Chinese Australian history talk —
Opium Wars, conflict and fortuity — from Canton to Tingha via Ballarat — the separate journeys of three Chinese men, their interconnecting lives and interracial relationships.
This presentation is accompanied by numerous relevant documents and photographs of people and artefacts. It traces the migratory paths of three native Chinese men from Guangdong in Southern China to the Australian colonies. It explores the reasons for their leaving and the adverse circumstances they encountered. The colonies offered opportunities for wealth-acquisition and security, but prevailing white racism presented formidable barriers. Undaunted, the promise of prosperity outweighed the obstacles. Chen Quin Jack and Samuel Yaupaung arrived in the early days of the gold rushes of the 1850s, followed later by Lee Kee Chong in the early 1880s. In constructing their new lives, the first two married young women of European extraction, from the lower socio-economic class of settlers. Lee Kee Chong, arriving later, and partnered with, what was then termed, a half-caste wife from within one particular fledgling family (Yaupaung) in the segregated Chinese community. The families they all started, today make-up a typical admixture of ABC’s (Australian Born Chinese) and European. Geographically the trajectories of these families intersected and focussed in the mining town of Tingha and surrounding districts in Northern NSW.
Date: Saturday 28 September 2019
Time: 2:30 pm
Venue: Mitchell Theatre, Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, Level 1, 280 Pitt Street Sydney
Presenter: Kira Brown
Cost: $10 members, $15 non-members (includes refreshments)
RSVP: Daphne Lowe Kelley 0417 655 233 or lowekelley@bigpond.com
Download CAHS FLYER – Potstickers & Panning_Kira Brown – 28 SPET 2019
Chen Quin Jack 
Fascinating what you have done and are doing Kira. Congratulations also to your Chinese forebears for the contributions they made, and are still making, in the development of Australia. And all the records, photos and documents etc that were kept. I remember kindly all the people of Chinese origin at Coonabarabran. Especially your mother Christine.
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