This is part of a series of articles on non-Anglo/Celtic migration to the Canberra-Queanbeyan district in the 1824-61 period. We have limited the investigation to the early colonial period, prior to the implementation of the Robertson land reforms in January 1862, which brought an influx of free selectors into the Canberra-Queanbeyan district and throughout NSW, dramatically altering the migration story.
PART THREE: Other evidence of Chinese migrants in the district, pre-1862[1]
There are two fords of the Queanbeyan River that were both at one time known as ‘Chinaman’s Crossing’. One was located near The Oaks and the other at Morisset Street where it meets the river.[2] An early Asian market garden was why the latter crossing was named ‘Chinaman’s Crossing’ and I suspect that the same explanation is behind The Oaks ford, which even today is fertile land well-suited to vegetable crops. The Morisset market garden was operated by Yen You, Ping Yen, and a man only known as ‘Hundred and Fifty’. By 1863, John Kaye, another man of Asian heritage (described as a ‘Chinaman’) was selling poultry in Queanbeyan.[3] He may have been there earlier than that year and might fall within our timeframe, if we allow him a year or two to establish his garden.
John Moon, ‘a Chinaman cook’, was working in Catherine Breen’s Harp of Erin in Queanbeyan in 1860. He was the victim of theft when Thomas Byrne stole his watch, razor, and other personal items, even including a pound of lard.[4] In Gundaroo, a few years later, another Chinese cook, Charley He (or O-He), instigated action against his employer, William Cresswell, who owed him unpaid wages. When the case was dismissed on the basis of it being one man’s word against another, Charley He ‘grew so enraged that he attempted a breach of the peace on [the] defendant in the court … was consequently arrested, and after being admonished by the bench, was discharged’. It seems that Charley He had been seriously wronged. Creswell spent his later years in the Parramatta Asylum and once even claimed to be Arthur Orton who, some believed, was the notorious missing Englishman, Sir Roger Tichborne.[5] But Charley He is probably too late to be included in our timeframe.
In 1861 – the very year of the dreadful Lambing Flat anti-Asian riots – we hear of an early instance of a mixed marriage. An unnamed European woman was living with her Chinese spouse (also unnamed) and, possibly, some of his relatives, when a fire burnt down the hut where she had placed everything while whitewashing their cottage.[6] In fact, the court reports of the 1860s evince a strong Asian presence in the district. John Asse (‘a Chinaman’) was fined 5 shillings for being ‘drunk and disorderly’ in Queanbeyan in September 1860.[7] Out of timeframe, perhaps, is Charley Mooney (‘a Chinese’) who was reported as absconding from the service of Dr William Hayley at The Oaks and was, apparently, brought to trial.[8]
As time went by, the district saw significantly large groups of Chinese miners travelling through to the gold fields. For example, Canberra resident, George Williams, relays the following account of a group of Chinese diggers. He was walking to school with other children when he came across them. This would have been in late 1851 or 1852, when George was aged about 13 or 14 years.
… we met 50 or perhaps 100 Chinese in a long row, trotting along with bamboo poles, and baskets on each end slung on shoulders, making for Major’s Creek and Araluen diggings with their picks and shovels and camping gear. We were all more or less afraid and got off the road and watched them pass along.[9]
 |
| 'Might versus Right' by Samuel Thomas Gill, c 1862-63: in the foreground, a European miner is dragging a Chinese miner away by his hair Source: State Library of NSW |
The most productive of the local diggings was Brooks Creek to the southeast of Gundaroo. Gold was found there by Charles Masters senior and his children, who managed to dig out a small fortune uncontested before word leaked out.[10] Masters had been a stockman at Esther Mead, since arriving in 1837, and then began farming on his own account at Geary’s Gap on land rented from the Packers.[11] Although there were more diggers at a single point in time at Foxlow (300 miners), it was Brooks Creek (270 miners), which was the best yielding mine in the Canberra-Queanbeyan district, and sustained itself over the longest period of time, so that slab huts even replaced the canvas tents of the original miners. Alluvial gold was discovered there in 1860, and by early 1861, there was a miners’ camp of about 60 diggers with two stores in a type of shantytown, which was even serviced by regular coaches from Goulburn and Queanbeyan.[12] The population doubled to about 120 by the end of the year, and by February 1862, 150 Chinese miners had arrived there. To the annoyance of one pious newspaper correspondent, they were noticed to be even working on the sabbath.
I have not yet heard what success John Chinaman has had in gold digging, beyond that they have sold several small lots to the storekeepers at Gundaroo, who, I guess, are doing the best digging, especially, on Sunday, as John appears to make that his market-day.[13]
Cartographer: Helen Walpole
Of course, this was at the peak of the resentment against Chinese diggers in Australia. At Nanima, even some of the Lambing Flat victims themselves began to appear in our district. Another Lambing Flat connection to the Canberra-Queanbeyan district is that Constable Martin Brennan distinguished himself at the riots, ‘where he was wounded in the arm and had four horses shot under him’.[14] If it were not for the brave actions of the police and the colonial government at that time, in the face of such a vitriolic anti-Chinese tide, deaths would have occurred and the injury toll among the Asian diggers would have been so much worse.
