Family Tension & Chinatown in Agassiz, B.C. 1897

Family tension was high as not everyone was pulling their own weight to make their farm run smoothly. The Wright letters from Agassiz April 1897 show us what life was like for those settling in the Fraser Valley.

This post examines a series of letters written in April 1897 by members of the Wright family from Hazeley Ranch in Agassiz, British Columbia. Part of the ongoing Hazeley Letters series, these letters reveal growing family tensions within the Wright household, shaped by labour demands, uneven motivation among the brothers, and May Wright’s increasingly conflicted role as sister, mediator, and caretaker.

Beyond life at the Hazeley Ranch, the letters also talk about the family who remained in England. References to Dorothy Wright highlight how absence and responsibility continued to shape family relationships across the Atlantic, even as the Wrights attempted to establish themselves in the Fraser Valley.

Together, these April 1897 letters capture a moment when the optimism of settlement collided with exhaustion, frustration, and uncertainty offering a deeply human perspective on everyday settler life in nineteenth century British Columbia.

The Other Wright Siblings

The Hazeley letters follow May, Cecil, Howard, and Jack during their time in Agassiz in the 1890s, however they had other siblings who did not make the journey across the Atlantic to farm in Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada.

Edith “Dorothy” Phillippa Wright

Born in 1883, Dorothy was only 13 when the Wrights arrived in Canada. The youngest Wright sibling, Dorothy, did not journey across the Atlantic with her siblings, but instead stayed home with her parents in England.

May frequently talks about her sister in her letters, asking for photographs and sending items she thinks Dorothy may enjoy. The sisters were the oldest and the youngest siblings, with 10 years between them. Dorothy was able to visit Agassiz with her father in 1900. By that time, Cecil was the only one left running the farm.

Census records show that she worked at Vinton Garages as a clerk and later a company director at an unnamed business. Dorothy travelled frequently across the Atlantic She never married or had children and was recorded as a spinster and person of independent means when she died in 1970.

Ernest Preston Wright

Born in 1874m,Ernest was the first born child of Edith and Reverend John Preston. He died at the Earlswood Asylum also known as the Earlswood Asylum for Idiots. Currently it is called the Royal Earlswood Hospital. This is the same asylum where John Langdon Down was the medical superintendent and later whom Down’s syndrome was named.

Ernest died in 1889 of exhaustion of epilepsy and inflammation of the lungs due to lots of seizures.

Historical Context: Chinatown in Agassiz, B.C. 1897

During the the rapid influx of people into the Fraser Valley who were drawn by land settlement, gold-mining speculation, and seasonal agricultural work, Chinese migrants established an early and enduring presence in Agassiz. From the 1880s onward, Chinese residents were integral to the local economy, working in hop yards, market gardening, domestic service, and operating essential businesses such as laundries.

Although there is no visible Chinatown in Agassiz today, a small Chinese community existed near the town centre for many decades. Chinese residents provided vital services that sustained everyday life in Agassiz, particularly for settler households and farming families.

May Wright’s references to having her laundry done by Chinese workers reflect this broader historical reality. Laundry work was one of the few occupations open to Chinese men due to exclusion from many other forms of employment. While May’s comments reveal the social distance and racial attitudes common among settlers at the time, they also point to the dependence of rural communities like Agassiz on Chinese labour for daily domestic needs.

The Agassiz-Harrison Museum is re-opening up in February 2026 and it’s feature exhibit is Chinese New Year featuring many artifacts from the Fong family featured below.

Queenie Fong in front of Laundry in Agassiz’s Chinatown, circa 1930s. Queenie would become the first female sheriff in British Columbia.

Mary Fong and Emma Thompson (Midwife) in front of Fong house in Agassiz’s Chinatown

Wong Tang was a B.C. hopyard labourer who lived upstairs in the Fong Chong store on Pioneer Avenue East. Fong Chong is Queenie’s father.

Agassiz’s Chinatown is located on the left of the photograph.

Goodbye to Chinatown in the 1970s. The remaining buildings on Pioneer Avenue were torn down. Originally the building was built by Mr. Arthur Agassiz.

May’s Letter to Mother – April 24, 1897

In May’s letter to Mother, she discusses her issues with the trains as well as family tension with her brothers. Their lack of motivation for working hard makes her question staying in Agassiz for another year. More excitement about the gold mining happening in Harrison and updates about their garden are shared.

Hazeley
Agassiz, B.C.
April 24, 1897

My dearest Mother,

The books of songs came this week, & I have had three numbers of “The Queen” which I though were from cousin Fanny but I found Mrs. Pitt’s name on one of them so they must be from here, will you give her my love & say I think it is so very kind of her to have sent them, they are most acceptable to me & to the Agassiz’s to whom I have lent them.

Mr. Hamersley came up on the train to-night Cecil thinks so I hope the boys will be able to come to some sort of an agreement with him. He refuses to lower the rent, I have almost come to the conclusion that they had better go out there. There seems every probability of a flood, the Siwashes say it is going to be worse this year than ever before.

It is not satisfactory going on like this, the boys work to-gether so badly, it is uncontrollable bickering, they — of the, work as well as last year, Cecil seldom gets up before half past six & Harold later. Of course they do a fair days work but if this place is to do at all they out to work just as hard as last year or even harder. I’m afraid the are both naturally lazy; Cecil is very much inclined to give it up & here out for two years before starting at anything again is very hard to know what is best to do, I find it doesn’t do for me to interfere with them too much, I do have periodical rows with Harold, but then I fell afterwards that perhaps I have been hard on him, you see he has never known what work is. I don’t suppose he has every done a week of really hard solid work; I believe it would be the making of him to have to rustle for himself for a couple of years & feel he had no one to fall back upon.

I sometimes tell him that if he hates this life as he says he does, it would be far better for him to get something else to do, but he says do I take him for a fool is it likely he is going away when he has everything provided for him here without working for it, of course there are few boys who start so comfortably, they have no bother about their living, they have three meals ready for them at the right time, their clothes washed, mended & taken care of, which most boys have to light a fire & cook their dinner during their dinner hour & cannot rest then, & they have either to wash for themselves or take their clothes to a chinaan be swindled as I know they do swindle bachelors, at one time Mr. George used to pay 1.50 a dozen for his washing!

I think it would teach Harold a great deal if he had to hire out, but it may be best for them to go on here. I don’t know.. I have thought it over a great deal but can’t make up my mind.

The mining excitement is getting great, there are some men working on the mountain here, we see their camp fire at night but nothing else as it must be four miles away. I believe Mr. Brown has a big gang of men working for him up the lake, he is giving $2 a day & food. Mr. MacLarren has bought the Hot Springs Hotel. I believe it is op0en now; people say there are over a thousand men up on the lake now.

Harold has got some of the garden in, corn, onions, some potatoes and a strawberry bed, Connie Agassiz gave him the plants.

Mr. George is down in Victoria again. We were out at the springs last night at Mrs. MacPhersons, they seemed much annoyed that we left so early, but we didn’t get home till after three this morning, we couldn’t well get out of going to the two entertainments this week but we intend to refuse to go again if we are asked.

Much love to everybody,

Your affectionate daughter,

May Wright.