UNDERSTAND: Chinese on the goldfields
The arrival of thousands of well organised, highly effective Chinese miners led to racial tensions and eventually riots.
Above: Chinese miner outside wattle and daub hut.
Reproduced courtesy State Library of Vic (Image H89.266/19 )
Below: Chinese Miners on their way to the Diggings – Charles Lyall, 1854. Reproduced courtesy State Library of Victoria H87.63/2/4
This newspaper report from a meeting on the Bendigo field in July 1854, provides an invaluable insight into the way the issue of the Chinese on the goldfields split the mining community.
One the one hand there were the agitators who used the issue to stir up unrest, while on the other there were those who spoke out saying that all the Chinese require is “quietude to pursue their calling, and it will be a lasting disgrace to the men of these mines if they not permit them to do so.”
18 July 1854
John Bull v John Chinaman
In my last communication I advered to a senseless outcry being raised against the Chinese on the Bendigo. There are now between three and four thousand of these foreigners on this field, and some of the restless spirits among our own countrymen are trying to get up a demonstration against the celestials, with the view of expelling them from the gold mines of Victoria.
A meeting, a monster meeting as it was intended to be was convened for Saturday, the 24th ultimo, and convened by a Mr. Donovan, who was connected with the late agi- tation against the license tax. The meeting was in- tended for the double purpose of forming the nucleus of a strong prospecting society for exploring the gold fields districts in search of another Bendigo ; and it was announced in the hand-bills convening the meet- ing, that the question of the location of so many Chi- nese on the Bendigo would be discussed.
… As regards the Chinamen, it was strongly urged that they should be expelled u* et annis from the gold fields, one of the pleas for their summary ejectment being that they wasted large quan- tities of water in the course of their operations. A practical digger suggested that the proposal of giving 20s. per diem should be withdrawn, and substituting in its stead the stimulus of a handsome pecuniary re- ward to any volunteer party who might discover a new and available gold field. This more sensible sug- gestion found favour with the meeting, which was not so large as was expected ; and it determined to ad- journ the consideration of both questions until the 4th July, the anniversary day of American independence, as the promoters of the agitation anticipated that they would gain strength on that day by the aid of the Americans, who, it was expected, would, as foreigners, aid in expelling other foreigners from the mines.
The resolution was carried, and the meeting adjourned to the 4th 7uly. In the mean time some strong expressions said to be used by Mr. Denovan were reported in the Bendigo Advertiser, and . found their way to the ears or eyes of Mr. M’Lachlan, I the Police Magistrate, and upon this shadow oin prima facie case the diggings’ orator was summoned to attend the magistrate’s Court and give an explanation of his ¡ conduct.
The investigation being held, Mr. Denovan I denied the words used in the journal, and the case was i dismissed. The local journal being pressed for room gave a mere outline of the proceedings, and rumours of every kind found circulation on the Bendigo. Fear- ing a rumpus on the exciting day of the 4th July (when, according to advertisement, the Americans are to assemble at noon, read the famous declaration of independence, aud publicly pronounce an oration thereon), Mr. Denovan has thought fit to adjourn the contemplated neeting until the Saturday foi-1 lowing
As regards the prospecting port of the matter, the feeling of the majority ism favour of it decidedly, if conducted on reasonable principles , but ni reference to the Chinese question, the mind of the public is made up-it is de »d ugainst the idea of treating the Chinese m .m j harsh or cruel manner Sooner than permit the hrst element of the Bittish Constitution, which regards all men alike withm our dominions, there are thousands m ho would volunteer to meet the dis- turbers of the public peace rifle in hnnd But the great bulk of the miners themselves are far too sensible to be cajoled, and relj nig upon this the Gov eminent has issued a proclamation thiough the Resident Commissioner at Bendigo, calling upon the people to uphold the lav, and asking all who hav e any just giound of compl unt against the Chinee to come forward and make the chaige through the proper channel
It is due to the Chinese to record that their demeanour in general has been marked by submission to the usages and customs of the miners, so far as they htv e been enabled to understand them In the pro” clnmation the Gov eminent announces that it will take steps to make the Chinese acquainted with these usages and customs This will of course be done thiough the medium of an intciprêter There will then be no excuse for the celestials, if they rrans gress the laws, but of that theie is little to fear
All that they require is quietude to pursue their calling, and it will be a lasting disgrace to the men of these mines if they not permit them to do so
This however was 1854 and events on the Victorian fields were building steadily to the Eureka uprisings at Ballarat in December that year. While the Chinese had no part in this affray, the Royal Commission which followed did address the issue of their presence on the goldfields.
