‘Leaving a Legacy’ – Mandy Gwan

I suspect I will never know the reason my greatgrandfather, Wong Yee Gwan, decided to leave
China in the early 1870s and make his way to New South Wales. His incoming passenger record
and application for naturalization (if they exist) have been elusive. But is pinning down exactly
when he came or chasing a reason why, really that important? At this point in my research,
discovering who he was and what legacy he left, has become a more meaningful pursuit.

Thankfully, George Gwan, as he was known in Australia, left a trail of other records in the archives; enough for me to know he was a man of integrity who cared for the welfare of others, and worked hard as a cabinet maker, a boarding house and storekeeper, and a market gardener, to build a future for his only child. Later, that child would become my grandfather and a well-known and highly respected government court interpreter.

Both George and his son (Wong Yee Hing, aka Charles George Gwan) had a strong work ethic and put others’ needs before their own. They were altruistic to a fault. Their lives were a careful balance of Chinese culture and the Australian spirit, and both the Chinese and Europeans called them friends.

Since his death in 1942, those same charitable principles Wong Yee Gwan brought with him from China have been carried on in one form or another by each new generation of the Wong/Gwan family. And that, I think, is his legacy.

Mandy Gwan
Email: mandygwan@bigpond.com