Rev. Chan (陳) Sing Kai’s entry to Canada – a rare head tax refund tale using OIC records

In this series, I share the story of Rev. Chan Sing Kai, the taxes he paid, and how the monies were refunded. Rarely do we see refunds for Chinese persons during the Chinese Immigration Act era (1885-1947). In the following posts, I will explain how to use Order-in-Council records and where you can find them in real life and online.

The Rev. Chan Sing Kai immigrates to Canada

Arrival at Vancouver (1888)

The Rev. Chan Sing Kai and his party of four left Hong Kong on the Canadian Pacific Line’s SS Abyssinia on 6 Oct 1888, arriving at Vancouver twenty-nine days later.¹ The Abyssinia was built by the Guion Line and chartered by C.P. in 1887 to serve the growing demand for trans-Pacific travel.²

It had been a rough sailing:³

… The Abyssinia left Hong Kong on the 6th of October and experienced tolerably rough weather to Yokohama. The latter port she left on the 21st of October, and had a nasty time of it in a moderately heavy gale for the first two days, with strong winds and heavy seas the rest of the way.

“The S.S. Abyssinia,” Vancouver Daily World, 5 Nov 1888

Recorded on the General Register of Chinese Immigration (1888)

Rev. Chan may have been a missionary and the first Chinese Christian minister to serve Canadians, but he was still a Chinese person under the Chinese Immigration Act (1885).⁴ Accordingly, he and his party were recorded on the General Register of Chinese Immigration and charged head taxes.⁵ They were not alone. Sixty-one passengers from the Abyssinia – twelve females and forty-nine males – paid $3050 [$102K in 2024] in head taxes. By the end of 1888, immigration had collected $75,600 [$2.5M in 2024].⁶ The Province of British Columbia would have received a quarter of that windfall.

Here is a summary of the information on the register:

• Chan Sing Ki [Kai], 33, Methodist Preacher, from Canton, paid $50, was issued C.I. 5 no. 4595
• Jew Li Goo, 30, housewife, from Canton, paid $50, was issued C.I. 5 no. 4596
• Chan Tsan Gin, 12, boy, from Canton, paid $50, was issued C.I. 5 no. 4597
• Chan Him Soon, 5, girl, from Canton, paid $50, was issued C.I. 5 no. 4598
• Chin Lem Si, 16, girl, from Canton, paid $50, was issued C.I. 5 no. 4599 [this is likely Eva Chan, who married Alexander Won Cumyow a year later]

Who paid the taxes?

Who paid the family taxes of $250 [$8300 in 2024]?⁸ Rev. Chan was a missionary and not known to be wealthy.

The Missionary Society paid the taxes. This was a significant investment and must have caused some debate in the congregation. As reported in The Victoria Daily Times of Victoria, BC:

How did the refund happen?

One wonders if they were expecting an exemption on religious grounds, because they got one. Two months later, the Society applied for a refund. Their request was considered by the highest levels of government: the Privy Council and then referred to the Treasury for a decision.

The Board has under consideration a memorandum from Mr. W.G. Parmelee, Chief Controller of Chinese submitting an application from Mr. Sutherland, General Secretary of the Methodist Church Missionary Department, Toronto, for the remission of the head tax paid under provisions of the Chinese Restriction Act, upon Mr. Chan Sing Kai, who was brought out by the said Society to serve the Chinese on the Pacific Coast, it being claimed that he and his family were brought out by the Society not for any Commercial gain to either it or himself, but solely for the moral and religious benefit of the Chinese people.

The family apparently consists of Chan Sing Kai, his wife and three children, five persons in all, on whom was paid on arriving in Vancouver the amount of $250.00.

The Board recommend that the Chinese tax on Chan Sing Kai and family be waived for the reasons above stated.

Privy Council Minutes, 17 Jan 1889

The society was successful in their application to have the taxes refunded. It’s interesting that the Treasury was willing to refund all of the taxes. Note their suspicion in the words “the family apparently consists of Chan Sing Kai, his wife and three children.” Can this be considered leniency?

Who was Rev. Chan (陳) Sing Kai?

