Harry Chan
{{short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Right Worshipful
| name=Harry Chan
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|OBE}}
| image=Harry Chan (PH0838-0003).jpg
| caption=Businessman, mayor and politician Harry Chan from Darwin, Northern Territory.
| nationality=Australian
| order=6th Lord Mayor of Darwin
| term_start=1966
| term_end=1969
| deputy=
| predecessor=Lucius Richardson
| successor= Harold "Tiger" Brennan
| birth_name= Hen Fook Chan
| birth_date={{birth date|1918|6|14|df=yes}}
| birth_place=Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
| death_date={{Death date and age|df=yes|1969|8|5|1918|6|14}}
| death_place=Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
| spouse=Lilyan Yuen
| party=
}}
Hen Fook "Harry" Chan {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OBE}} (14 June 1918 – 5 August 1969) was an Australian businessman and politician who was mayor of Darwin.
Serving from 1966 to his death in 1969, he was the first ethnic Chinese mayor of Darwin.{{cite book|last1=Heatley|first1=A.|title=Harry Chan (1918–1969)|chapter=Chan, Harry (1918–1969) |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chan-harry-9722|website=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=ANU|access-date=20 July 2016}}
Early life
Chan was born in Darwin on 14 June 1918, son of Chan Fong Yuen, a Cantonese migrant and mother, Wong Quee. Chan married Lilyan Yuen, 18 January 1941. They had three sons and a daughter, the eldest and Lilyan were evacuated on the SS Zealandia in late 1941.
Businessman
Chan and his wife opened a store in a Sidney Williams hut in Smith Street, later leasing the land to Woolworths which was built on the corner of Smith and Knuckey streets.
Politician
In 1959, a Darwin City Council by-election for the Fannie Bay Ward gave Chan his first chance at politics, he won by a large margin. After working hard for the ward, the ward system was abolished in 1962. He decided to run for the Fannie Bay Electorate in 1962 for the 8th Legislative Council defeating four other candidates in an electorate of few Chinese voters thus establishing a great advertisement for the racial tolerance that was a feature of Darwin in those days.{{Cite book|title=A short history of the Legislative Council for the Northern Territory|last=Walker|first=F. (Fred)|publisher=Government Printer|year=1984|isbn=0724508287|location=Darwin|pages=60, 75–79}} Chan was first elected President of the 9th Northern Territory Legislative Council in 1965 which he held until his death. During his time as president he also held the role of Mayor of Darwin from 1966 to 1969.
Chan presided over Darwin's centenary committee, established to commemorate George Goyder's landing at Port Darwin in 1869. In an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly, he stated his hopes that a university could be established at East Point. He also stated that he had received support from the city council for a meditation centre to be established on the site of Darwin's former Chinatown.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/43201317|title=The birth of Darwin-town|magazine=The Australian Women's Weekly|date=12 March 1969|first=Margaret|last=Goyder Kerr}}
References
{{reflist}}
Other links
Harry Chan. Territory Stories, Northern Territory Library.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Harry}}
Category:Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Council
Category:Chinese-Australian history
Category:People from Darwin, Northern Territory
Category:Australian people of Chinese descent
Category:20th-century Australian politicians
Category:Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire