THE LEE FAMILY PAPERS

an inventory

by

PAUL YEE

THE LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBI A

1982

Lee Family Paper s

The Lee family papers were donated to the University of British Columbia ,by Ian Lee, a computer programmer in the UBC Library, in 1982 . The paper sare the records of the business activities of his father Lee Kepment an dhis grandfather, Lee Thung .

Lee Thung, also known as Lee Sai Thung, Lee Sai Chong, Lee Sai Sung ,was born in Suey Low village, in the district of Sun Ning, province o fKuantung, on October 27, 1878 .

He arrived in North America, in search of Gim San, in 1893, on aclipper ship which landed in San Francisco . He was unaccompanied . Therecords show that he arrived in Victoria on August 15, 1892 aboard theEmpress of Japan .

He was initially employed as kitchen help in the Empress Hotel . Thedate of his arrival in Vancouver is not known, but it was probably atleast 1895 . By the early 1900 ' s he became one of the most prominentbusinessmen among the Chinese in Vancouver . His principal business wasas a general merchant . He founded the Lee Yune Company, which was one o fthe communities' most successful shops . Along with this business he ha dacquired much real estate and was responsible for constructing many of th ebuildings in Chinatown . Records also show that he did considerable wor kcontracting for the fishing industry in B .C . supplying Chinese labour tothe maritime fishing companie s ' canneries . He was also prominent in th efounding of the Lee Association of Canada . He died in 1951 .

Lee Kepment, his son, was born in China in 1898 . He arrived inCanada on December 11, 1911 with his mother, Hong Shee . He resided at1576 Kitchener Street from 1912 until the day he died . He worked in thebusiness of Lee Yune with his father and became the principal manage rof the business until its demise in the late 192 0 ' s . He then worked asa court interpreter, and generally was prominent in the aid to immigran tChinese . He became manager of Kam Yen Jan Sausage Company in the earl y1930's until the 1940's . He was self-employed in business from the lat e1940's until his death in 1976 . He was married to Irene Kee in 1931 .Lee Kepment was prominent in Chinese politics ; heavily involved with theKuo Min Tang, he was Canada's representative in 1939 at the Chines eParliament in Chung King . He left the Kuo Min Tang not long after th eend of World War II . He was also prominent in Chinese Liberal politics .

The papers were received from Ian Lee in 1982 . They have been kep tin their original order, which in some cases appears slightly confusing ,as dates vary from file to file .

LEE FAMILY PAPERS

Serie s

Correspondenc e

re Steveston propert y

steamship company

monthly statements

Hong Yuen Companysteamships127 E . Pender St . property

statement s

Tai On Company

Chinese Chamber of Commerc e

Pu Hing Companystatements

Chinese Chamber of Commerc ereceipts

real estate and taxes

real estate

fortune tellerLee Sai Wu

Chinese Freemason s

Box No .

2- 12- 22- 32-42- 52- 62-72-82- 92-1 02-1 1

3- 13- 23- 33-43- 5

3- 63- 73- 8

4- 14-24- 34- 44- 54- 6

5- 15-2

5-3

5-4

5-55- 65- 7

5- 85-9

Date

undated

undated statement sundated statement s1895-191 21898190119041906190719081907-1908

1908

1908-19091909190919011909-191 1191 0191 0

191 1191 11911-191 4

191 11911-191 2191 2191 3191 3

1913-191 519141914-1923

191 5191 5191 51916-1917191 6191 6

191 7191 7191 7191 8

1916-1921191 9

1919,19241920

Lee family papers 2

Box no . Series

Correspondence (cont)

Dat e

6-1 192 0

6-2 1920-1923

6-3 Pender St . property 1920-1924

6-4 1921

6-5 1921-19296-6 192 2

7-1 Maritime Fisheries Ltd . 19227-2 1923-19257-3 192 37-4 Bank of B .C . vs Lun Bang 192 37-5 1924

7-6 192 5

7-7 Lee Yen S ; Estate, Michigan 192 5

7-8 192 6

7-9 Mrs Lee Kepment funeral 192 6

7-10 T . Inglis Hasang-wine imports 1926-193 3

7-11 life insurance 19277-12 1927

8-1 19288-2 Canada Morning News 1928-193 0

8-3 Chinese Nationalist League, 1929-193 3

8-4 Chinese Consulate 193 08-5 193 18-6 193 28-7 Chinese Anti-Japanese Society 19328-8 19338-9 193 48-10 Hong Kong Cafe 19348-11 Newsclippings 1933-19398-12 Published items

Boxes 9 to 12, 13 Account book sBank books, cheque registers etc 1913-1914, 1921 variou sTai On Company records years

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