and gardeners, and 90% of all farm labourers.[28][7]

By 1886 Chinese migrants were nearly a third of the non-indigenous population of the rapidly-growing Cairns district, while in town one in five residents were Chinese.[29] Sachs Street near the town centre became the focus of Chinese commerce and community including shop keepers and merchant houses, two temples, and boarding and gaming houses.[7] Leon and James Ah Ching were among other Chinese investors who contributed to its development. Leon's early acquisitions provided the premises for Sam Sing and Co., Sun Wo Tiy, and Lee Yan Bros., the three largest and longest lasting Chinese merchant firms from the 1880s into the 1920s. His other properties included the Leon family home at 67 McLeod Street as well as a number of properties along the planned route of the Cairns-to-Herberton railway line. His holdings extended as far as Aramac. His last property acquisitions occurred during the 1893 depression.[30]

Newspaper report of the opening of the Lit Sung Goong temple
Chinatown Cairns in Sachs Street (now Grafton Street) showing the Lit Sung Goong Temple (no longer extant, centre of photo, flagpole in front) and the Crown Hotel (still exists, right of photo), circa 1890
Lit Sung Goong temple, circa 1890

In late 1886 Leon purchased his third allotment in Sachs Street (now Grafton Street). The first building constructed was the Lit Sung Goong temple that opened during Chinese New Year 1887.[31] Several years later four shops were erected and, today, the only one remaining is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register as 99 Grafton Street.[7] A trust arrangement initiated by Leon in 1890 ensured that the temple property remained with the Cairns Chinese community; Leon and Jan Bung Chong were named as trustees. This trust protected the community's ownership. In 1966 economic pressures forced them to sell the temple land but the trust retained the contents of the temple. Consequently, the significant Lit Sung Goong collection of temple artefacts remains with the Chinese community under the care of the Cairns & District Chinese Association Inc (CADCAI). Leon made similar trust arrangements that assisted other Chinese to own property, using his status as a naturalised British subject to undertake land transactions not possible for the many Chinese residents who were not naturalised.[2]

Court cases with Chinese participants required interpreters and Leon performed this role from at least 1874–1905 in Petty Sessions, Police Courts and, for perjury matters, the Northern Supreme Court in Townsville.[15][32] His interpreting skills were also important to the Chinese community generally. For example, in the late 1890s the Cairns banana industry, dominated by Chinese growers and shippers, was plagued with fruit fly. Leon interpreted the many issues and concerns at a large meeting held at the Lit Sung Goong temple.[33]

Chinese migrants were an integral part of the early Cairns district economy and played an important role in its development. Leon provided an essential link between the Chinese and wider community. His experience in business management, agriculture and property investment as well as his fluency in the English language, Westernised dress and manners earned him a respected position of leadership in the Chinese and wider communities.[34]

Government dignitaries who visited Cairns were greeted by town officials, prominent citizens and, invariably, Chinese delegations. In 1881 Leon would have been the "Celestial" representative who presented the Queensland Governor Sir Arthur Kennedy with the Chinese address of welcome and expression of their loyalty.[35] During Queensland Governor Sir Henry Wylie Norman's visit in 1890, Leon presented the Chinese address that affirmed the Governor's "uniform kindness" to the Chinese in the Colony of Queensland. It acknowledged that the Governor's short visit would prevent him from seeing the "agricultural and other industries of our countrymen" but trusted he would credit their "tribute, though small, to the advancement of the district we have adopted as our home…".[36]

Later life

As owner of Maryvale Estate in the Barron Division, Leon was involved with local government issues as well as with the property itself into the 1900s. In court, his reputation for reliability led to his selection as interpreter where major offences such as murder were involved.[37] He remained a trustee of Lit Sung Goong temple until his death. During the years 1900-1906 the two Leon daughters who lived to adulthood married Irish-Catholic husbands in Cairns and each family had three children. One of the four Leon grandsons, Jack Cleary, became a well-known and respected musician in Innisfail and Cairns.[38]

