Cobb & Co Heritage Trail Bathurst to Bourke by Diane de St. Hilaire Simmonds available from: (click)
Tracking the dragon
Research into Chinese history in the central west
Contents
Wong Gee’s grave, Sofala
Significance:
This Grave and headstone of Wong Gee is an important item of cultural heritage as the only tangible reminder of a once large Chinese presence in this now small village .
Wong Gee was believed to have been a market gardener, and remained after the gold mining period. He was born in 1832 and may well have come to Sofala as a young man in the mining era of the 1850s and 60s. After the gold mining period Wong Gee stayed on,.
Although there were other Chinese burials at this cemetery, Wong Gee’s grave stone is the only surviving memorial to a Chinese person at this cemetery.
Sofala was an important site for Chinese gold miners. The whole village is significant by virtue of its historical importance and its topographical position. The features of the buildings and the informal layout which is reminiscent of an English village, all combine to give Sofala picturesque charm.
Sofala was the centre of a major
Sofala is an integral part of the state's gold mining history and heritage and is especially distinctive in being
Description:
The grave marker of Wong Gee , who died in 1907, and is believed to have been a market gardener. The gravestone is a shaped sandstone marker with the words : in memory of Wong Gee who departed this life June 5th 1907, aged 75 years.
(Note the death records have the age as 73). The grave has a more recent wrought iron fence around it, provided by a later resident of Sofala.
There are three formal cemeteries in the village. This is the General Cemetery. Others are the Catholic and Anglican cemetery. Not withstanding this it is possible that other localities within Sofala were also used for burial.
History:
The field witnessed many changes in goldmining technology; the first attempt at hydraulic sluicing in the colony, for example, occurred on the Turon. From the mid 1860s the field declined. However with the opening of the 1870s the reef mining boom began at nearby Hill End and the Turon field experienced considerable reefing activity, although the reefs were not as remunerative as those at Hill End.
In 1899 dredging began at Sofala and dredges operated on the field until 1914. The area saw some revival during the Depression, though gold returns now were very low.
Sofala has for some years been
known tourist destination. In addition to its historical significance, Sofala also has considerable aesthetic appeal.
April 23rd
‘I intended to have gone to Sofala today, but could not get away, as it is the day of the race club meeting and Mr. Chapman, who is to go with me could not get away.
The coach took eleven Chinamen this morning. I am determined to get all of them at some price, rather than allow the opposition to carry them.
My business to Sofala is to arrange for booking them through, so that Gaynor will have no chance of getting any of them, as two or three loads would make him stand high in his stirrups’
Isle of Dreams Sofala
The Isle of Dreams
Significance
: This location of the Chinese Opium den known as the Isle of Dreams, was once an important recreational place for many of the Chinese miners of SofalaThe whole village is significant by virtue of its historical importance and its topographical position. The features of the buildings and the informal layout which is reminiscent of an English village, and Sofala was an important site for Chinese gold miners..
It was the centre of a major
Description
The location of the
(Note: An opium tin, which is part of a local private collection of Chinese items found at Sofala is photographically recorded in Golden Threads by Janis Wilton p69)
In 1861 the census revealed that 42% of the population of the Turon goldfield were Chinese.
Most of what remains today does not however testify to the Chinese presence, but to the Europeans.
The village nestles on the river bank in the floor of the steep sided Turon valley. Its buildings, predominantly weatherboard (though there are also some brick), with their iron gabled and hipped roofs, stand close to one another along the narrow winding streets, themselves having no formal kerbing to distinguish them from the property frontages.
According to The Sojourners by Eric Rolls (P 154)
At Sofala, a Chinese built a big hotel that catered mostly for Europeans. A Chinese doctor set up there and several store keepers. Sofala welcomed them.
And P 398
of those who worked here for more than a couple of years, up to 90 % smoked opium.
Between 1861 and 1868, mining companies were formed, as more capital was required to efficiently work the reef mines. As the shafts became deeper, more problems arose with the influx of water, so stronger machines had to be purchased to keep this under control. Many of the companies early on were centred in Sofala. It was this period that was the general Chinese mining period.
Later some attempt was made to revive mining in the area by dredging the Turon.
In 1899 the Turon River Dredging Company commenced operations with a floating pontoon on which was a boiler and a 16 hp engine, with steam winches and a small donkey engine.
A second dredge was constructed 5 km down the river. A further dredge commenced operations in 1900, but closed in 1901. These dredges were on the Turon in the Sofala area.