The end result of these deliberations saw legislation ennacted in June 1855 to limit Chinese entry to the Victorian fields by imposing a £10 entry tax on each ‘Celestial’.
7 May 1855
THE CHINESE IN VICTORIA.
In our recent observations upon the report of the Victorian Gold-fields Commission, we briefly adverted to the evident embarrassment under which the Com missioners felt themselves with respect to the Chinese population.
The report shrinks from affirming the principle of exclusion, but virtually adopts it. It substantiates no tangible misconduct on the part of the Chinese, but notwithstanding condemns them.
It de- nounces them as bad colonists and unproductive neigh- bours, alleging reasons, some of which certainly tend rather to the opposite conclusion than to the one de- duced. The only points on which the report is clear and outspoken is where the general question of Chinese immigration is represented us being a serious one to consider, and a difficult one to grapple with.
The question is undoubtedly serious, and not only to the colony of Victoria. The whole group of the Aus tralias are deeply and intimately affected by it. “What we need, however, first of all, is information. All the facts of the Commissioners are guesses.
The Chinese at Ballaarat are said to be between 2000 and 3000 ; at Bendigo, from 1500 to 2000 ; at Forest Creek “ about” 1000 ; and the distribution of the remainder of the alleged 10,000 are all included in the symbol,
Their social habits and modes of work are spoken of with equal looseness. “ Rewashing the old grounds seems their chief mode.” Then, again, “ they seem to have a system of communicating with one another throughout the colony,” and so on ; conjecture and supposition perpetually supplying the place which well-authenticated evidence ought to occupy.
The truth is, that beyond the simple consciousness that many Chinese are in Victoria, extremely little is known about this singular people, and one of the first duties of the Legislative Council ought to be the ap- pointment of a select committee, with power of ex- amining witnesses, and collating every kind of evidence tending to illustrate the habits and usages of the Chinese, together with the prospective effect of Chinese immigration upon the province at large.
This is due to the Chinese themselves, who ought not to be condemned without full investigation ; and it is due to the rest of the community, whose interests must be largely affected, whether for weal or woe, by the present extraordinary Asiatic immigration. Victoria is a free country, so is England ; and there- fore, either in Victoria or in England, natives of all lands under heaven find a home.
But though Bri tish soil is the soil of liberty, and as such offers an asylum and a home to persons of all colours and lan- guages, yet it has never been supposed that this prin- ciple could be applied so far as to destroy the British character of those lands which Englishmen were the first to occupy, and in which the institutions of Eng- land have been planted from the very outset.
Even in England itself, Alien Bills are enacted when the interests of the Community require it to be done and it would be absurd to suppose that because Eng- lish soil is free to all the world, that the Govern- ment and people of England would suffer over- whelming hordes of inferior races to settle down upon the land, and effect the degeneracy of the nation.
English ports are open to all the world, and under ordinary circumstances England is greatly benefited by unrestricted intercourse with foreigners. But if any extraordinary conjuncture of events should lead countless swarms of inferior races to make a descent upon her shores, even though made with peaceable and honest intentions, yet the inevitable social retro gression that must follow would fully justify and im- periously demand the strict closing of every port.