St Monica's Catholic Church

In 1901 the former colonies were united as the Commonwealth of Australia. The new Commonwealth immediately enacted its White Australia policy through the Immigration Restriction Act No. 17 of 1901 designed to exclude all non-Europeans from migrating or returning to the country. It had an immediate and severe impact on Chinese and others considered to be "aliens". It proved devastating to the Leon family. William Andrew Leon, the only son, had been sent to China for education in 1878. His intended return in 1899 was delayed by illness until 1903 and by that time the Immigration Restriction Act was firmly enforced. William was a Townsville-born British subject but he was considered an alien. Therefore, on re-entering, he would be subject to a dictation test: to write a 50-word passage dictated in any European language an immigration officer chose.[39] Knowing this, Leon sought advice from Robert Taylor Hartley, Sub-Collector of Customs in Townsville. Hartley wrote to the Brisbane Collector of Customs and included William's Queensland birth certificate with his own 1899 endorsement that William be allowed to return. He also stated that he had known Andrew Leon for 25 years and was certain that he would not introduce any person other than William. A week later Atlee Hunt, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Australia, Department of External Affairs, replied that re-admittance was conditional on the dictation test.[40][41] No evidence can be found that William ever returned to his family in Cairns.

Although many Chinese immigrants returned to China to retire, Leon remained in Cairns. On 27 June 1920 he died at his home in McLeod Street, Cairns, from cancer at age 80.[1] His funeral was held at St Monica's Roman Catholic Church (the predecessor of St Monica's Old Cathedral) in Cairns, then the cortege progressed to the Martyn Street cemetery where he was buried.[42]

Legacy

Andrew and Mary Leon Memorial Headstone, Martyn Street Cemetery, Cairns, 2020. The Chinese writing translates as "Centenary anniversity of death, Cairns Chinese community leader and cane sugar industry pioneer"

A plaque commemorating the Hap Wah enterprise was unveiled on 24 January 2013 at the Stockland Cairns shopping centre in Earlville, which was built on part of the former Hap Wah plantation. The plaque records the contributions of the pioneering Hap Wah venture, its manager Andrew Leon, and the "Chinese inspiration, businesses and agricultural enterprise that were crucial to the development and economic viability of early Cairns".[43][44][45][46]

On 27 June 2020, the 100th anniversary of Leon's death, a memorial headstone was placed on the previously unmarked gravesite of pioneers Leon and his wife Mary who died on 21 June 1922.[47]

Cairns Regional Council named Leon Close in Brinsmead after Andrew Leon.[48]

Cairns Historical Society holds two collections concerning Leon:

  • the Hap Wah & Andrew Leon Collection of new research and resources
  • the Leon-Cleary Collection, Father Michael Bonner Estate, 2017

