Chen Quin Jack

Trevor Cedric Jack
BORN — 4 March 1917, Glen Innes, NSW Australia
DIED — 15 October 1994, Coonabarabran NSW Australia
MOTHER — Ester Grace KEE CHONG (Grace)
FATHER — Fredrick Charles JACK (Fred)
MARRIED: 1945 to Mary Daneman

Trevor Jack was born in 1917, in Glen Innes, the New England region of NSW. At the time of his birth, local newspapers were filled with reports about the ongoing First World War, highlighting both the heroism and the tragedies faced by soldiers, alongside a growing anti-conscription movement. Meanwhile, life continued as usual in the pages of The Glen Innes Examiner, featuring a prominent, almost full-page advertisement from the local Chinese-owned emporium, Kwong Sing & Co., which claimed to be “The Noted Cheap Store.”

Trevor’s parents, Fred and Grace, had met while working for Kwong Sing & Co store. Trevor is Quin Jack’s Grandson – and also my grandfather.

Trevor’s younger brother Geoffrey Russell Earl Jack (Russell) was born in 1919, in Glen Innes. They are both in the pictures above.

Moving to Sydney

The family moved to Sydney for a short while, with Fred employed first at Nock and Kirby’s before he tried a little business of his own “... Didn’t do any good then. That’s when he moved up to Inverell after he sold out. Because things were pretty hard down there.” Trevor recalled. ” … Harry Fay offered him [Fred] a job. Because things weren’t too good down in the city but strange to say I went back and worked at Nock and Kirby’s after I came out of the army, back in the 1940’s, 1946 worked at Nock and Kirby’s for a few years.“

While in Sydney, Trevor started school at Orange Grove Public School at Leichhardt. By 1923, they had moved to Inverell, where Fred took up employment as an ironmonger at another Chinese-owned general store, Hong Yuen’s.

Growing up in Inverell

Trevor grew up in Inverell. His early childhood was spent with the extended family, still living in nearby Tingha. According to Trevor’s account, in an interview with Janis Wilton, he recalled the yearly Qingming or Tomb Sweeping Day which was celebrated in the local cemetery. Offerings of food, rice and wine were presented in these tiny celadon glazed bowls.

“A whole pig was roasted, which would attract quite a crowd of gawkers waiting for a feed”.

Trevor and Russell spent every Sunday visiting the family’s farm in Tingha, up until the death of Trevor’s Father Fred.

The family was involved in mining tin, farming sheep and cattle, and growing fruit and vegetables in the orchard. They spent their days exploring the property and hunting.

“Father, of course, taught us all to shoot. Always had guns in the house and we’d go out to the orchard out at Tingha, get a few rabbits.”

Music

Music played a big role in the Kee Chong side of our family. Trevor’s Mother, Grace and her siblings played the piano, violin and sang. Ron Lees, a cousin of Trevor’s, is a celebrated Australian tenor who has performed nationally and internationally on radio and TV.

“… She [Grace] went to school ’til she was 17 or 18 and she was also a very good pianist. …mother was very musical and she had quite some years of music over in Moree. She won a couple of competitions over there and she played very well. But came in handy in later life when she had to earn a living after my father died.”

Father, of course, taught us all to shoot. Always had guns in the house and
we’d go out to the orchard out at Tingha, get a few rabbits.

Was she teaching music? — Janis Wilton

“…No she played with dance bands. When we moved up to Inverell…of course there were quite a few Chinese there with Hong Yuen’s. Never had no worries about schooling much as far as the usual shiacking we used to get from kids calling you names and all that because there’d been a family of Tet Fong’s at the school, all gone through. And they’d gone through and very one of them got their leaving certificates. The Tet Fong family … came from Tingha, because the old grandfather there was known as Dr Tet Fong, he was a herbalist. The family were raised there but all the boys went to school in Inverell after going to Tingha in the early years. They had the rest of their schooling at Inverell. That’s right, it was the Inverell High School in those days. I think it’s the one up in Belgravia area. I think they changed, because they’ve built a new high school up there now, haven’t they? But this is the old intermediate high school was up there in the Belgravia area and they all went there. Went up to fifth year, I think it was in those days. So we never had any worries about going to school and being called names and things like that. School was quite pleasant, see. I was only at school there and left in 1931. When Father died I had to leave school and go to work. ‘Cause Harry Fay said we’ll put you on and give you a job here. 14, you can start for a pound a week or fifteen shillings a week, I think it was. But school was quite good, quite okay.“

— Trevor recalls (Interview with Janis Wilton)

On Religion

Grace Jack, Trevor’s mother was a Methodist and joined the church choir, when asked about Fred his father “… Oh, he was Church of England, but he never went to church. He was like me, a retired protestant!”

Trevor recalls his Uncle Les Played the violin …. “Uncle, he played the violin yes. And he played some tunes on the gum leaf.
Still play a tune on the gum leaf…blow a gum leaf. Whistles away over there occasionally.“

“Chinese families that I remember living in Inverell during my time at Hong Yuens: The Fays, of course, the Fong, Tong, Wong, Lui, Doo, Hoy, Guan, Lumbewe, Ling, Woo, Manwar, and Lowe families

Fred Jack died tragically in 1931 while rescuing two people from drowning in the MacIntyre River in Inverell. He was aged 42.

“… very young. 42 and of course that created problems because I had to leave school, because I was only in second year and I had to leave
school and went to work at Hong Yuen’s. And from then it was a bit of a struggle to exist. … So then I had to go to work and of course then Mum had to find something to do then because fifteen shillings a week you couldn’t live on. That’s a wage, see.”

— Trevor recalls (Interview with Janis Wilton)

Trevor, was offered a job working as an iron monger at Hong Yuens shortly after the death of his father — Fred. This was at the height of the depression and would have been a lifeline for the family — now struggling after the loss of their primary bread winner.

“Well of course the depression times were very…well we were lucky to have a
job, because there was so many without”

— Trevor recalls (Interview with Janis Wilton)

Russell stayed at school for another couple of years before leaving and going to work Glen Innes at Kwong Sing & Co.

“But we managed there because we started up an orchestra. Mum started an orchestra. Not that we knew much about it but
had to buy everything, you know, on the never-never. Got our first set of drums and wrote down to Sutton’s for a…sent them five pounds deposit and a pound of month.”

My grandfather Trevor Jack, a second/third-generation Chinese-Australian, contributed substantially to the war effort. He joined the army in January 1939, prior to the war breaking out. Later he joined ‘Z’ Special Unit. Initially as an Officer-Trainer and later as an Operative in the field.

During the war he met my grandmother, Mary Daneman, and they married shortly after the war ended. This is a photo of the handsome couple at their engagement party.  

In the late 1940s, after WWII ended, Mary and Trevor bought a chicken farm at Mt Pritchard, which Mary ran, while Trevor worked at Nock & Kirby’s. A couple of years later, they moved to Mullumbimby for a short while, there to help out Trevor’s brother Russell in his General store, Russell E Jack & Co. The business wasn’t large enough to support them, so after the birth of their daughter Christine (my mother), they sold up and moved to Coonabarabran.

“…Sam Woo was here at that stage. He said, “oh there’s a little milk bar for sale over the road, it might be all right”. Never sold a sandwich in my life. Anyhow, we bought it and started from there. Then we got into the catering business, Jack’s Catering Service.

— Trevor recalls (Interview with Janis Wilton)

Trevor Jack died in 1994 and Mary passed away in 2018. Both are interred at Coonabarabran.