Yee Lee and Company General Store, Stuart Town, business records and papers

MLMSS 12148/Boxes 1-3
MLMSS 12148/Boxes 4X-10X

fonds

approximately 1890-1952

Textual Records, Ephemera, Paper money

9679265

1.98 metres of textual material (3 boxes and 7 outsize boxes) - typescript and manuscript

Thomas Yee Lee (Chinese name Wong War Lai, approximately 1866-1936) was sponsored to migrate from Jaang Sheng, China to Australia in 1888 along with his brothers by Fong Lee & Co., Wellington. After working at Fong Lee & Co. as a cook, Yee Lee moved to the gold mining town of Stuart Town and opened his own general store in about 1897, initially employing his brother Wong Wah Hum.

The Yee Lee and Company general store catered to the local inhabitants of Stuart Town who had regular, weekly orders of essential goods before the widespread use of motor vehicles allowed travel to larger towns. The store sold groceries, drapery, footwear and produce that was bought by Yee Lee from Fong Lee & Co., Chinese businesses in Haymarket, Sydney or imported directly from China. Anything not usually carried was ordered in upon request. As many of the local men travelled away from town for seasonal work, their families were extended credit until they returned, payment of the sum being pledged in promissory notes. Later during the Depression, customers who couldn’t pay until they received the dole were also given credit, their purchases being recorded in credit /debit books. Relatives from the Wong clan in Australia were also loaned money. Some of the profits generated by the store was sent back to Jaang Shen, China to assist relatives through the purchase of properties, or invested locally in other business enterprises.

Yee Lee married Wong Lum Dai by proxy and brought her back to Australia from China in 1903. When they were old enough, their three children, Thomas 'Tommy' Lee, Louie Day and Thomas Hoy Lee assisted in the daily running of the store.

Thomas 'Tommy' Lee (Chinese name Wong Poi Tin, approximately 1905-1960) was the eldest son of Thomas Yee Lee and Wong Lum Dai. He took over the running of the store after his father died and also invested in other local business ventures. Tommy was married to Pearl Hilda Lee (approximately 1904-1950) and had a son, Norman Lee (1927- ). After the deaths of Lum Dai and Pearl, Tommy sold the store and moved to Sydney to be with his younger brother, Thomas Hoy Lee (1911-2006), working for the New South Wales Government Railways until he passed away suddenly from a stroke.

References
1. Lost Story. “Thomas Hoy Lee: Remembering Stuart Town.” Thomas Hoy Lee oral history interview by Janis Wilton, 16 March 1999. Accessed 22 April 2024
https://www.loststory.net/art/thomas-hoy-lee-remembering-stuart-town

2. Yen, Mavis Gock. South Flows the Pearl: Chinese Australian Voices; edited by Siaoman Yen and Richard Horsburgh. (Sydney, N.S.W.: Sydney University Press, 2022), 273-296.

3. Library acquisition file

Hillary and Carmel Cohen are the nieces of Freda Mary Lee (died 1972), who was married to Thomas Hoy Lee, the son of store owner/operator Thomas Yee Lee. Freda Lee had given Hillary and Carmel Cohen the locked safe from the Yee Lee and Co. general store. After being in possession of the safe for a number of years, Hillary and Carmel cut open the safe, revealing the collection of papers. Richard Horsburgh and Siaoman Yen were lent the material for the book they were editing, ‘South Flows the Pearl: Chinese voices in Australia’, written by Mavis Gock Yen, which contains an interview with Thomas Hoy Lee.

This collection had been kept in the Yee Lee and Company store safe and consists of Chinese and English language papers. The Chinese language papers consist largely of personal correspondence and business agreements conducted between members of the Wong clan in China. The Yee Lee store business records consist mainly of government licenses to allow the operation of the store and various types of insurance policies. Customer records include promissory notes written in English pledging payment and lists of debtors written in Chinese. Other records include gold mine licenses and involvement in local business enterprises, such as the United Picture Theatre and the Stuart Town Racecourse and Club.

I. English language papers:

BOX 1
A. Capital:
1. Business equipment. Receipt for procurement of fire extinguisher and listings of telephone numbers and associated trunk call charges. 1927-1933
2. Motor vehicle. Drivers' license renewals for Thomas Lee, with registration and insurance renewals for an 'Essex' commercial lorry. 1929-1938
3. Property purchase. Handwritten notes acknowledging payments for property. 1900-1901

B. Financial management:
4. Invoices. Itemised invoices paid for goods sold and received. 1905-1936
5. Promissory notes. Includes name of lender, amount, date when payment intended, and stamp duty stamp. Some notes also include attached correspondence. 1903-1937

C. Investments:
6. Gold Mines. Papers relating to ownership of Miners' Rights, debentures and the processing of quantities of gold. 1898-1938
7. Stuart Town Race Club. Meeting minutes of the Board, property lease agreement and registration forms relating to the establishment of Stuart Town Racecourse and Club. 1927-1932
8. United Picture Theatre. Papers relating to the establishment, certification and insurance of a picture theatre in Liberty Hall, Stuart Town. Includes written partnership agreements, equipment requirements, correspondence from government departments, insurance companies and the local film distributor for Paramount Pictures. 1927-1934
9. War bonds. Correspondence relating to a Commonwealth War Loan. 1919
10. Yee Lee and Company firm name and shop registration. Correspondence, receipts and certificates relating to registration of business name and shop. 1903-1945

D. Legal and medical matters:
11. Itemised lists of fees for provision of legal and hospital services with receipts. 1904, 1932-1933
12. Empty envelopes.