In principle, the same argument is of force in Aus- tralia. The colonies of Australia are free to all the world, to visit or to inhabit. But still they are British colonies, subject to the British Crown, held chiefly by the British people, who are their original founders, and who have given them their present social and politi- cal complexion. “We have not come here to conform to foreign customs, but to establish our own ; and we have established them, thus enjoying the advantage of prior possession as well as of legal right.
It must, therefore, be admitted that the British people, as the true possessors and lawful proprietors of these colonies, have a right to adopt whatever means are neces sary to secure their nationality as well as their inde- pendence. As we have already remarked, we know but little of the Chinese; but one thing is clear, viz., that they do not intend to colonize. They do not bring their wives or children with them ; and consequently, whatever advantages might be shown to result from their per- manently settling down upon the soil, such advantages are not likely to be realized, because they all intend to return.
We have no actual evidence that the presence of 10,000 of these men on the gold-fields, without female companions, militates unfavourably in regard to morals. This is a point that ought to be officially investigated ; but meanwhile we can safely assume that such a body of undomesticated men have a tendency to corrupt, in more ways than one, the morals of the community. It is not, however, compe- tent to us to use presumptive arguments except as starting points for actual enquiry; but that a prima facie case for enquiry exists, no one who considers what human nature is can doubt.
And in connection with this branch of social morals, full and detailed in- formation should be obtained relative to tho conduct of the Chinese as subjects of the Victorian laws. We do not hear that they were concerned in the Ballaarat insurrection ; they are absolved by the Commissioners from “disorderly tendencies,” and are declared to be “remarkably quiet;” on the other hand they are ac- cused of a “ proverbial habit of thieving” charged with being inveterate gamesters, and censured for attempting to erect a jose-house for the celebration of “ absurd superstition.”
Some of these objections are weighty ; others of small moment and some of such a nature, that if the Chinese are excluded on account of them, a large proportion of the English might be excluded too. For example, if the Chinese are to be permitted to live in Victoria, we see not on what principle they are to be condemned for subscribing to a “ joss-house ;” and if “ gambling” is a practice of evil “ desert,” the Chinese would not monopolise the “ whipping.”
As to the objection that the Chinese content themselves with re-washing the abandoned lands, we think this ought to secure them favour in the eyes of the other diggers, since they can scarcely be looked upon as competitors or rivals. With regard to the remark of the Com- missioners that it is difficult to make them compre- hend the instructions of the authorities, this is no more than will, more or less, hold good with respect to all foreigners.
In reference to their wasting the water it should be rendered a penal act, and the transgres- sors of the law be held amenable for its violation. In- conveniences of this class, though constituting the major portion of the grievances complained of, are of little real difficulty in adjusting. But the great social questions arising out of a vast influx of an inferior race, having no sympathies in common with the people whose soil they inhabit, and drawing after them countless hordes from a population practically inexhaustible, are of infinite moment. It is by no means a visionary possibility if we suppose that fifty years hence the Chinese element may preponderate in Victoria. A necessary limit to this vast immigration is of course found in the availa- ble supply of shipping ; but if the Celestials wish to come, they will in all probability find ample means of transit.
We think, therefore, that the Government and Legislature of Victoria are fully justified in placing some check upon a foreign influx, which may here- after seriously jeopardise the great interests of the colony; but we are strongly of opinion that this should result from full and authentic information upon all questions affecting the character and influence of the parties most nearly concerned.
It might be advisa- ble, in connection with a limitation of the numbers legalized to come by each ship, to require that a given proportion of Chinese females should accompany the men. This would greatly aid in determining whether these people would or would not make useful settlers in the colony, and would obviate one prominent objec- tion now urged against their presence. Since the foregoing was written, we have received Melbourne papers, per White Swan, and find that great excitement now prevails in Victoria on the subject. Public meetings have been held, and resolutions passed condemnatory of the further immigration of the Chinese. The staple of the anti-Chinese speeches consisted of random references to infanticide, opium eating, and alleged unnatural crimes. It was not, however, declared that any of these practices affected the Chinese now in Victoria, but that the writers on China affirmed such vices to be common there. No new light is thrown upon the question of Chinese morals in Victoria, and we can only reiterate what we have above remarked, that the first and chief thing needed is—information. No legislation should be re- sorted to except as based upon minute enquiry and official report.