On 26-10-1900 Sofala Gold Dredging Co. began dredging the Turon in the Gulf area, 9 men were employed and for the year treated 18000 cubic yards for 84 ozs of gold and shutdown in 1901 due to poor returns. It shutdown about the junction of the Palmers Oakey Creek and Turon.
(reference Colin L Ferguson)[1] Kerrin Cook and Daniel Garvey The Glint of Gold. 1999 pp 292, 293
Ah Foo of Maitland Bar
RECORD 33 Ah Foo, of Upper Meroo
Ah Foo Chronlogy as a follow-up to e-mail #1]
Newspaper articles:
The Western post and Mudgee Newspaper 1861
About the Chinese trading n the field including ;’sly grog dealing; One Chinaman had up from Sydney a short time ago 30 or 40 cases of pale brandy.. ‘ a quantity that was illegal at the time except for licensed dealers in spirits..
‘So it is with opium, beef etc if they cannot produce a business license they have bought them for their own consumption’.. and the complaint against them being ‘as soon as they raise a few pounds they get into Business, as soon as they master a few hundred they go to China and spend it’.
A few articles
- Windeyer: about the same as above re business and Chinese
- The movement of Chinese from place to place:
‘On Tuesday morning about 200 Chinamen from Lambing Flat passed through Mudgee on their way to the Hanging Rock diggings. On the afternoon of the same another 50 more arrived, who camped on the government reserve. We expect from a conversation that we had with one of them that they will either set up work at Pipeclay Creek or else Cooyal’. On Wednesday another 89 passed through town.
3. 14th April 1861
- The movement of Chinese from place to place:
‘A number of Chinamen are returning from Lambing Flat to the Meroo..’
- Rumoured gold find on the Fish River: 600 or 700 men are on the ground
Chronology:
Ah Foo [a.k.a. Ah Fooke, John Fooke, John Foo]
1971 arrives Sydney ex. Canton [?] on Elleanora [according to Naturalisation documents]....no sign of Elleanora in 1871
[there¹s an AFFOOK listed as crew [OS] on Ellora arriving from Port of Melbourne Jan 1874 !!!]
16 May
1884 applies for naturalisation
27 July
1884 takes Oath of Allegiance
? 1893 granted Land Portion Nos 36 & 37 [i acre total] at Upper Meroo
22 february
1923 bashed and robbed at Upper Meroo [c/f Police Gazette]
30 September
1925 Death from senile decay and heart failure at Mudgee District Hospital
30 September
1925 probate renounced
4 january
1926 land transferred to Edward Doherty
here are a few chinese websites I have found which may be helpful,
http://www.naa.gov.au/Publications/research_guides/guides/chinese/introduction.htm
http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/
http://www.ahc.gov.au/infores/publications/chineseheritage/trackingthedragon/background.html
re/ Chinese identity who lived outside Mudgee at Upper Meroo. His name was Ah Foo [also known as John Fooke, John Foo, Ah Fooke ] and he died in Mudgee Hospital in July 1925.
His death certificate indicates that his funeral was conducted by J Swords and Co. Ah Foo¹s funeral is listed as the oldest entry in Estaugh and Carroll¹s record books.
As Ah Foo had some connection with my Grandmother¹s family at Upper Meroo,
The queries centre on a Chinese shopkeeper who lived at Upper Meroo named Ah Foo [aka John Fooke]. He died in Mudgee Hospital in 1925 and was buried in the C of E Cemetery.
According to a Police Gazette of 1923, Ah Foo was bashed and robbed by unknown assailants on 1923. Local legend has always referred to him as being Œmurdered¹ however his Death Certificate indicates that he died in July 1925 of Œheart failure¹ and Œsenile decay¹.
Ah Foo: Part 47
> Some developments on Ah Foo research
>
> 1. I've found out where he is buried
> 2. 1885 he owned a pig , a horse and 10 sheep.
>
> 3. he arrived in NSW in 1871 from Canton but I can't work out what
> ship it might have been.
His naturalisation papers say it was the Elleanora but I can't find it in
shipping records. There is an Ellora so maybe with his heavy accent
someone wrote his as Elleanora.
Can anyone help:
A. with a possible ship
B. with ideas for tracking him prior to departure from Canton....are there
> any Cantonese genealogists out there?????
Many thanks
Notes: BJH
John Bateman knows where the grave is
High Bateman has a coin from AH FOOS shop
 | Do you have any old photographs that might be helpful to this site? Please email the author, Diane Simmonds, by clicking here. Or, Phone 02 63722189 |
[1] Eileen Maxwell The Story of Gulgong p12
[2] Gulgong Evening Argus