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Blue Mountains (New South Wales)

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    Lum Tock with three unidentified female friends and two unidentified male friends infront of waterfall, c. 7 October 1918, courtesy of S. Millard (private hands).
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The first Chinese are believed to have crossed the Blue Mountains in 1855 on their way to the New South Wales goldrushes, to places like Hill End. The first reference to Chinese settlers in the area was in an article in the Blue Mountains Echo in 1891 about Ah Poy. They generally established themselves as market gardeners.

Most are believed to have left the area in the 1930s and 1940s when bigger market gardnening co-operatives began cornering the market. No Chinese names show up in any of the Blue Mountains cemetries.

However a number of Chinese families are known to have fled Sydney to the Blue Mountains in 1942 because they were concerned about Japanese invasion. These included the Mar family and also the families of C.P. Ting, S.C. Ting, C.C. Chen, D. Chia. The Mar family also had relatives who travelled further west as far as Tingha.

Sources used to compile this entry: Slade, Colin, 'Investigating the Chinese community', Locality: Bulletin of the Community History Program, vol. 4, no. 2, July-August, pp. 7-11; Personal communication with Colin Slade, July 2004.

Prepared by: Sophie Couchman, La Trobe University

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Published Resources

Journal Articles

  • Slade, Colin, 'Investigating the Chinese community', Locality: Bulletin of the Community History Program, vol. 4, no. 2, July-August, pp. 7-11. Details

Images

Title
Jimmy War Sing on his fruit and vegetable cart
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1900 - c. 1902
Place
Australia - New South Wales - Blue Mountains - Katoomba
Details
Title
Lum Tock with three unidentified female friends and two unidentified male friends infront of waterfall
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 7 October 1918
Place
Australia - New South Wales - Blue Mountains - Katoomba
Details