Historical information

This Bible belonged to Thomas Wong Ch(e)ong who was the catechist at the Warrnambool Chinese Church in Ryot Street, Warrnambool. In 1892 Thomas Wong Cheong was appointed by the Foreign Missions Committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria as the catechist to the Chinese community in Warrnambool and district. The Chinese Church in Ryot Street was established in the early 1890s and continued until the late 1920s when the numbers of the local Chinese community had declined. Thomas Wong Cheong and his wife worked tirelessly in the Warrnambool district until his death in 1923. No information has been found on James Yee Keet.

Significance

This is a book of high significance because it belonged to Thomas Wong Cheong who holds an important place in Warrnambool’s history because of his work with the Warrnambool Chinese community over a period of 30 years.

Physical description

This is a leather-covered book with four gold Chinese characters on the spine and the back cover (the front cover for Chinese readers). The leather on the cover extends over the pages and folds inwards to almost enclose the pages. The pages are gilt-edged. The inscription is handwritten in blue ink. The book contains a fold-out map of the Mediterranean Sea area and all the text is in printed Chinese characters. The cover is somewhat scuffed and there is some silverfish damage on the inside cover.

Inscriptions & markings

‘Presented to Christian friend Mr Thos. Wong Chong Missionary at Warnambool (sic) by his sincere friend James Yee Keet Great Western Augt.1st 1895’