Gold was first found at Nanima, near Murrumbateman, on a property that was still owned by Robert Johnston, before February 1861.
On several occasions we have reported the finding of small pieces of gold in the banks of Nanama [sic] Creek, a tributary of the Gundaroo River … Within the last week or ten days there has been a miniature rush to the spot, and very reasonable hopes are entertained that Nanama Creek and its neighbourhood will turn out a payable gold-field … There are on the ground at the present time about fifteen or eighteen Europeans and over thirty Chinamen, the latter consisting of exiles of Lambing Flat.[15]
It would be interesting to see how different the tensions were on the diggings between the European and Asian diggers, given that the latter group were Lambing Flat ‘exiles’ and had been so recently abused. They must have kept to themselves and avoided conflict, as best they could.
Summary of the Chinese presence, pre-1862
I will conclude this three-part study of the early Chinese presence in the Canberra-Queanbeyan district in the period up to 1862, with a summary of the individuals I have been able to find. Hopefully, other and future researchers will be able to unearth the stories of even more individuals or add further flesh to the bones of the stories I have tried to collate.
The first confirmed presence of Chinese migrants in the Canberra-Queanbeyan district comes in the form of the Cuppacumbalong shepherds recruited by James Wright from Sydney in c. 1851. Despite the poor conditions and lop-sided indenture contracts experienced by these men, they appear to have stayed until 1854, when five of them were listed as having absconded. The context suggests that they were seeking their fortune on the goldfields. The first known named member of this group of the Cuppacumbalong shepherds was Mr Chow, who was rescued by local Aboriginal man, Long Jimmy, from the flooded Murrumbidgee in 1852 near Tharwa. After the goldrush, one or more may have returned, as one of the original shepherds, Theak (perhaps See Hock), was buried in the old Cuppacumbalong cemetery in 1867 by the De Salis family.
Other than the Cuppacumbalong shepherds, there was a clear Chinese presence in Queanbeyan with two Chinese market gardens on the river flats and a cook, John Moon, working at Breen’s inn, Harp of Erin. There was even a mixed family living in a Queanbeyan cottage as early as 1861. Hence the nature of this migrant cohort and its contribution to Queanbeyan is very different than what used to be supposed: i.e., that the Chinese presence does not emerge until the Chinese miners of the gold-rush decade. The earliest presence of Chinese miners in the district as a distinct group in the Canberra-Queanbeyan district, does not appear until the gang of 30 at Nanima Creek diggings, many of whom had experienced the anti-Asian violence at the Lambing Flat riots, shortly before.
Of course, after 1861, the Chinese presence in the region was only to grow with Chinese residents represented in many fields of endeavour. Table 1 lists the known Asian residents of the district in the period from the invasion until the introduction of Robertson’s land reforms in January 1862.
Table 1: Verified Asian individuals in the Canberra-Queanbeyan district, 1824-61
| Years | Transcribed name (if known) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| June 1852 | Mr Chow and four unnamed colleagues | Shepherds at Cuppacumbalong |
| May, 1854 | Yo Quin (sometimes, Queen) | Shepherd who absconded from Cuppacumbalong |
| October 1854 | Teh Tsan, See Hock, Ug Moo, and Ko Tsn | Shepherds who absconded from Cuppacumbalong |
| 1860 | John Moon | A cook at Catherine Breen’s Harp of Erin in Queanbeyan |
| c. 1860 | Yen You, Ping Yeng, and ‘Hundred and Fifty’ | Market gardeners at Queanbeyan |
| September 1860 | John Asse | Fined for being ‘drunk and disorderly’ in Queanbeyan |
| 1861 | Unnamed couple in a mixed marriage | Chinese husband; their hut is burnt down in Queanbeyan |
| March 1861 | 30 Chinese miners | At Nanama Creek diggings; many of them were refugees from Lambing Flat |
| By February 1862 | 150 Chinese miners | At Brooks Creek gold field |
| By 1863 | John Kaye | Poultry seller in Queanbeyan |
| Before 1864 | Charley He (or O-He) | Cook at Gundaroo |
| Before 1865 | Charley Mooney | Absconded from the employment of Dr Hayley at The Oaks |
| August 1867 | Theak (possibly = See Hock) | Last of the Cuppacumbalong shepherds is buried. |
Please note that the four greyed-out rows contain individuals who may not have been resident by 1861. Given the poor record in transcribing Asian names into English by the colonial authorities, there may well be individuals in the table listed under different names. For example, Theak and See Hock may be the same person.