Rev. Chan Sing Kai was Canada’s first ordained minister of Chinese descent.⁹

I learned the story of his life almost accidentally, while writing my study of one of Canada’s first documented Chinese families: the Wons (溫) of New Westminster, BC. Readers will be familiar with Won Alexander Cumyow (1861-1955) but perhaps be less familiar with his in-laws, the Chans (陳). I wanted to dive right into the new rabbit hole but there was a study to complete – all of which is to say my understanding of the Chan genealogy should be considered preliminary and needing further research. See the References, below.

Rev. Chan was born abt. 1854, which made him thirty-eight when he emigrated to North America. He died on 6 Jan 1953 in Los Angeles, age ninety-eight.¹⁰ The photo here is undated, but the notation suggests it was last modified in the 1930s, when Chan was 76-86.¹¹

Rev. Chan and his wife, Kate Chow, had six children. The eldest, who is recorded on the General Register of Chinese Immigration as Chin Lem Si, is likely Eva Chan. Also noteworthy and not represented on this tree is Rev. Chan’s brother, the Rev. Chan Yu Tan, who was also called to minister in Canada.¹²

Rev. Chan Sing Kai arrived in November, 1888. At the time, Vancouver had been incorporated for two years and was the new terminus for the three-year-old Canadian Pacific Railway. There would have been building sites everywhere, with $1.5M [$50M in 2024] invested in the prior twelve months.¹³ The Wing Sang Company (1889), too, was likely under construction.

The arrival of a Chinese Methodist minister caused considerable interest. Rev. Chan’s work was reported in the newspapers.¹⁴ Even more impressive was the attendance at his sermons. Three hundred people showed up nightly at “the Winters building on Dupont Street [now E. Pender].”⁸ Also attending were Won Alexander Cumyow and the Rev. Ebenezer Robson. Notable for 1888, they said, “Numbers of white people are to be noticed among the attentive audiences.” It’s curious that Rev. Chan was preaching at some random Chinatown location but perhaps there was no church yet built.

I searched for “the Winters building” on “Dupont” in available online city directories and newspapers. In an 1889 news article, I found the “Winters building” between Carrall and Columbia.¹⁵ This puts Rev. Chan’s meetings in the same city block as the soon-to-be completed Wing Sang Company (29 Dupont).

I did find several mentions of a “Dick Winters,” a barber on Cordova Street. This connection is tenuous – he’s local but Cordova is two blocks away from Dupont. Regardless, there was a person surnamed Winters, and there was a barbershop on Dupont between Carrall and Columbia. Could they be connected? Was this where Rev. Chan held his first sermons? I located an 1889 map of the area.¹⁶ You can see a “Chin. Notions” [Chinese dry goods] store at 29 Dupont, and I like to imagine that perhaps my great-grandfather Yip Sang attended the events when taking a break from supervising the construction of his building across the street.

Rev. Chan served in British Columbia for about thirteen years before leaving for the U.S. in abt. 1901.¹⁷

Researching OIC records at LAC

In this post I researched a head tax refund with Order-in-Council (OIC) records¹⁸ at Library and Archives Canada. “Capitation taxes” is a fancy term for “head taxes,” and “capitation tax refunds” appeared to have been done by Orders-in-Council. By now we’re familiar with the process of taxing or exempting Chinese individuals under the Chinese Immigration Act (1885-1947) but refunding those taxes is less clear. Any exceptions to the Act were decided by the Privy Council (including Governor-General, cabinet ministers including the Treasury, and chief justices). Refunding a head tax was on a level with national security.

In the next posts I’ll explain the multistep research process that uncovered the story of Chan Sing Kai’s head tax refund.

Next time: How to navigate Order-in-Council records at LAC

Thank yous

I’ve been working on this series for over six months and there are many people to thank. To Anik Lafleche, Sacha Victor, and the staff at LAC’s Reference Room, who met with me, answered my questions, and guided me like a newborn through the records. To my cousins Jim and Tina who housed me for both trips to Ottawa. To Carol for her excellent research questions. And to my new friend in the Senate who listened to my discoveries and encouraged me to keep going.

