FONG LANG

Description

Biographical informationFong Lang was born in Canton, China in 1858. He was five feet and five inches in height. He lived in USA from 1878 to 1888 and then moved to Western Australia. He was the uncle of Joe Fong & Sydney Fong.

He established the Wing On Woo store on Marine Terrace, Geraldton, in 1888. He applied for naturalisation on 22 August 1888 but was refused as he had not been in the Colony long enough. He reapplied in 1890, claiming that he owned 4 freehold property in Geraldton and was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Naturalisation was granted on 26 August 1890. In 1895 Charles Lamb was the Assistant Manager in the Wing On Woo firm.

On 9 July 1895 Fong Lang requested permission to bring his wife, Wong Noy, a son and two daughters to Western Australia from Canton. One of the daughters was called May (born in 1895). He must have been granted permission as, in 1899, he requested permission to import a Chinese nurse to assist his wife with their four children. Permission was granted on condition that Fong Lang was responsible for her return (C). Fong Lang had a further six children in Geraldton (BDM records): 1) Samuel Thomas, born 1897; 2) Samuel Paul, born 1899; 3) May Eleanor, born 1900; and 4) Samuel Archibald, born 1901; 5) Samuel Young, born 1903; 6) Charles Gee, born 1904 (D).

He invited Liang Qichao 梁启超 / 梁啟超, a famous Chinese thinker, to give a speech in Geraldton during Liang's visit in 1900.

Fong Lang left Western Australia in May 1906 (D) and wound up his Western Australian businesses. After his return to China he organised the building of a church in the village where he had grown up: Arp Lay Tsui. Other members of the family, including Sydney Fong, contributed generously.

A digitised file of him is hosted at the National Archives of Australia (NAA: K1145, 1906/36). This file includes his Certificate Exempting from Dictation Test dated 12 March 1906. According to this CEDT, Fong Lang was 47 years old in 1906.Other nameFong Lang (differentiated name)鄺亮Date of birth1858