Endnotes
1. Please note that offensive racist terms used in the period are included in this article. This study builds on what I have already written in J. McDonald, Canberra: II. Colonisation (1824-1861), second edition, Sorley Boy, Melbourne, 2025, pp. 255-6, 290, 319-22; J. McDonald, J. Canberra: III. Pastoral Plutocracy (1862-1906), Sorley Boy, Melbourne, 2025, pp. 200-5. That original work benefited from information generously shared by Monica Tankey in 2022-23. I also appreciate the detailed feedback of Ann Tündern-Smith, who is editing the series. Information was also shared by Joanne Maples and Tony Maple on a number of Chinese residents in the Goulburn and Braidwood areas, although these towns are outside what we have defined as the Canberra-Queanbeyan district.↩
2. See R. L. Cross, Bygone Queanbeyan, Queanbeyan Publishing Company, Queanbeyan, 1980 (1985 revised ed.), p. 69.↩
3. E. Lea-Scarlett, Queanbeyan: District and People, Queanbeyan Municipal Council, Queanbeyan, 1968, p. 114; M. E. Tankey, ‘Chinese Part of Canberra-Queanbeyan Scene Since 1863’, Canberra Historical Journal, vol. 8 (September) 1981, p. 43.↩
4. Golden Age, 29 December 1860, p. 2. See E. Lea-Scarlett in P. A. Selth (ed.), Canberra Collection, Lowden, Kilmore, 1976, p. 171. For Catherine Breen, see R. L. Cross, Bygone Queanbeyan, Queanbeyan Publishing Company, Queanbeyan, 1980 (1985 revised ed.), p. 23; P. B. Sheedy and E. A. Percy, Moneroo to Monaro: History of Monaro Street, 1830s-1995, Queanbeyan, Queanbeyan City Council, Queanbeyan, 1995, p. 208.↩
5. Golden Age, 7 January 1864, p. 2; 14 January 1864, p. 2. For Cresswell, see E. Lea-Scarlett, Gundaroo, Roebuck, Canberra, p. 74.↩
6. Golden Age, 16 February 1861, p. 2. Perhaps the most famous Euro-Asian marriage was that of Catherine Wells (born to convict parents, John Wells and Honora McCarthy, in Sydney in 1835) and John Tan Kee, a Xiamen labourer who migrated in 1851. They were married in Sydney, where they remained for the first few years before eventually settling at Carcoar. The Queanbeyan connection comes through their descendants. The Tankey family case study is provided at M. E. Tankey, ‘Chinese Part of Canberra-Queanbeyan Scene Since 1863’, Canberra Historical Journal, vol. 8 (September) 1981, pp. 43-45; J. McDonald, Canberra: III. Pastoral Plutocracy (1862-1906), Sorley Boy, Melbourne, 2025, pp: 200-5.↩
7. Golden Age, 15 September 1860, p. 2; with P. M. Frei, Calamities, Fatalities, and Realities: Local and Regional Anecdotes from ‘The Golden Age’, 1860-1864, Queanbeyan, NSW, privately published, Duffy, 2005, p. 89 (correcting the arrest location as Macquoid Street). See E. Lea-Scarlett, Queanbeyan: District and People, Queanbeyan Municipal Council, Queanbeyan, 1968, p. 114.↩
8. See K. Williams, Oaks Estate: No Man’s Land, privately published, Canberra, 1997, pp. 12-13 (citing Golden Age, 20 April 1865), but I have not been able to verify the reference independently.↩
9. In S. Shumack (ed. J. E. and S. Shumack), 1967 (1977 reprint), An Autobiography, or, Tales and Legends of Canberra Pioneers, ANU Press, Canberra, 1967, p. 23. For George, see the entry for his father, John Williams, in P. Procter (ed.), Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan: from the District to the Australian Capital Territory, 1820-1930, HAGSOC, Canberra, 2001, p. 339. Cf. Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, 30 June 1858, p. 3.↩
10. Queanbeyan Observer, 28 September 1897, p. 2; E. Lea-Scarlett, Queanbeyan: District and People, Queanbeyan Municipal Council, Queanbeyan, 1968, p. 244.↩
11. See E. Lea-Scarlett, Gundaroo, Roebuck, Canberra, p. 81; P. Procter (ed.), Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan: from the District to the Australian Capital Territory, 1820-1930, HAGSOC, Canberra, 2001, p. 193. ↩
12. Golden Age, 20 June 1861, p. 2. See E. Lea-Scarlett, Gundaroo, Roebuck, Canberra, 1972, pp. 81-2; A, McNeill, and A. Walker (edd.), Sutton Stories: in the Words of the Locals: 150 Years, 1867-2017, Sutton and District Community Association, Sutton, 2019, pp. 22-3. ↩
13. Golden Age, 13 February 1862, p. 3. See E. Lea Scarlet, Gundaroo, Roebuck, Canberra, 1972, p. 86; L. L. Gillespie, Canberra: 1820-1913, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1991, pp. 131-2; B. McGowan, ‘The Lost Mines of the Canberra District: Part 3’, Canberra Historical Journal, vol. 30 (September) 1992, p. 26.↩
14. For Brennan, see J. McDonald, Canberra I: from Antiquity to the Invasion, Sorley Boy, Melbourne, 2023, p. 185; Canberra: II. Colonisation (1824-1861), second edition, Sorley Boy, Melbourne, 2025, p. 366.↩
15. Yass Courier, 2 March 1861, p. 2. See B. McGowan, B. ‘The Lost Mines of the Canberra District: Part 2’, Canberra Historical Journal, vol. 28 (September) 1991, p. 16.↩
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