Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Cumyow, Won Alexander
Parallel form(s) of name
- 溫金有
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Won, Alexander Cumyow
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1861-1955
History
Won Alexander Cumyow is the first Chinese person recorded as being born in Canada, on February 14, 1861 in Port Douglas, B .C., located at the north end of Harrison Lake. Cumyow's parents had immigrated there from Canton (Guangzhou) and his father operated a business outfitting miners on their way to the Cariboo.
In addition to Chinese and English, Cumyow learned to speak Chinook which would prove useful in his future career. The family later moved to New Westminster, where Cumyow was educated in law and appointed court interpreter in 1888. He gained prominence as a merchant, community leader, and official Court Interpreter for the Vancouver City Police (1904-1936), and was involved with several groups, including the Chinese Empire Reform Association.
He married in 1889 and had ten children, including four sons and six daughters. His son, Gordon, succeeded him as Court Interpreter. He was the only Chinese person to have voted both before and after the Chinese were disenfranchised from voting, as recorded in a 1949 photo of an elderly Cumyow casting an election ballot.