Kwong Sue Duk, also known as Kwong See Tek, () (4 September 1853 – 17 February 1929) was a

Chinese Australian Chinese Australians () are Australians of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chinese ...

herbalist Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

, and

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

Early life

Kwong Sue Duk was born in

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, in 1853. In his teens, he travelled to the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

where he made a modest fortune mining for gold. He returned home to Toishan, China, and embarked on an education in

Traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

Immigration to Australia

In 1874, Kwong Sue Duk married his first of four wives, Gee An Gow. In 1875, after the birth of his first son, Kwong Kong Sing, Kwong settled in

Cooktown, Queensland Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, gateway to the

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

gold rushes.

Career

In 1882, Kwong returned from China to settle in Southport,

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. Operating under his business name, Sun Mow Loong, he eventually established a successful general trade store and real estate enterprise. He was well respected and influential amongst the Chinese and European communities and was consulted over many matters concerning the Chinese. In 1884, Kwong Sue Duk married his second of four wives, Chun Ngor Gwei, and obtained his

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

certificate in Australia. In 1885, Kwong Sue Duk moved to Palmerston (early Darwin) and in March 1887 he met and married his third of four wives, Yuen Yuk Lau. In 1888, he built the famous Sue Wah Chin Building, originally known as Stone House. In 1889 he returned to China and brought out his first wife and three children to Palmerston. In 1897, a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

damaged much of Palmerston, including Kwong's group of rental properties. His first wife had difficulty adjusting to the harsh conditions, and in 1898 he travelled with her to China where she chose to remain with her four children. In 1899, Kwong met and married his fourth wife, Wong Kwei Far, and returned with her to Palmerston. However, the damage of the cyclone and the generally depressed state of the Northern Territory economy left Kwong in a poor financial situation. He became a citizen in 1889. In 1902 the family set up a store and business in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

where he sold mostly Chinese goods. In the back of the store he had an office where he dispensed Chinese herbal remedies. In 1910 he returned from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

to settle in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, and in 1913 most of the family followed. Kwong established another successful Chinese herbal medicine practice in Little Flinders Street. In 1917, Kwong made another major move to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria (Australia) Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

. He continued his herbal medicine practice in Melbourne and country Victoria, including the townships of

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

and

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

Later life

In 1927, he retired to Townsville where he continued with his herbal medicine practice until he died at the age of 76 on 17 February 1929. Over his lifetime, Kwong Sue Duk fathered 22 children and adopted two children with his four wives. As of 2006, over 800 descendants in eleven countries trace their lineage from Kwong Sue Duk.

Kylie Kwong Kylie Jane Kwong (born 31 October 1969) is an Australian television chef, author, television presenter and restaurateur. Early life and education Kwong attended Epping North School and Cheltenham Girls High School. As a third-generation Chine ...

is his great-granddaughter. Melbourne-based composer Adam Yee his great-grandson. The Kwong Sue Duk Foundation arranges regular family reunions. Daniel Cheong is his great-great-grandson, son of Brett 'Boss' Cheong.

References and external links

The History of Chinese Business In Queensland - Chronological Overview
a digitised timeline featuring the main events that happened in China and during the life of Kwong Sue Duk. By Rutian Mi, 2019 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame Fellow.
The History of the Chinese Business history of Queensland
blog post by Rutian Mi, 2019 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame Fellow.
Kwong Sue Duk: a man of family
(Narrator Rosalie Hiah; written and directed by Warren Lee Long; Editor, Ron Donnelly, c1996) digitised video available online at

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...

. * Chinese History of Australian Federation entry o
Kwong Sue Duk
by Rosalie Hiah, Kwong Sue Duk Foundation (June 2001).

in the

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...

.
Images of Kwong Sue Duk
and his family in the Chinese-Australian Historical Images in Australia database.

and other descendants of the Kwong family interviewed by

George Negus George Edward Negus AM (born 13 March 1942) is an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He was a pioneer of Australian TV journalism, first appearing on the ABC’s groundbreaking T ...

for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's George Negus Tonight profiles. * Senator Tchen'
memorial to Ida Lee
youngest daughter to Kwong Sue Duk in Hansard, 24 September 2002 ong PDF, search for Kwong Sue Duk

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwong, Sue Duk 1853 births 1929 deaths People from Taishan, Guangdong Businesspeople from Guangdong Chinese emigrants to Australia Chinese emigrants to the United States People of the California Gold Rush Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners Cantonese merchants 19th-century Chinese businesspeople Physicians from Guangdong