Sing, Kum

Kum Sing owned the garden at the edge of town. He grew lots of different vegetables and also had an orchard of oranges, lemons and mandarins. He also grew grapes and around New Years Day there was always a picnic at the Broadwater. For two shillings he would fill a kerosene tin full of grapes as his contribution towards the picnic.

His remains showed signs of his habit of smoking opium but I think everyone locally was aware of that. He had an assistant called Jimmy Joe [that was his name] and he used to hawk the produce around town with a horse and dray. I can remember my Father liked shallots and they were three-pence a bunch.

When he died he was buried in the local cemetery but was exhumed a couple of years later and his remains returned to his family in China.

Extracts from a letter from William P Egan
24th July 2000