Scattered Legacy

Family Name: Ah Toy
Given Name: Eddie (Edward Cheong)
Gender: Male
Chinese Name:
Birth Year: 1937
Death Year:
Place Of Birth: Pine Creek
Place Of Residence: Pine Creek
Region: Northern Territory
Occupation: Merchant

Eddie Ah Toy is the eldest son of Jimmy and Lily Ah Toy. He managed Ah Toy's Store in Pine Creek from 1955 to 2015.

Eddie Ah Toy 2015

Image Courtesy of: ABC Rural https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-11-04/pine-creek-store-eddie-ah-toy-serving-nt-80-years/6900306

Eddie's grandfather, Jimmy Ah You, arrived in Darwin from China during the Gold Rush years of the 1880s. In those days, there was 2,000 Chinese in the area. There was a Chinatown, with a Chinese joss house and market gardens. It wasn't until the early 1920s when Jimmy Ah You's family moved to Pine Creek and ran the old bakehouse. Eddie's father father, Jimmy Ah Toy, was one of 10 children raised in the old bakery. In 1935, Jimmy Ah Toy bought the store, now known as Ah Toy Store. Jimmy married Lily Ah Toy in 1936 and they had five children Edward, Laurence, Joyce, Grace and Elaine.

After the bombing of Darwin in 1942 the family was evacuated to Adelaide and they returned to Pine Creek in 1945 to re-open the general store. When they came back after the war, they came to the back of the old shop. And Lily went inside and she completely burst into tears because the army had occupied the area and there was nothing left in the building. The Ah Toys had to start from scratch. Ah Toy's Store was the first civilian store to open in this top end. Lily's eldest son Edward took over the management of the Pine Creek business on 20th January, 1955, after he finished his four years of high school in Darwin. Jimmy told Eddie 'While there's a bit of a mining boom on, just come down for a few years.' And, a few years, probably five years then turned into 58 years.

Eddie managed the Ah Toy Store while witnessing the town through the boom and bust cycles of mining since gold was discovered there in 1871. But it was hit especially hard by the rapid decline of the iron ore price in 2014. An exodus of more than half the population made it unviable to keep the store open. Ah Toy Store ceased trading in 2015

Rewritten based on sources: ABC Education & ABC Rural