As a result of this new landing tax being imposed, the Hong Kong traders despatching the mining parties decided to stop the ships in Sydney instead and let the miners walk overland to the Victorian fields.
Given they would be passing by the NSW fields along the way, most of which at that time were undermanned, this news was welcomed in Sydney.
15 July 1856
For the last few weeks the streets of Sydney have been perambulated by many hundreds of wandering Chinese, who have been landed here on their way to the diggings.
Large parties have started off from time to time to the gold- fields, but it would seem that the great bulk of them are still in Sydney. The talismanic word “ advance,” however, appears to have been given, as yesterday an unusual amount of bustle and excitement prevailed in the severed temporary encampments selected by the celestials, the principal of these being, so far as numbers are concerned, that on the Tank stream, where they occupy a pretty large and well – enclosed square piece of ground.
From their several quarters the Chinese issued at an early hour in the morning, and scattered them- selves over the city, entering shops that exhibited any of those articles they conceived were necessary for their outfit as diggers, Where they made purchases with readiness and great tact.
Throughout the day parties of them might be seen wending their way back to their encampment, in single file, laden with pur- chases, such as picks, shovels, pans, buckets, jack- boots, reefing jackets, and in fact everything that is generally enumerated in that significant term a digger’s swag. Clear and bright shone in the sun bran new pick, shovel, and dish, and confident and hopeful beamed the countenances of the celestials as they trudged along, more than one party of whom attracted the attention of groups of professional dig- gers who are themselves en route from the Victoria gold-fields to test the auriferous soil of New South Wales.
If the forethought which the celestials have evinced an preparing themselves for the pending cam- paign be a true indication of persevering efforts to come-and there is little doubt but it is-we may hope ere long to see our gold-fields once more the centre of attraction, and New South Wales the cynosure of the world’s eyes.
And indeed the arrival of some of the Chinese on established NSW fields like the Turon was also well received. “About 150 Chinese arrived here during this month, and have apparently determined upon remaining; they are a patient industrious race, who do well where Europeans cannot.”
By the following year, the Chinese were well established in both this and adjacent communities like Tambaroora further to the west.
14 August 1856
TURON.
There has likewise been a large migration of miners from this district; I do not consider that there are more than four hundred diggers at present remaining. Notwithstanding this, the residents in the township of Sofala continue improving their houses, and there exists a confident feeling of a speedy reaction in favour of the Turon — already the miners are returning from the new places.
Although no large yields may have been lately discovered, yet it is, I believe, the most steady and certain of all the gold fields, and one at which fair wages can always be obtained.
There is still a great extent of ground untouched, particu- larly miles of the bed of the river, which, though dif- ficult to work, has always proved exceedingly rich. About 150 Chinese arrived here during this month, and have apparently determined upon remaining; they are a patient industrious race, who do well where Europeans cannot.
15 July 1857
Commissioners’ Camp, containing some 40 or 50 dwel- lings, all well and substantially built, the majority being neatly whitewashed in front, and having well kept gardens at the back, in which not only vege- tables, but flowers and trees are being cultivated. A very large number of Chinese are at work on this gold field, the population of the Dirt Hole consisting principally of these industrious people Mr. Com- missioner Forster gives them a very high character for order, sobriety, steadiness, and perseverance.
They keep to themselves, are content to work on the old ground that the white digger has given up, and never trouble the Commissioner or the Police Court, One extraor- dinary circumstance connected with them, however, is that all their disputes amongst themselves are settled by an official of their own people, who is called, as understood it. Key-ing.
