Brad Powe of Australia



(Brad Powe wrote:)
Hello,
Recently I was able to confirm that my great-grandfather Cheng Fan-chong, later known as Henry Fine Chong (1864-1944), came to Sydney from the village of ? ? (variously transcribed here in Australia as Ou Saek and Oo Shek) in 1877. In 1911 he brought out his nephew Cheng Chun-wah, later known as Arthur Janne Chun Wah (1901-1991) to study in Australia, where he graduated as a civil engineer from Sydney University in May 1931. Arthur married English-born Gladys Richardson in Sydney, and returned to China in 1932; they visited Ou Saek en route to Shanghai, and took the two photographs I have attached.

While both photos feature Arthur's father (whose name I have not confirmed), they may be of interest to your membership - particularly the outdoor scene, which features the village school. On the back of this photo, Uncle Arthur wrote -

"Location:- Ou Saek
"Fellow in white gown with hand outstretched is the pot & pan [rhyming slang for 'my old man', ie his father - Arthur was out here for 20 years, but may have picked up expressions like this from his London-born wife].
"This is the original school where the fellow who is now an engineer used to play truant."

I've also attached a photograph of the Cheng family villa in Oo Syak, presumably taken in about 1910, and brought to Australia by young Chun Wah.

You are welcome to add some or all of the photos to your website and/or newsletter if you think they will be of general appeal to your membership. We have retained quite a few photographs of Henry, Arthur and their home(land) if you are interested in seeing more.

By the way, a Chungshan born friend of mine alerted me to a video presentation "about Oo Shek (Black Rock) that can be found at YouTube video. It is a popular local TV show which highlights the villages in Zhongshan/Chungshan county to the Cantonese."
It is in Cantonese, without subtitles, but bears watching because of glimpses of useful information (including photos of Dr Holt Alexander Cheng; searching for him led me to you website/association, which I would not ordinarily have found owing to the variant spelling!).

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Brad Powe

YouTube Video

School in Oo Syak.





Ancestors.




Cheng home.



















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