Ah Soy
As part of the Chinese Historical Wrongs Legacy Initiative, we’ve digitized a small selection of inquests and inquiries from 1872 to 1934, found in series GR-0431. These were chosen to reflect the experiences of early Chinese immigrants to B.C. – their living and working conditions, and their unfortunate accidental or unusual deaths. They range from a woman working in a brothel in Barkerville who died of natural causes to three sawmill workers who died from malnutrition. Learn more.
*All transcriptions are provided by volunteers, and the accuracy of the transcriptions is not guaranteed. Please be sure to verify the information by viewing the image record, or visiting the BC Archives in person.
*Please note that archival source materials are original historical documents that have not been censored, reviewed or otherwise altered by the Royal BC Museum. Some materials may contain content that is racist, sexist or otherwise offensive. The Royal BC Museum is only the custodian of archival materials; the content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Royal BC Museum.
Current Page Transcription [edit] [history]
After examining the grounds for a considerable travel I scoured south from the cart tracks across Thorp bush near the spot found about the deceased was lying. No signs of a struggle could be seen on the spot or any where near.
The following day Mr Wise and myself went down to all Chow ranches to make a further examination and saw five shacks and two hotels standing about twenty feet from where the deceased was lying & saw no marks of any blood on the tracks near by.
The tracks were soft. We examined the cabin and found a small shack containing 4 partitions lying in. We both noticed that there was a small stove near the entrance with a stove kettle of water on it. It was a good fire of alder in it & there was chips in the floor apparently for a fire but they had not been lighted and the wood only split so that anything had been cooked.
I also have known the deceased for the past two months. He was in the habit of drinking & usually carried a small flask of liquor with him. I have seen him drink out of the flask when he was annoyed or disagreeable. Life James I have seen him a little intoxicated. Those two several chinamen say the deceased was very careless about carrying. The only chinaman who showed any signs of fear and he was the