This person rides about on horseback, richly dressed, visiting the Chinese camps in this and other gold districts, and giving judgment upon whatever cases of dispute may be brought before him. His word is law with these people, and no appeal is made from his decisions.
I received this account in Tambaroora from the best authority, but must say that I did not obtain elsewhere, any hint of the existence or labours of such a person. In connection with the Chinese, another question has arisen.
The licensed publicans complain that whilst they pay a license for selling liquors to the dig- gers, a very large proportion of these diggers—the Chinese—go and obtain their exhilaration or excite- ment in houses that pay no license, There are known to be some twenty opium tents on these diggings, the owners of which pay nothing to the State, whilst they rob the regular trader of his custom.
I suggested that an opium smoking room should be attached to each public house, and then the publican would have an equal chance with the contraband dealer of being some fine-day convicted of manslaughter should an enthu- siastic smoker take a whiff or two too much. But seriously speaking, does not this quarrel over the right to poison human beings say more than could be urged were a volume written on the subject of intemperance.
Above: Chinese encampment. Charles Lyall, 1854. Reproduced courtesy State Library of Victoria H87.63/2/6B
While the new presence of the Chinese miners on the NSW diggings was largely welcomed in the media, events on the fields themselves did not always accord with this sentiment.
Far from the sharing the view that the Chinese were there to revitalise the flagging goldfields, many miners saw them as competing for both the gold and other resources like water.
While some flare ups did occur, the extent of these was limited by the fact that the NSW fields were by and large both very extensive and also very undermanned.
This scattered quality tended to favour a “live and let live” approach, much more so than the intensely rich and concentrated Victorian fields at Ballarat and Bendigo had.
Set against this backdrop, a letter home by a Chinese miner that was translated and reprinted in the Sydney media in 1858 makes for compelling reading. Just what did the Chinese miners think of the reception they received from the locals?
25 June 1858
THE CHINESE DIFFICULTY.
The following free translation of part of a letter, written by a Chinaman in Sydney to his father in Shanghai has been handed to us for publication.
Without at all coinciding with Mr. Jan Chin in all he has written about us, we give his letter space here in the Herald so as to be able to see ourselves as others see usas others see us.
With so much having been said and written against the Chinese, it is only fair play to allow them an opportunity to say what they think proper in their own do fence.
Mr. Jan Chin, we are informed, haa been a resident in Australia for two or three years, and, like many others of his countrymen, has learned to write and speak English fluently.
“ To the respected Chin Furn, one of the elders of the Literati, ‘dwelling in tho street of Celestial Bliss, in the city of 8hanghae. “ My ever honoured Progenitor,-I send this writing to let you know of my health and my doings in this land of the outside barbarians, where I have now been a dweller for more than thirty moons, and where I arrived in a barbarian ship, after sailing over the mighty waters for three moons.
My heart was sad on leaving the Central Flowery Land, and I fully resolved, if Heaven prospered my undertaking, that I would soon return to pay due honours to the shades of my ancestors, and eventually to lay my bones with theirs in the fields of Happy Repose.
Shortly do I hope to see youn again, my respected parent. May length of dava bo your portion, and eternal felicity your reward. I will now tell you about the doings of the barbarians in this out sido wilderness, that you may tell it to those of my countrymen who wish to come here to dig for gold.
I have applied myself diligently, in obedience to your command, to acquire the knowledge of the barbarians ; and to their learned men and religious teachers I have not been deaf I think their words are very good, and that if they would themselves practice only a little of what thoy are so anxious to teach othere, I could find no fault with them.
