Sue Wah Chin (21 July 1900 – 27 March 2000) was a Chinese entrepreneur living and working in Darwin in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The Sue Wah Chin or 'Stonehouse' building, one of the remaining heritage buildings in central Darwin, is named after her.

Early life

Chin was born in

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on 21 July 1900 to landholder and businessman Chiu Hing Foy who ran a business in

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in the

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and his wife, Chiu Wu See. She had one brother, Chiu Goon Pak. She went to school in Canton, a rare opportunity for a woman at this time, and trained as a teacher. After completing her education it was arranged she would marry Chin Ack Sam, the third son of wealthy Darwin tailor Chin Toy who had first come to Australia in 1883. They married in 1920 in China and had the first two of eleven children, Eric and Raymond.

Life in the Northern Territory

The Chin family left for Australia in 1928 staying initially with Chin Toy at the rear of his store in the Fang Cheong Loong building on Cavenagh Street in Darwin. Chin had three more children in Darwin, Darwina, Oswald, and Wellington and worked as a seamstress. The family returned to China in 1933 to seek education for the two eldest sons. Their ship the SS ''Taiping'' hit rough seas due to a

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

near

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and capsized. The family lost four out of five pieces of luggage. Chin remained in China until 1938 when Japan invaded China. They travelled from town to town trying to secure visa's to return to Australia. They eventually succeeded travelling back to Darwin via

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

. The family then lived on Woods Street, where Chin and her daughter Darwina assisted with tailoring. Chin had three more children John, Florence, and Norma. The family was evacuated to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

before the

bombing of Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Empire of Japan, Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the ...

by the Japanese in February 1942. In Adelaide, they opened a restaurant in Rundle Street. Chin had three more children during this time, Gordon, Sylvia, and Victor. After returning to Darwin in 1949, Chin partnered with other Chinese families to open a Chinese restaurant in the Don Hotel, moving into the old stonehouses (or stone houses) in Cavenagh Street. In addition to the restaurant they operated a store there which was frequented by Darwin children seeking their salty plums. It soon became known as the Sue Wah Chin building which still exists today, having survived some damage during

Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...

. Ownership of the building remained in the Chin family until 2008 and it is now heritage protected. They operated a store there which was frequented by Darwin children seeking their salty plums.

Later life

Chin was naturalised in 1956. Her husband died in 1968 leaving her to care for her family of 11 children. She died on 27 March 2000.

References

{{reflist 2000 deaths 1900 births People from the Northern Territory Chinese emigrants to Australia