Unui Doo (born Chan Yau-nui; 1874 – 18 August 1940) was a Chinese New Zealand businesswoman and shopkeeper. Born in

Xinhui Xinhui, alternately romanized as Sunwui and also known as Kuixiang, is an urban district of Jiangmen in Guangdong, China. It grew from a separate city founded at the confluence of the Tan and West Rivers. It has a population of about 735,50 ...

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) ...

, she immigrated to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1915. She managed a grocery store in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

that served as a social centre for the Chinese community. Known as "Grandmother Doo", she was the matriarch of the Doo clan and one of the few Chinese women living in New Zealand before the 1930s.

Early life and marriage

Chan Yau-nui was born in

, China, sometime between 1873 and 1875. She was one of seven children born to She Hoo Tai and Chan Doon Tai, a farmer and rice merchant. She had no formal education and her feet were bound. She married Thomas Wong Doo in Canton in 1898. Her husband had lived in

, New Zealand, from the age of 13 and married her upon returning to China. He then returned to New Zealand when he was 22, where he was employed as a

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to ...

er, visiting her in China every few years. During this time, they had two sons and a daughter. He became a naturalised citizen of New Zealand in 1904.

Life in New Zealand

Unui and her children joined her husband, immigrating to New Zealand in 1915. In accordance with New Zealand law, she remarried him the same year. They had two more children, another daughter and a son. They ran an import-export business and managed a grocery store in central Auckland that sold Chinese goods, including herbal medicines, soya sauce and rice. They exported edible fungus. Their home and grocery store were located on Wakefield Street in Auckland before moving to Victoria Street West. Their store became a cultural centre for other immigrants arriving from China. Their store functioned as a bank, post office, and social club, that catered mostly to single Chinese men. She was a member of the Kwong Cheu Club, a social club in Auckland for Chinese immigrants from Guangdong. She made several trips to China and was one of the few Chinese women living in New Zealand in her era. During the 1918

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case wa ...

epidemic, she produced an herbal tonic that was made available for free to the community. Unui had an important leadership role within the Chinese community of New Zealand. She was known as "Grandmother Doo" and was the matriarch of her family clan. She selected women for her sons to marry, giving them tests in mathematics and calligraphy, and ensuring they were literate. Unui revered

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

, and her family were worshippers of him. She died on 18 August 1940, in Auckland. She was buried in

Waikumete Cemetery Waikumete Cemetery, originally Waikomiti Cemetery, is New Zealand's largest cemetery. It occupies a site of 108 hectares in Glen Eden, Auckland, and also contains a crematorium in the south-west corner of the cemetery. History Waikumete Cemetery ...

in a well attended funeral service.

Early life and marriage

Life in New Zealand

References

Further reading