Many of their maxims and precepts are worthy of being treasured up and held in remembrance equally with those of the great Confucius himself. This is one of their principal precepts – the excellence of which moved me to enquire further into their doctrines. ‘Do as you would that others should do unto you.’ Another is, ‘ Thou shnalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’
Their sacred books teach that all mankind “are brothers of one flesh ; and the Great Teacher whom they profess to follow, and from whom the name of their religion is derived, is said to have left, as one of his greatest commandments the injunction, ‘Love one another.’ I was highly delighted with this, and thought that the people who followed such teaching must be worthy examples to others, particularly when I learned that they spared no trouble or expense in sending their Bonzes (priests) to distant parts of the world to teaoh these excellent things to the most miserable and degraded of man- kind ; and I foolishly thought they would hail the coming of my countrymen among them with great joy, in order that they might impart to them the benevolent doctrines of their own religion.
But now, alas when I know these people better, I see plainly that they wish to make up by their zeal in teaching others for their remissness and neglect, in practising these golden rules themselves. “I must inform you, my honoured Sir, that tho Mandarins and lawgivers among these barbarians, pretend (in order to replenish their empty treasury, and at the same time to please the vulgar sort, whoso goodwill they are desirous to secure,! that thero is great danger to the public morals and welfaro, because of so many Celestials coming to dwell in their country-that we shall corrupt thom, forsooth ! and degrade their race ! and a great outcry has been raised against us. This is pleasing to the ignorant and brutal among thefu, who call us all manner of hard names, and illtreat us, -and when I reply to them in the words of their own sacred books, ‘
Do as you would be done unto,’ they only mock and abuse me the moro ; and if I venture to mention another of their aphorisms, that ‘ With what measure men mete unto others it shall be mea- sured to them again,’ they reply with blows. Tho Mandarins and wise men, in order to please these people, have decreed that all my countrymen, when they arrive here, must pay the great amount of forty ounces of silver.
This is the price at which these people valuo their moral welfare and the purity of their race ! Wo aro to bo at liberty * to corrupt and degrade them to any extent if we’will only pay them the forty ounoes of silver ! One of their Mandarins stated, in their hall of Assembly, that ho objected to our coming here because we smug- gled opium in our bamboo-sticks ! If this worthy Mandarin had called to mind that passage from their sacred books which says, ‘ First take the boam from thine own eye. and then thou shall see clearly to pull out the moat which is in thy brother’s eye’-the blush of shame must have overspread his countenance when he uttered it,-seeing that his own countrymen have been engaged for many years in smuggling opium into our country, not in bamboo sticks, but in – shiploads. Another of these wise Mandarins said that he objected to our coming because one of the Celestials whom he employed, although an excellent servant, had turned Christian, and it seems ho continues a good servant still, in tspite of having changed his religion evidently much to the worthy Mandarin’s surprise who, apparently, wishes to prevent- the chance of such a cbinge, by making them pay heavily for it.
Another of these lawmakers said, that if we wore allowed to como here this country would soon become a provinoe of tho Celestial Empire, but it seems he is quite willing we should come if we paid for it. Verily these people would allow us to defile their fathers’ tombs if we paid them for it. Sorely if we are so bad as they say they ought to exclude us al- together. I believe,’ notwithstanding all the precepts of their holy books, their professions are all a sham, and the principal object of their adoration is * low and grovelling but powerful demon called . Mammon,’ whose slaves they are. “ To show also the arrogance of these barbarians, I wish to inform you that they are only strangers in this land themselves-many of them have only been here a few moons, and none for more than one or two genera- tions ; and they are only a very small number-not moro than the people of a single city in the Central Flowery Land ;-that their evil example and conduct, and the fire-waters which they make, have already almost destroyed the original inhabi- tants of this fine country ; and this handful of bar- , barian strangers are about to place a tax on my coun- trymen who number one-third of the human race !
