Details
Men from south China joined the rush to the Bendigo gold diggings in 1853. They worked cooperatively washing gold, and lived in small camps which emerged right across the field from Golden Gully to Back Creek, from White Hills to Long Gully and Eaglehawk. The protectorate system attempted to impose some control over these spaces with limited success. In May 1859 the Chinese community organised a concerted protest against the Chinese residence tax. The population reached its peak at about 6000, and steadily declined from about 1856. The Chinese were actively excluded from the quartz mining which developed from the mid 1860s, but continued to pan for alluvial gold in the gullies. Some Chinese were subsequently contracted by the large consolidated quartz mining companies to wash mine tailings for gold dust which had escaped the company’s machines. Along creeks at the edges of the city near Back Creek, Kangaroo Flat and White Hills, small cooperative groups of Chinese worked successful market gardens. Several furniture factories operated briefly in the late 1880s and 1890s.
By the late nineteenth century, the centre of Chinese Bendigo life was at the Ironbark Camp in the north east and a strip of shops in Bridge St just beyond the town’s chief public buildings. Chinese came to visit the doctor, have a haircut, buy clothes, mail their letters, pay their bills, and stock up on daily necessities and work equipment. They met to relax with friends over tea and a hearty meal, gossip, gamble and smoke. Four josshouses and a Chinese Anglican mission catered for their spiritual concerns. The Ironbark camp was also where celebrations were held for New Year, and it was from there that the Chinese contingent marched into town for the annual Easter Fair procession. Local Chinese associations including the See Yup Association later the Bendigo Chinese Association, and the Chinese Masonic Society offered support to the local community, used business and familial connections to stay in contact with China, and were fervently concerned with shifting political circumstances in China.
After the introduction of the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act, the Chinese community in Bendigo consisted of just several hundred people. Their scholarly pursuits, sporting achievements and business connections have nevertheless ensured they remain an active and visual part of the community.
Sources used to compile this entry: Cusack, Frank, Bendigo: A History, revised edn, Lerk and McClure, Bendigo, 2002; Golden Dragon Museum, The Chinese Community in Bendigo - A Unique History, Bendigo, Victoria, 1991, 0; ; Bendigo Golden Dragon Museum collection; unpublished research Valerie Lovejoy; unpublished research Amanda Rasmussen.
Prepared by: Amanda Rasmussen, La Trobe University
Related Subjects
Archival Collections
P. Spark (private collection)
- Peter Spark collection; P. Spark (private collection). Details
Published Resources
Books
- Cusack, Frank, Bendigo: A History, revised edn, Lerk and McClure, Bendigo, 2002. Details
Book Sections
- Collins, Yolande, 'Chinese communal arrangements in Bendigo, Victoria, c.1870s-1905, and Health Officer surveillance', in P. Macgregor (ed.), Histories of the Chinese in Australasia and the South Pacific, Museum of Chinese Australian History, Melbourne, 1995, pp. 394-408. Details
Journal Articles
- Rasmussen, Amanda, 'The rise of Labor: A Chinese-Australian participates in Bendigo local politics at a formative moment, 1904-1905', Journal of Chinese Overseas, vol. 9, no. 2, 2013, pp. 245-271. Details
Online Resources
- Lovejoy, Valerie, The things that unite: Inquests into Chinese deaths on the Bendigo goldfields 1854-6, Provenance: The Journal of Public Record Office Victoria, vol. 6, September, http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/provenance/no6/ThingsThatUnitePrint.asp. Details
See also
- Bendigo Golden Dragon Museum, Chinese Procession: Bendigo at Easter, Bendigo, 2003. Details
- Golden Dragon Museum, The Chinese Community in Bendigo - A Unique History, Bendigo, Victoria, 1991, 0. Details
- Holsworth, Carol, The Story of Yar Loong, Journal of Chinese Australia, October, http://131.172.16.7/jca/issue02/07Holsworth.html. Details
- Rasmussen, Amanda, 'Networks and negotiations: Bendigo's Chinese and the Easter fair', Journal of Australian Colonial History, vol. 6, 2004, pp. 79-92. Details
Images
-
- Title
- Ah Hew [Ah Hen]
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Creator
- Bartlett Bros, Bendigo
- Details
-
- Title
- Ah Louey
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Creator
- Smith, R. Dermer, Bull St, Bendigo
- Details
-
- Title
- Altar at Chinese temple in Ironbark (Bendigo)
- Type
- Photograph
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst) - Ironbark
- Details
-
- Title
- Chew Choon
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Chinese temple at Ironbark (near Bendigo)
- Type
- Photograph
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst) - Ironbark
- Details
-
- Title
- 'Digging life 25 years ago'
- Type
- Illustration
- Date
- 20 December 1879
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Family group at Bridge Street, Bendigo
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- 1940s
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- George Fooke and Ruby Appoo wedding party
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 11 August 1908
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Li Chung
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 18 June 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Louey Ah Kwoe
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Creator
- Smith, R. Dermer, Bull St, Bendigo
- Details
-
- Title
- Louey Ah Wong
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Creator
- Smith, R. Dermer, Bull St, Bendigo
- Details
-
- Title
- Louey Ang
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 26 November 1899
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Louey Goon
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Creator
- Bartlett Bros, Bendigo
- Details
-
- Title
- Louey Leong
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Creator
- Bartlett Bros, Bendigo
- Details
-
- Title
- Louey Quing
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Creator
- Bartlett Bros, Bendigo
- Details
-
- Title
- Que O'Hoy and bicycle
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1903 - c. 1905
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Unidentified boy (Chinese-European ancestry) in uniform (band?)
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1877 - c. 1883
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Unidentified man sluicing in Bendigo area
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1889 - c. 1890
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
See also
-
- Title
- Aerial view of dragon circling the Alexandra fountain
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1914 - c. 1941
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst) - Pall Mall
- Details
-
- Title
- Alice O'Hoy 1917
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- 1917
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Annie Moyle (nee Goon Wing) c1910
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1910
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)?
- Details
-
- Title
- Annie Moyle with her daughter Edna Millar (nee Moyle) and granddaughter Joyce Spark
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- 1947
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Charles Powell Hodges with groom
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1890
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Claude Pang, Jean and Dorrie Shang, Jan O'Hoy in Bendigo
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1937
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Dr James Lamsey in buggy
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 17 April 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Edna, Mabel and Edith Moyle
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- 1912
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)?
- Details
-
- Title
- George Fooke and Ruby Appoo wedding party
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 11 August 1908
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- George Young and family documentation
- Type
- archival object
- Date
- June 1899 - June 1900
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Eaglehawk
- Details
-
- Title
- Henrietta Chew (nee Goonwing) and Charles Chew with children Walter and Archibald
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1913
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)?
- Details
-
- Title
- Interior of Chinese temple at Ironbark, Bendigo
- Type
- Photograph
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Ironbark Chinese village
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1889 - c. 1890
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst) - Ironbark
- Details
-
- Title
- Norma Quon and Beverly Geechoun, Jubilee Day procession, Melbourne
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1951
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
- Details
-
- Title
- Que O'Hoy and bicycle
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1903 - c. 1905
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Samuel Lougoon and his wife Mary Ellen and two of their sons, Percival and Clarence
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1895
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)?
- Details
-
- Title
- Unidentified women in Chinese opera costumes for Bendigo Easter procession
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- 1920s
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
-
- Title
- Wedding portrait of Bill Moy (Bor Nam) and Ethel Tong with Charles Moy and Rose Moy
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 26 February 1927
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Bendigo (Sandhurst)
- Details
Created: 27 September 2005, Last modified: 7 November 2005