Joe Chan

1882 (age 77)

Guangdong Province, China

Ah Chan worked in Wellington as a fruit and vegetable hawker. He established a market garden, grew glasshouse tomatoes, and later began growing tomatoes outdoors - Ah Chan became one of the first to grow them commercially in New Zealand. He died in Auckland on 14 December 1959, and he was buried at Waikumete cemetery. In 1925 Ah Chan began growing grapes at Totara and established Gold Leaf Vineyards. In 1929 Ah Chan produced his first batch of 1,000 gallons of wine. In 1933 Ah Chan designed and built a large wooden reel to lay specially made six-foot rolls of wire-netting, which were used to protect the grapevines from bird damage. He also designed and installed a large water tank and an automatic pressurised piping system for spraying and irrigation. In 1950 Ah Chan sold the vineyard to a distant kinsman, Stanley Young Chan, who changed its name to Totara Vineyards SYC. Ah Chan and his family settled in Blockhouse Bay, Auckland, on a five-acre property with six glasshouses, where he grew tomatoes for the Auckland markets. He helped to raise funds for the Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-senior Later, he was a strong supporter of Chiang Kai-shek and made large donations to assist China"s war effort against Japan.

Joe Chan

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horticulturist winegrower

Background

He was born in Guangdong Province, China on 1882. Chan Hock Joe was born in 1882, at Ha Kei, Tsengshing (Zengcheng) county, in the Guangdong province of China.

Career

Ah Chan worked in Wellington as a fruit and vegetable hawker. He established a market garden, grew glasshouse tomatoes, and later began growing tomatoes outdoors - Ah Chan became one of the first to grow them commercially in New Zealand. He died in Auckland on 14 December 1959, and he was buried at Waikumete cemetery.

In 1925 Ah Chan began growing grapes at Totara and established Gold Leaf Vineyards.

In 1929 Ah Chan produced his first batch of 1,000 gallons of wine. In 1933 Ah Chan designed and built a large wooden reel to lay specially made six-foot rolls of wire-netting, which were used to protect the grapevines from bird damage.

He also designed and installed a large water tank and an automatic pressurised piping system for spraying and irrigation. In 1950 Ah Chan sold the vineyard to a distant kinsman, Stanley Young Chan, who changed its name to Totara Vineyards SYC. Ah Chan and his family settled in Blockhouse Bay, Auckland, on a five-acre property with six glasshouses, where he grew tomatoes for the Auckland markets.

He helped to raise funds for the Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-senior

Later, he was a strong supporter of Chiang Kai-shek and made large donations to assist China"s war effort against Japan.

Politics

Ah Chan had been a founding member of the Chinese nationalist party, the Kuomintang, in New Zealand and served as chairman of its Waikato branch.

Membership

During the 1930s, Ah Chan became a member of the New Zealand Labour Party.

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Joe Chan

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