BOX 2
E. Licenses:
1. Dog registration. Receipts for payment of annual fees to the Clerk of Petty Sessions to keep one dog. 1898-1936
2. Explosives, part 1. Receipts for payment of annual fees for Ordinary License to keep explosives on the premises under various Acts. Some papers have annotations written in Chinese. 1893-1913
3. Explosives, part 2. Receipts for payment of annual fees for License to keep explosives on the premises under the Explosives Act, 1905. 1930-1942
4. Firearms. Receipts for payment of license fees to keep and sell guns, pistols in compliance with various Acts. 1925-1940

5. Inflammable Liquid. Licenses and receipts for annual payment of annual fees certifying the store is compliant with the Inflammable Liquid Act, 1915-1931. 1927-1944
6. Poisons. Licenses and receipts for payment of annual license fees to the Pharmacy Board of New South Wales authorising the store to deal and sell poison in compliance with the Poisons Act, 1902. 1923-1945
7. Tobacco. Licenses and receipts for payment of annual renewal fees to the Clerk of Petty Sessions authorising the store to sell tobacco, cigars and cigarettes in compliance with the Tobacco Act, 1884. 1893-1938

BOX 3
F. Insurance policies:
1. Properties on Molong and Alexander Streets. Insurance policies for adjoining properties covering fire, dwellings, contents for adjoining properties or businesses from various companies paid at regular intervals, in the names of Charlotte Mary Lawson, William Thomas Sloane, Arthur John Cowell. 1927-1941
2. General Store, Alexander Street, part 1. Insurance policies including workers compensation, fire, general and bulk store, stock of trade, dwelling, hay bales and a piano from various companies paid at regular intervals, in the names of Yee Lee, Wah Hum, or Thomas Lee. 1897-1929
3. General Store, Alexander Street, part 2. Insurance policies including workers compensation, fire, general and bulk store, stock of trade, dwelling, hay bales and a piano from various companies paid at regular intervals, in the names of Yee Lee or Thomas Lee. 1930-1948

BOX 4X
Financial management:
Expenses Form B114, where a proper Petty Cash System is kept, only payments made by Cheque, July 1920-June 1926
Income tax returns, copies, and correspondence, 1926-1938 and 1945-1952

Insurance policy, fifteen-year endowment assurance for children for Norman Lee, 1927

Hire Purchase Agreement, projector and other equipment for use in the United Picture Theatre. 1927

Registration of Firm Name certificates:
United Pictures, 1927
Yee Lee and Company, two certificates, 1903

Government circulars:
Explosives Act, 1902. Declaration to include fireworks as an explosive under the Act, 1903
Inflammable Liquid Act, 1915-1931. Notification regarding amendment of the Act to include dangerous goods. 1932

Liberty Bonds:
National Government of the Republic of China, numbered certificates 257111 and 257112, printed in Chinese language with English language on verso. Attached correspondence from the Chinese National Salvation Bond Administration, Haymarket, Sydney, in Chinese language. 1938

BOX 5X
1. Contact details book. Contact details accumulated on behalf of Bebarfalds Ltd Department Store, Sydney, for potential customers of sewing machines. 1923

II. Chinese language papers

2. Three inventory and debtor records in notepads. Note, the cover of one notepad has stuck to the lacquered lid of an empty box labelled in English, 'Match Colonel Golf Ball'

BOX 6X
Correspondence relating to business matters including property purchase agreements

BOX 7X
1. Correspondence relating to personal and family matters, and Chinese medicine prescriptions, remedies and related information
2. Donation cards
3. Pak-ah-pu gaming and raffle tickets

BOX 8X and 9X - Physical access restricted
Two rolls of inventory / debtor records.

BOX 10X
Traditional engagement gift list with drawings and decorative designs in ink, on red paper mounted on green paper on verso.

Chinese, English

Access via appointment - Applies to MLMSS 12148/Box 8X and 9X, containing two rolls of inventory / debtor records. These items are very fragile due to fire damage and must not be handled except by Collection Care.

Copyright restrictions may apply:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder

Many of the papers in this collection are partially fire damaged but are still readable. Given their fragile state, they must be handled very carefully. Where possible, papers have been placed into clear plastic sleeves for preservation purposes and must not be removed from the sleeves except by Collection Care.