By Cecilia McAlmont and Margery Kirkpatrick
Introduction
One hundred and thirty years ago, thirty one members of British Guiana’s plantocracy subscribed the sum of about 8,647 pounds sterling to charter the ship “Dartmouth” to transport a group of Chinese immigrants from Canton. The “Dartmouth” arrived in the colony in early 1879 with 500 free immigrants – 436 men, 47 women, 18 boys, 5 girls and 9 infants. It proved to be the last shipment of immigrants in what was termed “the Chinese Experiment”. In all, 13,541 immigrants about 17% of whom were women came during the 26 years of periodic arrivals. The immigrants both men and women served their contractual obligations and for the most part moved away from the plantations to seek a better life for themselves and their children. The focus of the next two articles will be on the achievements of the women who were and are descended from these immigrants.
The experiment in action
By the early 1850’s, British Guiana’s plantocracy had all but persuaded the Colonial Office that not only the survival of the sugar economy but also the survival of civilization in the colony was dependent on their being allowed to import large numbers of immigrants restrained by long indentures. Immigrants from China were to be an integral part of the survival process.
They were regarded as being equal to the Blacks and superior to the Indian immigrants in their ability to fulfill the tasks associated with sugar cultivation. Moreover their presence would stimulate competition and help to lower wages, a significant element of their high costs of production.
From the inception, the experiment was fraught with difficulties. Foremost among them was the problem of recruiting women. However, an Ordinance in early 1859 dealt with that issue. Among its provisions was the enforcement of a quota system for female Chinese immigrants by empowering the governor to withhold payment to a passenger ship not having a reasonable number of women. Additionally, an incentive of fifty dollars was set aside to be paid towards the passage of every female Chinese immigrant. The first batch of women, 56 or roughly one sixth of the shipment of 377 immigrants arrived on the “Whirlwind” in March 1860. All subsequent shipments were to include women. There were other constraints to implementation. The competition for Chinese immigrants from Cuba, Peru and the USA and the ambivalence of the planters who continued to balance the advantages of an intelligent, hardworking but comparatively expensive Chinese immigration with that of Indian immigration. They often chose the more easily available Indian immigrants. The women worked on the estates, though not always in the fields, under the same conditions as the men many of whom became their husbands. They were therefore just as eager to move on with their lives after their time on the sugar plantations.
Becoming Creole
Many of the immigrants chose re-indenture because of the limited range of economic activities available – the retail trade for example had been dominated by the Portuguese with the blessings of the planters since the 1840s. However, the Hopetown experiment temporarily filled a vacuum and their success in the charcoal business laid the foundations of their challenge to the Portuguese. Many with support from the Anglican Church or loans from private money lenders opened small businesses. More substantial businesses were established in Georgetown in particular, while other entrepreneurs sought and made their fortunes as plantation owners and in the gold and diamond fields.
These occupations brought many wealth and prosperity and gave them status within their own local communities. However, they sought recognition and status within the wider community, specifically the middle class, dominated by the Creoles, for whom success in the professions, like law and medicine, rather than wealth seemed to open doors. Acquiring the necessary education as a first step to achieving middle class status became the main goal of the succeeding generation of immigrants. Sue-A-Qua explained that it was regarded as a matter of pride and prestige to have at least one child achieve higher education thereby seeing someone of the next generation gain the honour of a more respected status in the society compared to the immigrants themselves. Because of the relatively small numbers, women had become a very precious commodity and so were their daughters. The women were therefore given equal opportunity with the men to acquire the education necessary to propel them into the middle class.
Loo Shee, her descendants and their achievements
Loo Shee or Rebecca Lee a Tak was one of the immigrants whose female descendants have achieved much. She was one of the non-indentured immigrants fleeing from the internecine Tai P’ing rebellion. She was the daughter of a rich family at the Manchu Court who the rebels targeted. She fled to British Guiana with her two sons and daughter on board the “Chapman” which arrived June 10, 1861. In 1886, after the death of her husband U-A-Ho whom she had married on board the ship, she married Lee-A-Tak, another refugee from the Tai P’ing rebellion who had arrived on the “AGZA” in 1862. The achievements of her descendants both men and women span the gamut of human endeavour. However, like elsewhere in the world the women’s achievements tend to be concentrated in the feminine areas of education and health. For example, she is the great grand mother of Laura Hing, music teacher and Laura Edna Mallalieu, one time history teacher at Bishops’ High School. She is also the great, great grandmother of Andrea Leslie Lee, Researcher of Chinese history; Kim Ingrid Ramkissoon, Lecturer, St. Augustine campus, UWI; Valli Esther Fung, former Lecturer, Faculty of Arts, U.G; and the 1951 Guyana scholar from BHS, Jocelyn Ho a Shu.
However, some of her female descendants have also cracked the glass ceiling in non traditional areas. Perhaps the most notable is the area of power and decision making. The minuscule presence of Guyanese and other women worldwide in the halls of power and decision making has been discussed ad nauseam. But women have been making slow but steady progress in this direction. A descendant of Loo Shee is one of them. A few months ago her great, great, great grand daughter, Ms. Pauline, Roseanne Campbell-Sukhai was appointed Minister of Amerindian Affairs. Additionally, she has been a Member of Parliament in the current PPP/C administration since it took office in 1992.
Also in the field of decision making, her great grand daughter, Dulcie Lolita Wong retired as a Director of the WHO, Surinam.
In the non traditional field of business Loo Shee’s grand daughter, Ethel Alexander Choo was probably one of the first women in British Guiana who went into business. She was the Proprietrix of a Chinese restaurant two doors from St Saviour’s church in Broad Street. She is also the great grand mother of Margery Kirkpatrick nee Ting A Kee whose Catering business inherited from her mother, grand daughter of Loo Shee catered for the National Assembly from 1979 to 2001. She is also the author of several books on Chinese cooking and the well known From the Middle Kingdom to the New World: Aspects of the Chinese Experience in Migration to British Guiana.
She is a Director in her husband’s business, Professional Guard Service and was awarded a Medal of Service in 1984 for her various contributions. Also in a non traditional field, her daughter, Melanie McTurk and great, great grand daughter of Loo Shee is a Chemist. She has worked in the Iwokrama Laboratories and on the spill caused by the Omai Gold mines. Achievement in the field of sports was one of the mechanisms used by the descendants, especially male descendants of 19th century Chinese immigrants to enhance their credentials for acceptance into the predominantly Creole British Guiana middle class. This quest for middle class recognition gave the third and fourth generation of Chinese women, an opportunity which in Chinese culture they would not normally have had to showcase their talents in several sports disciplines. Several of Loo Shee’s descendants made good use of the opportunity. For example, her great, great grand daughter, Candy Alana Leeb represented the Chinese Sports Club in Badminton and hockey at the national level. Together with Doreen Chow Wah, another descendant of 19th century Chinese immigrants, won the ladies doubles Table Tennis championships in 1974. Another great, great, grand daughter Diane Margo Singh was Sports woman of the year in 1968 and yet another, Mary Cheong was the champion swimmer of the Dolphin Speed Swimming Club.
The above discussion demonstrated the many achievements of the women descended from Loo Shee. But the female descendants of other immigrants who came the same time with, before and after her also achieved much. Their story will be the subject of the next article.
