Mr. Leung was quite surprised and a little confused as to why we would want to talk to him - his family was not involved in mining. Several of the miners we interviewed suggested we speak with Norman Leung because of his family's connection to the various mining communities. The Leung family provided door to door delivery of fresh vegetables and groceries, and extended credit to miners to help them keep their families fed. Although they were not miners, this family is part of the mining history of the Comox Valley.

Norman’s Story

“The Chinese who came to this part of the country were all single people from China trying to make a living. They came with hardly anything on their backs and they had a very hard life. My grandfather, Lowe Hok Seng, came to Canada between 1880 and 1885. You always put the surname first in the Chinese culture. I imagine he would have landed in Victoria and looked for work there, anything he could get. He did so many things; he worked in logging camps as a cook, he worked in Victoria as a shoe salesman, and was also a shoe repairman. He moved to Cumberland in the early 1900’s and started a general store in Chinatown. He imported goods from China to sell, because at that time, there were many Chinese miners brought to Cumberland to work for Canadian Collieries and he felt they needed a place to shop and do business. He was quite an entrepreneur because he knew what the people wanted and he tried his best to get it for them. He even started a restaurant and a boarding house in Chinatown and eventually became a leader of the Masons Lodge. Yes, I guess he did quite well for himself.