References

¹Canada, Immigrants from China, 1885-1949, “General Registers of Chinese Immigration,” digital images, serial nos. 4009-4010, vol. 694, microfilm no. T-3484, reference no. RG 76, D2a, passenger manifest of Chan Sing Ki [Kai] family registered 8 Nov 1888, Library and Archives Canada, accessed 5 Sep 2021.

²S. Swiggum and M. Kohli, “Canadian Pacific Line,” (2008), encyclopedia, Abyssinia, built 1870 by the Guion Line and chartered by CP 1887, The Ships List, accessed 22 Aug 2023); the Abyssinia was returned to the Guion Line in 1891 and was later lost by fire at sea; Wikipedia, “SS Abyssinia,” (edited 11 Oct 2021), Wikipedia, accessed 22 Aug 2023.

³“The S.S. Abyssinia reaches Vancouver on Sunday morning – a remarkably quick passage.” Vancouver Daily World, 5 Nov 1888, pg. 1, col. 5, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, digital images, article about the voyage of the Abyssinia from Hong Kong to Vancouver in Oct and Nov 1888, Newspapers.com, accessed 22 Aug 2023.

⁴“The Chinese Immigration Act, 1885,” online encyclopedia, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, accessed March 6, 2021; initially, the federal government received all the head tax revenue but the Act was amended on 23 Jun 1887 to pay the province in which the taxes were collected one-fourth. This was revised again in 1903 to raise the provincial share to one-half.

⁵Passenger manifest of Chan Sing Ki [Kai] family registered 8 Nov 1888.

⁶Calculations based on the Excel spreadsheet created by Peter W. Ward and Henry Yu, “Register of Chinese Immigrants to Canada, 1886-1949,” 2008, Vancouver, BC, University of British Columbia Open Collections, accessed 24 Aug 2023.

⁷Federal Archives Division, “Chinese,” in Ethnic Index, vol. A-E, 3 vols. (Ottawa, ON: Library and Archives Canada, 1986), 66–112; see O.I.C. no. 1591, “Chinese Capitation Tax – Payment 50% of said tax to Province of BC,” (18 Sep 1903).

⁸Canada, Privy Council Office, Privy Council Minutes (January 12-19, 1889), microfilm no. C-3398, item no. 38(a), Admission of Chan Sing Qtoi [Kai] and family – Chinese missionary in BC, confirmed 12 Jan 1889, presented by Treasury to P.C. 14 Jan 1889; consulted [Privy Council] “1889 Register” (1889), item no. 88 re: Treasury Board 14 Jan 1899, submit 17 cases; consulted RG2 2-1 to 2-11, pt. 2 finding aids for microfilms C-3397 (13 Nov 1889 to 9 Jan 1889) and C-3398 (9 Jan 1889 to 16 Feb 1889); consulted “Ethnic Index A-E” (Jul 1986), sec. “Chinese,” pg. 72 re: OIC 88 “Admission of Chan Sing Qtoi & family – Chinese Missionary in B.C. (12 Jan 1889); Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON. Note I have taken the liberty of writing only one citation in this blog post for all of these consulted works. As of this writing, reel no. C-3398 is not yet on Heritage Canadiana although all reels from the “C” and “T” series are slated to be digitization.

⁹John Price, “Chan Sing Kai (1854-1952) | Victoria’s Chinatown,” n.d., digital images, Victoria’s Chinatown: A Gateway to the Past and Present of Chinese Canadians, University of Victoria, accessed 1 Jan 2024; also Anne Meis Knupfer, “Biographical Sketch of Sing Kai Chan | Alexander Street Documents,” 2023, museum and archives, Alexander Street, part of Clarivate, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

¹⁰For select research re: Chan Sing Kai, see:

____Canada, 1891 Canada Census, Victoria, British Columbia, population schedule, enumeration district no. 2, subdistrict: 16, pg. 28, family no. 136, entry for Chan Sing Kai household, [digital image], Ancestry.com, accessed 5 Sep 2021; citing LAC Record Group 31-C-1. LAC microfilm T-6290;

____Canada, 1901 Canada Census, Victoria, British Columbia, population schedule, enumeration district no. 4, Victoria, subdistrict: D, polling subdivision no. 14 Victoria City, pg. 32, dwelling no. 379, family no. 389, entry for Chan Sing Kai household, [digital image], Ancestry.com, accessed 5 Sep 2021; citing LAC Record Group 31-C-1. LAC microfilm T-6428 to T-6556.