The latter includes over 200 family photographs from about the 1920s, and miscellaneous memorabilia. Both collections may be viewed by the public at the Cairns Historical Society Research Centre within the Cairns Museum. Despite extensive research, Leon's Chinese name remains unconfirmed and, despite his widely acknowledged leadership, no photographs of him or his wife have been found.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bolton, G. C.; Cronin, Kathryn. Leon, Andrew (1841–1920). Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Lit Sung Goong Cairns 1887-1966 & Andrew Leon, Trustee. Cairns: Hap Wah & Andrew Leon Historical Project. 2016.
  3. ↑ May, pp 70, 299
  4. 1 2 "Marriage of Andrew Leon Chong and Mary Picket 1869/C/5". Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "Item ID334639, Royal Commission into state of sugar industry, Question 2118, S.2. Vol. IV". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Item ID882294, Certificates of naturalisation - Supreme Court, Brisbane". Queensland State Archives.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "99 Grafton St (entry 602511)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Naturalisations 1851 to 1904". Queensland Government. 10 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Item ID841186, Register of aliens to whom oaths of allegiance were administered". Queensland State Archives.
  10. ↑ "Birth registration: William Andrew Leon". Queensland Government. 1871. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Birth registration: Mary Agnes Leon". Queensland Government. 1873. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  12. ↑ "Birth registration: Annie Leon". Queensland Government. 1876. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  13. ↑ "Item ID107755, General correspondence records, Correspondence No: 3565, Ravenswood Gold Commissioner's Report October 2nd 1871, Miners Rights, entry 46567". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Item ID85967, (b) Register of miners' rights and business licences - Ravenswood [from folio 182]. Register of Claims, Miners rights, business licences Page No. 221, entry 35195". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  15. 1 2 "Item ID5956, Deposition book: Millchester Court of Petty Sessions pg 294-297 [Lee San versus John Williams, Andrew Leon interpreter, January 2nd 1874]". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "Item ID846944, Inwards correspondence: Cooktown Petition 2854/1875". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  17. ↑ Cooktown Courier, 25 December 1875.
  18. 1 2 "Item ID7903, Correspondence arising from the case of Chuck Lum". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  19. ↑ "Early North Queensland Cairns & Hinterland". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. LXXV. Queensland, Australia. 3 January 1955. p. 5. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ↑ "Northern Mail News". Morning Bulletin. Vol. XXX, no. 4637. Queensland, Australia. 2 February 1883. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. 1 2 1884 Cadastral map of Cairns (PDF) (Map), Queensland Government, 1884, archived (PDF) from the original on 1 December 2020, retrieved 6 October 2020: Showing the Hap Wah plantation (1878-1886), selected by Andrew Leon. The selections were 6 and 15 (Portions 52 and 75) south of Chinaman Creek.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  22. 1 2 "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  23. ↑ "Agriculture and its Prospects in the North". The Queenslander. Vol. XXV, no. 452. Queensland, Australia. 24 May 1884. p. 832. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Volkmar, Julia (2014), "Hap Way Coy: Addressing historical discrepancies", Rediscovered past : Chinese tropical Australia, Chinese Heritage in Northern Australia Inc, p. 14, ISBN 978-0-646-91649-1
  25. ↑ "Item ID334639, Royal Commission into state of sugar industry, Question 2150, S.2. Vol. IV". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  26. ↑ "Item ID38180, Selection file: BELTON, Mary; LEON, Andrew". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  27. ↑ "Advertising". Cairns Post. Vol. VI, no. 342. Queensland, Australia. 22 August 1888. p. 2. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  28. ↑ May, p 112
  29. ↑ May, pp. 10-13
  30. ↑ Leon's Known Properties, in Hap Wah & Andrew Leon Collection, D26496. Cairns Historical Society, Cairns, Queensland. 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  31. ↑ "Local Items". Cairns Post. Vol. IV, no. 194. Queensland, Australia. 27 January 1887. p. 2. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. ↑ "Supreme Court". Cairns Post. Vol. VIII, no. 612. Queensland, Australia. 4 April 1891. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. ↑ "Morning Post". Morning Post (Cairns). Vol. 8, no. 63. Queensland, Australia. 28 November 1899. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  34. ↑ May, p. 243
  35. ↑ "Cairns". The Telegraph. No. 2, 655. Queensland, Australia. 18 May 1881. p. 5. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  36. ↑ "General News". Cairns Post. Vol. VII, no. 517. Queensland, Australia. 3 May 1890. p. 2. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  37. ↑ May, p 216
  38. ↑ Volkmar, Julia (November 2018). "Pioneer Parents, Colonial Children, Federated Families; Andrew Leon family in Cairns and district 1876-1985". Cairns Historical Society Bulletin (672).
  39. ↑ "Immigration Restriction Act 1901". Federal Register of Legislation. Australian Government. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  40. ↑ "Application from Andrew Leon for permission of son William to return to Commonwealth". National Archives of Australia. 1903. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  41. ↑ "Birth certificate and correspondence relating to the application for a Certificate of Domicile for William Andrew Leon (Father: Andrew Leon, Mother: Mary - nee Pigot) of Townsville". National Archives of Australia. 1903. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  42. ↑ "Demise of Andrew Leon". Cairns Post. Vol. XXXIII, no. 3704. Queensland, Australia. 28 June 1920. p. 4. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  43. ↑ "Stockland Community Partnerships". Stockland. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  44. ↑ "Hap Wah Plantation". Monument Australia. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  45. ↑ Wong Hoy, Kevin (January 2013). "Celebrating an accomplishment by early Chinese Australia at Cairns". East Asian Library Resources Group of Australia. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  46. ↑ "Hap Wah Commemorative Plaque Project 2013". Cairns and District Chinese Association Inc. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  47. ↑ "Remembering Andrew Leon 1840-1920". Cairns and District Chinese Association Inc. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  48. ↑ "'L' street names" (PDF). Cairns Heritage Page. Cairns Regional Council. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.

Sources

Attribution

This Wikipedia article contains material from 99 Grafton St, an entry in the Queensland Heritage Register published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 4.0 AU licence, accessed on 6 October 2020.

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