The allure of gold brought many miners to Tasmania in the late 1890s.
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Among them were Chinese miners.
However, gold was not as plentiful in Tasmania, as it was interstate, at the likes of the Victorian gold fields.
Instead, there was tin.
North-East Tasmania was a hot spot for alluvial mining of the resource, and miners flocked to the area.
Many wealthy businessmen – European and Chinese – brought in Chinese miners from the Victorian gold fields.
Their population would continue to grow year-on-year, reaching 100 in Tasmania in 1870, and peaking at 1200-odd.
QVMAG history curator Jon Addison said the state’s Chinese mining population had a different experience to their mainland counterparts.
Interstate, Chinese miners were often the victims of riots and attacks by European miners.
“The interesting thing about Tasmania is there was less antipathy,” Mr Addison said.
“Chinese miners were seen as being able to make a profit where Europeans could not.
“There was a difference in their organisation. They owed money to the person who brought them out here, so they were obliged to work hard.”
Mr Addison said that while they may have been outnumbered by the European miners, the Chinese found strength in each other.
“They made sure there was a supportive community, particularly in the more marginal areas,” he said.
The mining boom continued, quickly escalating the population of townships such as Mathinna, Branxholm, and Weldborough.
By the 1880s, Chinese men made up 20 per cent of the population of Ringarooma.
Around the same time, Mr Addison said, the European miners became unsettled by the amount of Chinese in the area.
Some people hosted public meetings to discuss how to control the increasing number of Chinese miners. They were not successful.
“The Chinese were already part of the community,” Mr Addison said.
“I’m not saying there weren’t a lot of acts of racism, as there were, but there was an acceptance of the Chinese. People knew them.”
State and federal governments eventually moved to control the actions of Chinese immigrants to Tasmania.
In 1881, the Chinese Restriction Act was put in place, which prevented Chinese from acquiring any new real estate. Six years later, the state government passed a bill that required Chinese immigrants to pay a £10 poll tax.
By the next decade, the tin boom was fading, and the Chinese population halved. Those remaining began to move away from mining, and into new areas of business.
While some mining was still in operation in the North-East – such as the Ruby Flat Mines at Branxholm – many Chinese immigrants were moving into townships, such as Launceston, to establish families and careers.
Despite repeated government legislation being introduced that aimed to restrict the lifestyles and movements of Chinese immigrants, many were determined to be a part of the greater Launceston community.
At the forefront were businessmen like Henry Tom Sing, James Ah Catt, Chin Kit, Chin Kaw, and James Chung Gon.
Tom Sing brought in Chinese miners from Victoria, and later, in the 1880s, ran a shop in St John Street, Launceston, where he imported and sold Chinese goods. Today, the site is home to Chi Chi Cafe, and the Country Women’s Association.
Ah Catt owned a tobacconist shop on Charles Street, and was also a vice-president of the City Football Club.
Kaw had a good grasp on the English language, and acted as a conduit for some Chinese in the area who ran their own market gardens. Mr Addison said, however, there were also references to Kaw being prosecuted for running an illegal casino out of his St John Street shop, and selling cigarettes on a Sunday.
When Chung Gon passed away in 1952, at the age of 97, his obituary in The Examiner remembered him as a patriarch of the Chinese community in Tasmania.
He dabbled in mining ventures, but found momentum in gardening. He started a market garden at Royal Park, in Launceston, and went on to open another at the current site of Coronation Park at South Launceston.
Eventually, he established one of the area’s first commercial orchards, at Turners Marsh, and went on to open a fruit and vegetable store in Launceston.
He was also a key player in moving the Chinese joss house at Weldborough (a Chinese temple that serviced the mining communities) into Launceston. It still resides at QVMAG Royal Park.
These community leaders were involved in more than just their own ventures, Mr Addison said.
The Chinese culture puts a strong influence on benevolent activities, and the immigrants continued the work in Northern Tasmania, he said.
“On the mainland, there was a large enough Chinese population that they could form their own benevolent organisations,” Mr Addison said.
“Here, the population was not enough so they became involved with existing organisations, such as the Launceston City and Suburbs Improvement Association.”
It was through such organisations that the Chinese community helped to build Launceston. Much of the early work at the Cataract Gorge was funded by Chinese businessmen, Mr Addison said.
Ah Catt, Chin Kit, and Tom Sing were also behind a four-day Chinese carnival in 1891, which showcased Chinese opera, dancing, and more.
“The Chinese population has had quite a large but subtle impact on forming Launceston, particularly through the city and suburb association,” Mr Addison said.
“Most of Launceston’s parks have had impacts from them, particularly City Park. It had large amounts of Chinese money chucked into it.
“Benevolence was part of the Chinese culture. You gave not just because it’s the good thing to do, but because it’s reciprocal.”
President of the Launcestion Chinese Association Meixue Zhou estimated that there were between 30 and 40 Chinese families involved in the association today.
The association helps to organise cultural events in the city, including the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Dr Zhou has lived in Australia for 20 years, and said he had watched the Chinese community grow.
“It has at least doubled in the last few years,” he said.