William Poy, MM (; 1907 – 3 February 2002) was an Australian-born Canadian civil servant and businessman of Chinese descent. He served with the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (the ''Volunteers'') during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a Lance Corporal messenger and worked for the Canadian Trade Commission in

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 ...

. He was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

for his service in Hong Kong.

Life and career

Poy was born in Chiltern, Victoria,

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 ...

to Ah Poy as one of seven children. He left Hong Kong in 1942 and settled in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, with his wife Ethel Poy, a fellow migrant from

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 of

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

descent and their two children, Adrienne and Neville. His daughter,

Adrienne Adrienne is the French feminine form of the male name Adrien. Its meaning is literally "from the city Hadria." * Adrienne Albert (born 1941), composer * Adrienne Ames (1907–1947), American actress * Adrienne Armstrong (born 1969), wife of Gr ...

, would later become the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

. Poy obtained a degree in political science from the University of Ottawa. He continued to work at the trade commission until 1946 and later became a stock broker working in Canada and Hong Kong. Poy established Allied Trading Company in Ottawa after his career with the trade commission. Poy retired in the mid 1970s and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Widowed in 1988, he died at a nursing home in 2002. He was survived by two brothers, Lindsay and Roy, in Australia, and other distant relatives in China and Australia. He was predeceased by his brother Leslie.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poy, William 1907 births 2002 deaths Canadian people of Chinese descent Australian emigrants to Canada Canadian chief executives British colonial army soldiers Australian people of Chinese descent Businesspeople from New South Wales Businesspeople from Ottawa Businesspeople from Victoria (state) Recipients of the Military Medal University of Ottawa alumni Canadian recipients of the Military Medal