On our website we have a picture of my great grandfathers tearooms. Arriving from Canton, China around the same time as my great grandmother arrived from England, they met and married in Gisborne, it was quite unusual for a Chinese man to marry a non Chinese women in those times. They became quite wealthy, owning tearooms, hotel and land. As was quite common they went back to China, presumably to take money back to his parents. This was during the boxer revolution. Leaving his family in Canton' he took a trip upriver to his home village, at sometime on this trip he disappeared never to be seen again, it was presumed that bandits got him as a ransom letter was received. A return trip had been paid for and my Grandmother and all 7 children (my grandfather was about 14yrs old) returned to New Zealand, somewhere in the history the younger son was put in a boarding school either in Sydney or Hongkong, information a bit hazy here, it was presumed that he was at risk of being kidnapped. He was the younger son, maybe an easier task.
The moral to this little story is that on Monday I received an email from a girl in New Zealand who was also a descendant from this Howchow line. A small world. How lucky am I though, we can share information on our family tree.
Have a great weekend
Jacky