This fact becomes more absurd and ridiculous still, when it is considered that they have no manufactures, and scarcely any handicrafts among them ; they can neither grow silk nor spin it ¡ they do not even spin the fine wool which, the country produces in abun- dance. They do not grow sugar, or tea, or rice, or even catch the fish with which their coasts and har- bours swarm. They have not a single canal in the country, and scarcely a road ; and everything they use and wear has to be brought from other parts of the world. Almost the only thing they make is the fire- water, called rum, which many of them drink until they end their miserable lives-so true is their saying, that ‘
Whoever is doomed by Heaven is infatuated.’ “ The precepts for the regulation of their commerce, and their practice in regard to it, are in much the same state of opposition to esoh other. The teaching of one of their wisest men, an old Mandarin called Adam Smith, whose injunctions the most enlightened among them profess to follow, may be summed up in these words, . The most effective way of advancing the wealth and greetness of a nation is for the Legisla- ture to allow every man to dispose of his industry and capital to the best advantage he can, without fa- voring him on the one hand by protection, or imposing restraints upon him on the other ; and when universal justice triumphs, this principle will regulate the com- mercial policy of the world.’
How different is their practice from” this, and yet they profess to be guided by such precepts 1 “ The political creed of these people is also equally opposed to their practice, for they profess to believe that all men are equal, but their acts completely give the lie to their words. “ When, in addition to all this, it is considered that this nation is at the present time sending their fire ships, and great numbers of their braves, to our country to fight us, because we do not wish to trade with them on the terms which they choose to dictate, and that they have already taken forcible possession of one of our chief cities, I think it must be allowed that this attempt to tax us is very wicked as well as unreasonable and unwise. “
But let me no longer waste time in speaking of the follies and vices of these people, whom Heaven, no doubt for some wise but inscrutable purpose, has per- mitted for a time to occupy a land which they know not how to till or enjoy in a rational manner, and whose arrogance and conceit prevent them from learn- ing of others who are able to teach them. “ . . * . . “ Surely, if this tax is to be imposed on my country- men on their arrival here, the barbarians, in common honesty, will either spend it for their benefit or return it to them when they leave, if they do so without having offended against the laws of the land. Apart from the reasonableness of this supposition, I am the more inclined to indulge this hope, because, when I mentioned it to one of their Mandarina he very civilly told me he thonght we should get the money returned, »if* a hook. What this latter expression means, I do not «xaotly know, perhaps tome small ornament or .reward for our good conduct during our sojourn in the country. ¡, – V . . .. . . , . “,That your shadow, tay venerated parent, hnay new grow less, is the ferrent wish of your dutiful .-. “ Jan pani.” ,
Below: Might vs Right – The Lambing Flat Riot 1861. S.T. Gill Reproduced courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW from Dr Doyle’s Sketch Book Call No: PXA 1983, No: f14
Late in the winter of 1860, a new alluvial goldfield was discovered on a pastoral holding north of Murrumburrah. The local name for the place was Lambing Flat. The goldfield that instantly sprang up around it was called Burrangong after the creek that flowed through the area.
This was the field that small scale miners across both NSW and Victoria had been waiting for. A very rich and extensive area of easily worked ground that held out prospects of instant wealth and fortune without needing to invest a large amount of time and money before getting your hands on the golden metal.
Accordingly they flocked to Lambing Flat in their thousands. They were not pleased to find that Chinese miners were actually amongst the first miners to have developed the field and as a result held claims in some of Lambing Flat’s best ground.
Confrontation started almost immediately with riots breaking out in December 1860. Then in late January, the Chinese were driven off from the claims and forced to seek shelter on a nearby property.
When additional law enforcement officers arrived on the field, the Chinese were returned to their claims. Determined once and for all to drive the Chinese off the field, some 2,000 to 3,000 miners gathered on Sunday 30 June and brutally set upon the Chinese miners.
The complete story of the Lambing Flat riots can be read here via contemporary newspaper accounts >>
In the wake of the riots, the NSW Government legislated to follow the Victorian initative and actively discourage further Chinese immigration by means of an entry levy. Over the next ten years, the numbers of Chinese on the NSW goldfields went from around 14,000 in 1861 to half this number by the start of the 1870s.
