Image: Cheong family in C1906 at their Croydon home, Pine Lodge, where they lived from 1902 to 1942. CH Cheong is seated at centre.
Cheok Hong Cheong was born in 1851 in Guandong Province, China. His father, Cheong Peng-nam, like so many other Chinese, came to Victoria in search of gold. Unusually his father converted to Christianity and chose to remain in Victoria. Cheok emigrated to Victoria with his mother and sisters in 1863 to join their father at Ballarat.
Cheok was educated at Scotch College, University of Melbourne and the Presbyterian Theological Hall. He did not finish his theological training, instead he worked in his father's business.
At various times he held positions of note in both the Presbyterian and Anglican churches. For many years he was Lay Superintendent of the Church Missionary Society and was involved in The Chinese Christian Union which comprised all the main protestant denominations. He was also founder of the Anglican Chinese Mission of the Epiphany, with the hall located on Lt Bourke Street, Melbourne.
Using his excellent command of English Cheok was active in assisting members of the Chinese Community, especially through the Chinese Residents Association. He was very active in general community affairs taking a leading role in the Victorian Temperance Society (anti opium), the Victorian Peace Society-Famine Relief committee and the Anti Sweating League (prevention of exploitation of workers).
The positions he held and the respect he was granted are most remarkable given the anti-Chinese sentiment that prevailed through much of society in the late 19th century which ultimately culminated in the passing of ‘The White Australia Policy’ in 1901.
He was the co-author of The Chinese Question in Australia, 1878-79, arguing for free movement of Chinese immigrants into British colonies such as Australia.
Cheok Hong had entered an arranged marriage whilst still in his teens. His wife, Wong Toy Chen bore him nine children, eight of whom reached adulthood.
In 1899 Cheok bought land in Croydon, initially between Bayswater, Eastfield and Mt. Dandenong Roads, and established his family home ‘Pine Lodge’ with Wong Toy Yen and their children. He died there in 1928 aged 77 years. His wife predeceased him by 18 months. The family continued to live there until 1942. Pine Lodge was demolished in the 1950s.
Cheok Hong left an extraordinary archive of some 800 documents in English. Many of his descendants still reside in the Croydon area.
Mary May Cheong
Mary Cheong was born in Croydon on the 21 April 1919 and was a direct descendant of Cheong Cheok Hong (1853-1928).
On 31 August 1943 Mary Cheong enlisted in the Australian Army in Melbourne and named her mother Phyliss Cheong as her next of Kin. During her army service she was involved in highly secretive work in the 11 Australian Cipher section which was crucial to Australia’s war effort. Intelligence gathering, cryptography and telegraphy were areas where women made a significant contribution during WW2 and the 11 Australian Cipher section typified the work which was carried out. Originally known as the Central Bureau it consisted of:
- A headquarters section with the necessary clerical, administrative and supply personnel as well as cryptographic, cryptanalytic, interpreter and translator personnel.
- A field section which included intercept and communication personnel
- Detachments for attachment to subordinate command headquarters, which included intercept, communication and translator personnel.
The Army identified a number of suitably qualified women from its ranks, and this included Mary Cheong, to join the newly based 11 Australian Cypher section in Queensland. The section comprised 7 RAAF, 1 AMF and 4 United States Army personnel. The Cypher section was charged with the responsibility of responding to the needs of General McArthur for Japanese intelligence and to signal security to our military own forces. It provided a daily file of intercepted (decrypted and translated in usable form) Japanese radio traffic.
Mary was promoted to sergeant and had a leadership role within the 11 Australian Cypher Section and was discharged from the Australian Army on 5 December 1945.
Links with Walter Burley Griffin
In approximately 1921 Cheok Hong Cheong befriended Walter Burley Griffin, the landscape architect who designed Canberra. Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahony Griffin lived in Melbourne from 1915-1924.
In 1921 Burley Griffin was engaged by members of the Melbourne Chinese community to revamp the Kuomintang Club, a large three story building in Little Bourke Street. It would seem that Cheok Hong Cheong’s friendship with the Burley Griffins dates from this time.
Cheok Hong Cheong later became a significant investor in the Burley Griffins Castlecrag project in Sydney.
In 1923, when Mr Cheong decided to subdivide his Croydon property, he commissioned the Griffins to plan the subdivision. It is one of only three areas in Melbourne landscaped by the Griffins and therefore is of special significance.
The Griffins developed a plan in line with their ethos of considering the local character and landscape. They developed a 'Garden Suburb Estate' in the area bounded by Eastfield, Bayswater and Mt. Dandenong roads. (The lot layout and road plan for this
Estate is still in evidence in the area around Cheong Park, Croydon.
Many of the former orchard blocks were put up for sale in 1923 being described as the Croydon Hills/Blue Mountain/Garden Suburb Estate and was an example of Griffin’s garden suburb planning, with curving roads following geographical features and internal reserves. It incorporated a water pipeline (Yarraduct Track) and a planned railway station. As the station never eventuated, only a small portion of the estate was ever laid out, and houses were mostly built after 1945.
Image: Original estate plan by WB Griffin of the Croydon Hills/Blue Mountain/Garden Suburb Estate, Croydon (National Library of Australia)
The Garden Suburb portion of the Estate is bounded by what is now Moralla Avenue/Cheong Street/Hillside Drive, Bayswater Road and Eastfield Road.
Image: Orchard Section of estate (State Library of Victoria)