____U.S., 1910 U.S. Census, Portland, OR, population schedule, enumeration district of Multnomah, ward 4, district 145, sheet no. 7A, roll no. Roll: T624_1286, dwelling no. 226 1/2, family no. 50, entry for Chang [Chan] Kai Sing household, [digital image], Ancestry.com, accessed 24 Aug 2023; citing FHL microfilm: 1375299.

____U.S., 1920 United States Federal Census, California, Santa Clara, Precinct no. 9, San Jose City, population schedule, district no. 7, enumeration district no. 161, page no. 8B, dwelling no. 591, family no. 13, entry for Sing Kai Chan household, digital image, image 16 of 29, Ancestry.com, accessed 24 Aug 2023; citing NARA RG29, NARA microfilm publication T625.

____U.S., 1930 United States Federal Census, California, Los Angeles, Assembly District no. 60, Los Angeles City, population schedule, district no. 239, enumeration district no. 19-725, block no. 678, page no. 32B, dwelling no. 522, family no. 140, entry for Frank H. Chew household w/Chan Sing Kai as lodger, digital image, image 51 of 53, Ancestry.com accessed 24 Aug 2023; citing FHL microfilm: 2339898.

____”California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994,” database with images, FamilySearch, accessed 1 Jan 2024, citing Los Angeles, Los Angeles > Death certificates 1953 no 1-800 > image 242 of 983; California State Archives, Sacramento.

¹¹[photo of Chan Sing Kai], undated, last modified 1930, digital images online, id no. CC-PH-00346, portrait photo of the Reverend Chan Sing Kai, location unknown, photographer unknown, University of British Columbia Rare Books and  Special Collections, Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

¹²John Price, “Chan Yu Tan | Victoria’s Chinatown,” undated, museum and archives, Victoria’s Chinatown: A Gateway to the Past and Present of Chinese Canadians, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

¹³Canada, British Columbia City Directories, 1860-1955, database with images, R.T. Williams Vancouver City Directory, 1888, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, p. VI, Introduction, Vancouver Public Library, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

¹⁴See for example:

____ “Vancouver News – the City’s Religious Zeal – School Matters – For the Orient,” Vancouver Daily World, 16 Nov 1888, pg. 3, col. 2, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, [digital images], article about Chan Sing Kai in Vancouver, Newspapers.com, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

____”The Chinese Revivalist,” Vancouver Daily World, 14 Nov 1888, pg. 4, col. 2, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, [digital images], article about Chan Sing Kai in Vancouver, Newspapers.com, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

____Vancouver Daily World, 19 Nov 1888, pg. 1, col. 7, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, [digital images], article about Chan Sing Kai in Vancouver, Newspapers.com, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

¹⁵“Empress City of the North – the Story of Vancouver’s Wonderful Growth and Progress since June 1886 – A Complete Record of all Buildings Erected in the City since the Great Fire,”Vancouver Daily World, 31 Dec 1889, pg. 5, cols. 1-7, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, [digital images], Newspapers.com, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

¹⁶Dakin Publishing Co., “Item : MAP 654 – City of Vancouver,”  1889, images online, reference no. AM1594-: MAP 654, scan of reassembled 1889 fire insurance map of Vancouver, created by the Dakin Publishing Company of San Francisco, City of Vancouver Archives, accessed 1 Jan 2024.

¹⁷Chan said that he emigrated in 1901 according to U.S. census records; however, other records suggest that he was still in Victoria, BC, at least as late as 1904. Further research is needed.

¹⁸Government of Canada, Orders in Council, website, 2023, Canada.ca, accessed 30 Dec 2023.