Appo Hocton (c. 1819 – 26 September 1920), with a

birth name The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

of Wong Ahpoo Hock Ting or Wong Ah Poo Hock Ting, his Chinese name was 黃鶴庭， was a Chinese-born New Zealand

servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

, carter and farmer. Born in about 1819, or as late as 1823, he was the first recorded Chinese

emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to New Zealand, arriving in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

on the '' Thomas Harrison'' on 25 October 1842. Hocton purchased land in

's Washington Valley, where he built eight

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

s, four of which still exist today; they are located at 40 Washington Road, and nearby at 16, 38, and 40 Hastings Street. In 1876 Appo Hocton moved to Dovedale, Tasman onto a 485-acre block of land near Brandy Creek, after clearing the land Appo farmed cattle and sheep. On the 12 June 1879, he lost his son, Albert Ah Lina Hocton, to an accidental homicide by his other son, Appo Lewis Hocton. His wife, Ellen, died at 89 years old near the 21 December 1916. His eldest son, William Rowling, died on the 31 January 1919. Appo himself died on the 26 September 1920 at the purported age of 97, although obituaries from the time claim that he had recently celebrated his 100th birthday. He was buried at Dovedale Cemetery although some believe he was buried behind his home at Dovedale.

References

1810s births 1920 deaths 19th-century New Zealand farmers Chinese emigrants to New Zealand Settlers of Nelson, New Zealand New Zealand domestic workers New Zealand landlords 19th-century landowners {{NewZealand-bio-stub