Won Alexander Cumyow

Deceased Person

1861 – 1955

 Credit ยป
85

Who was Won Alexander Cumyow?

Won Alexander Cumyow was an early Chinese Canadian public servant and community leader. Born 1861 March 17 or February 14 in Port Douglas, British Columbia, Won Cumyow was the oldest son of Won Ling Sing, a store and restaurant owner who had emigrated in 1858 from Canton, China to San Francisco and later to Port Douglas. Won Cumyow was the first person of Chinese descent known to have been born within the boundaries of present-day Canada. He attended high school in New Westminster and became a court interpreter and labour contractor. He was an interpreter in the Vancouver police court from 1904 to 1936, speaking English, Cantonese, Hakka, and also the Chinook Jargon which he had learned as a child at Port Douglas. He studied law, even articled, but was not permitted a license because, being Chinese, he was denied the vote.

Cumyow voted for the first time in 1890 but provincial legislation in 1895-1896 stripped Chinese voting rights in elections in BC. The voters' list in federal elections came from the provincial election's voters' list, and so the federal franchise was also blocked. The federal Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, was repealed after World War II on 1947 May 14, and he then voted again in the next federal election in 1949 -- making him the only Chinese person to have voted both before and after the disenfranchisement. A photo of him voting has been reprinted many times.

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Born
1861
Canada
Nationality
  • Canada
Lived in
  • Fraser Valley Regional District
Died
1955
Vancouver

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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