Margaret Pack was born in approximately 1885.

Her mother, Maria Yew, passed away at age 35 on September 24, 1895.

Margaret was thought to have Cantonese, Scottish and some French heritage.

Margaret and Ah Pack settled in Hay.

Ah Pack’s older brother had come into Melbourne from China.

He loved the new country so he ventured back to China to bring Ah and their brothers to Australia together. The brothers travelled towards Balranald in search of work.

Ah found work as a gardener on a station. 

His brother continued on in his search for work and sadly, the brothers never saw each other again.

Years later a member of the Pack clan would report that Ah Pack’s brother was settled up on the NSW North Coast and had family there.

Ah also grew vegetables to supplement his gardeners’ wages, and sold fresh grown vegetables to nearby stations.

Ah and Margaret had 18 children, Florrie, Eileen, Harold, Lindsay, Grace, Olive, Amy, Joyce, Anzac, Hazel, Percy, Jacky, Kathleen, Ruth, Alec, Isabel and Iris, and Eric.

This was not common for the times, and one of their neighbours in Hay had a similarly sized family.

Iris and Isabel were twins, but the remainder were single births. Anzac was born on Anzac Day in 1915.

Joyce was born in 1913.

Olive married an Englishman Tom Hey, and settled in Hay.

Jackie became an infantryman in the Second World War and was featured in the paper. Many of the children had a strong affinity with the land, with Anzac growing cotton near Narrandera, Jackie and Lindsay also ending up on the land.

Life would have been tough through the depression, two world wars and the harshness and vagaries of the outback Australian weather.

The youngest child Eric died aged seven months, on January 2, 1928.

Alec was one of the last remaining of the children, and remined in Hay until just before his passing.

Alec worked as a shearer for 35 years, the best times of his life.

Alec would work at the station for the Rees family for many years and learn a lot from all the things he got to do at Daisy Plains.

Rees paid him well, bought him clothes and provided meat for his family, and Alec was a valuable and loyal worker, thankful for the opportunities.

As well as working for the Rees, Alec also travelled around as a shearer, starting as a younger man under the wing of his brother Anzac.

He became very accomplished in his own right and at his peak could get through more than 200 full size sheep in a single day.

Hard work, shearing paid well for the times. He was often up at 5:30AM eating a quick lamb chop and a slice of bread as he walked from the workers hut to the shearing shed.

Working all morning then a short break from the shearing for a minimal lunch before settling in to finish the day's work around 5PM.

Dinner was the main meal of the day, with workers eating well to prepare for the next day.

Alec recalled ten hungry shearers eating five legs of mutton between them.

Both Ah Pack and Margaret died when the youngest children were still quite small.

Alec's only memory of his mother was her sitting in a chair at home and he as a toddler pulling himself to his feet using his mother’s seated knee for balance.

His last memory of his father was when he was sick and in his sixties at home.

Alec and Jacky were quarrelling over matches and both received punishment from Ah Peck to stop their argument.

Margaret passed at 43 years of age on June 22, 1928. Ah Pack passed two years later aged 65 on 24th November 1930.

There is a small headstone memorial in Hay Cemetery for Margaret.

Ah Pack was not mentioned by name, but as Margarets husband, and also their youngest son Eric, who died as an infant.

Henry and Joyce

Henry Huie James was born in 1907 in Canton province.

He ventured to Melbourne in the 1920s at 20 on a merchant boat, jumped ship and met up with his brother. He had a Chinese name, Huie, and no English comprehension.

Henry and his brother separated after leaving Melbourne and never reunited.

Henry saved money and bought a motor bike.

He created a book in Chinese characters that he used to teach himself English. He had the special brushes needed for the proper formation of the characters and could write Chinese characters well. He was very literate in Chinese and had attained a good education.

Henry did not talk much about his earlier life, most likely out of concern that his illegal immigration would come to light, with even Joyce not knowing much about his early years.

Joyce Roseana You Pack lived in Hay and helped care for her younger siblings.

With a strong sense of duty Joyce was a member of the Salvation Army and active in the local community.

The Hay area went through a period of growth from the 1850s onwards.

There was a small Chinese community centred around Sturt Place in Hay, close to the Pack residence that was believed to have come to Hay seeking opportunities after the initial gold rush was over.

In Hay, Henry met Joyce Pack, one of eleven daughters, in one of the large Pack clans in Hay.

When talking to Alec he said that Joyce was one of the best of the children.

Henry and Joyce were married, and settled on a small property on the outskirts of South Hay.

The house was to the south end of the multi-acre lot with north end of the property backing onto the Murrumbidgee River.

Henry was able to show his business skills and adaptability by creating a successful market garden at the site.

The access to plentiful water would have helped but he was able to change from being a tailor to being a farmer.

He grew vegetables which were taken into Lachlan St the main street of Hay to sell, and business proved to be vastly successful.

Allan, their first child was born on March 14, 1937, lived on the property in Hay and began school there.

Allan would ride his bike from South Hay to the school across the river.

After a time, Henry and Joyce decided to relocate to Sydney for Allan’s education.

They moved to 75 George Street terrace in Sydney's Main Street, renting a house from the Maritime Services Board.

Henry would later try to buy the property but that never happened, but it remained the family home until his retirement in the 70’s.

In Sydney another son, Roger Henry James was born in 1947.

Devastatingly, he died from meningitis at eight months old.

In 1948, their daughter Roslyn was born.

Henry had started a laundry and dry-cleaning business upon arrival in Sydney.

Having had a knowledge of clothing from his earlier life would have helped but he was able to cater to the business community in Sydney with his new enterprise.

Business men would bring in their laundry where it was then professionally done and nicely packaged up for them to take home.

Henry’s business was featured in Pix magazine, which was as popular then as People magazine is today.

Joyce and Henry remained in George Street for many years, enjoying life with the large extended family they created.

Henry retired 1974. He and Joyce moved from their George St terrace to an apartment in Top Ryde, within walking distance from the Top Ryde shopping Centre.

Henry was eligible to get a pension but did not pursue one, as he was in the country illegally and was concerned about deportation.  

Henry had never disclosed much of this with Joyce, despite their years together. Regardless of this, he voted, paid taxes and enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy at the end of the Second World War. Allan eventually Finally, Allan contacted someone he knew in immigration, who organised a private naturalisation ceremony, and thus Henry was an official citizen. Joyce and Henry both died in 1980. Joyce from a stroke. Henry found life a struggle after Joyce's passing, and passed himself several months later. They along with Roger Henry are buried at Botany cemetery in the Church of England section.