Phomen Singh
Passport portrait of Phomen Singh, taken 1920s by an unknown photographer.
Born1869/1870
Died27 May 1935
NationalityIndian

Phomen Singh (Punjabi: ਫੁੰਮਣ ਸਿੰਘ; 1869/1870 – 27 May 1935), also known Phuman Singh and Phomen Singh Gill, is noted as one of the earliest Indian migrants to Aotearoa New Zealand.[1] He was born in Punjab, India and was brought up in the Moga district, in a village called Charik where his Sikh family were farmers.[1] His father Bela Singh and mother Sundar had three sons of which Phomen was the second.[1] Singh found business success in New Zealand as a confectioner.[1]

Life and career

In the 1880s, Singh's older brother Bir Singh (d.1917) travelled to Hong Kong and then settled in Australia. The Singh family did not hear from Bir after his departure from India, and as a result Phomen was sent on behalf of the family to find his brother.[2] At 22, Singh travelled to Australia and found his brother, they both stayed in Australia for three years.[3] Instead of returning home to India, the two Singh brothers travelled to Aotearoa New Zealand, arriving in about 1890.[2][3]

While there were already Indians in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Singh brothers were among the first recorded immigrants from Punjab and marked the start of three ripples of Punjabi migration prior to the Immigration Restriction Amendment Act of 1920.[2][4]

It is noted that two copies of the Guru Granths, the religious scripture of Sikhism, were present in New Zealand by 1930.[5] The first of which was brought over by Phomen Singh in 1892.[5]

The brothers soon went their separate ways, Bir travelled the Whanganui area and worked as a herbalist where he meet and married a Māori woman.[2] Bir also prepared food for troops during World War I who were stationed at Trentham Camp.[4]

Phomen remained in Auckland and began his career as a confectioner.[2] Under the guidance of a Muslim confectioner, Singh learnt to make sweets. He then moved from Auckland to Wellington where he became a hawker and sold Indian sweets, curries and chutneys out of a suitcase door to door.[2][6][4]

During Singh's time in Wellington he met nurse, Margaret Ford from Kent, England. The couple married on the 5th of April 1898 in Whanganui.[2] The couple had three sons and one daughter and later, eight grandchildren.[3]

Singh started a confectionary company alongside business partner Charlie Abraham, a Muslim man. The business, Abraham, Singh and Company, Indian Lollie Manufacturers disbanded soon after formation in 1898 by mutual consent of Singh and Abraham. Singh took over the business on his own.[7] Singh rented shops in Whanganui's Victoria Avenue and Wilson Street and his family lived behind one of the shops. Singh employed a Sikh man named Ganda Singh who came from the region of Malwa in Punjab at his confectionary factory located on Wilson Street. Ganda Singh migrated to Aotearoa New Zealand around 1899 and also led a Indian troupe that performed traditional dance and entertainment throughout local towns.[8]

By 1915, the Singh family had moved to New Plymouth, Eltham and Marton in New Zealand's North Island. In each of these towns, Singh opened a sweet and fruit shop named Eureka, however business did not thrive.[2] It was not until 1924 to 1925 in Palmerston North that business flourished at Singh's shops on The Square and Rangitikei Street.[2] Singh also owned an orchard in Brunswick for a short period before selling and moving on.[1] Singh and his family made confectionary at their Palmerston North home at 16 Andrew Young Street and sold it at their local shops and to nearby towns by horse-drawn van.[2]

In 1932, Singh's daughter Kartari Singh was married in Te Aroha, the event garnered great public interest and made multiple newspaper outlets at the time. It was noted that Phomen Singh was dedicated to follow the traditions of a Sikh marriage ceremony.[9][10][11]

Death and legacy

Singh made one last trip to India, where he stayed for a year and eight months in an attempt to recuperate from ill-health.[3]

Soon after arriving back in New Zealand, Singh died in his Palmerston North home on May 27th 1935, after a prolonged period of sickness.[3] His funeral was held at the Karori Crematorium in Wellington.[3]

Before his death, Singh donated, to the Palmerston North Public Library, his prized copy of Max Arthur Macauliffe's book The Sikh Religion VI.[2]

Phomen Singh is noted among New Zealand's first Indian settlers with his career movements widely documented through newspapers of the time.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Singh, Phomen, 1870?-1935". natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 McLeod, W.H. (1996). "Story: Singh, Phomen". Te Ara The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "OBITUARY". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Tiwari, Kapil (1980). Indians in New Zealand: Studies of a Sub-Culture. Wellington: Price Milburn and Company Limited.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. 1 2 Singh, Harpreet (11 December 2023). "Re-Reading Sikh History in New Zealand 1900-1940" (PDF). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Sweet Rewards: Indians celebrate 125 years in New Zealand". RNZ. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Page 2 Advertisements Column 4". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "ENTERTAINMENTS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "INDIAN WEDDING PROVIDES ENTERTAINMENT AT TE AROHA". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "AN INDIAN WEDDING". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "HEAVILY VEILED AGAINST SIGHTSEERS—and her husband. A Sikh bride and her husband are escorted by the bride's father after a wedding ceremony at Te Aroha". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Singh, Harpreet (December 2010). ""Reassessing the Early History of the New Zealand Sikh Community 1881-1914"" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies. 12 (2): 1–15 – via University of Otago.

Further reading

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