Indentured Chinese labourers and their contribution to the Fraser Coast.

Labourer working on the Hambledon sugar plantation, Cairns-SLQ Negative number: 70212

Chinese New Year falls on the 8^th of February, 2016.  Coinciding with this event, Fraser Coast Libraries wishes to celebrate the contribution of the Chinese pioneers to the Fraser Coast.

Indentured Chinese labourers were part of the Fraser Coast community. The vast majority of the arrivals in this area occurred between October, 1851 and mid 1852 with many moving to the Burnett and Gayndah (Slocomb, 2014, p. 112). These men were mainly from the Guangdong  province, Canton and Amoy. Some one thousand five hundred Indentured Chinese filled the labour gap in pastoral runs in Queensland created by the Gold Rush of 1851 (Slocomb, 2014).

These men worked hard for little return and coped with the tropical weather. They were often here to work off a family debt and got fifty pounds to return home in the event of their death, as many were still loyal to their Chinese homeland. They also were allocated one blanket per year (Ealing-Godbold, 2014).

Slocomb (2014, p.21) claims there is consensus that “around one hundred thousand labourers entered the Australian colonies, but in no single year, even at the height of the gold fever, did their aggregate number ever exceed thirty-nine thousand.”  Other figures have the peak population at 22 000 in 1877 and dropping back to 5995 in 1911 (Ealing-Godbold, 2014).

Those labourers who remained after they paid off their debt had the choice of staying in the district and becoming naturalised, moving elsewhere in Australia or returning to China. The majority between 1858 to 1880 stayed in this district (Slocomb, 2014). These men were still young and had pastoral industry, carting/carrying skills and a passion for horses. They were well respected for their hard work and known for their market gardening skills (Slocomb, 2014). Slocomb (2014. 265) states “In Maryborough’s main streets, there were grocery and fruit businesses, cabinet-makers, carpenters and upholsterers, all with Cantonese names on their doors.” They contributed to the Maryborough we know today.

These men however were never welcomed as were the European immigrants. This manifested in acts such as the The Queensland Alien’s Act  which required Asian men to be married to gain naturalisation (Slocomb, 2014, 282). The Chinese men often married Aboriginal women before the 1897 Act which prohibited Chinese men and Aboriginal women living together (Slocomb, 2014). The first man who became naturalised in the Fraser Coast district was James Chiam.  He will be the topic of our next blog entry.

Indentured Chinese labourers are one of the communities of interest whose heritage has been largely ignored (Ealing-Godbold). This was partly due to the Chinese changing their names often to appear individual in a culture that rarely afforded such expression. Additionally they tried to make their names appear more English (Ealing-Godbold, 2015).

Were there other reasons their contributions were ignored?

Do you have any Chinese relatives?  Do you have questions about your Chinese identity?

References

Image 1: Attributed to the State Library of Queensland Negative number:70212,. (2016). Labourer working on the Hambledon sugar plantation, Cairns. Retrieved from http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/
Ealing-Godbold, C. (2015). Communities of Interest Indentured Chinese Labourers Local Studies Talk SLQ. Bankfoot House.
Slocomb, M. (2014). Among Australia's pioneers. Bloomingdale: Balboa Press.

Tags #indenturedchineselabourers #chineseaustralians #Frasercoast #Frasercoastlibraries #Widebay