When did the Chinese settle in Australia?
In the early 1850s, many Chinese immigrants came to Australia as indentured labourers working as shepherds, rural labourers, cooks and gardeners. In 1853, the first boatload of Chinese miners arrived in Victoria. Between 1854 and 1855, about 31,000 Chinese people arrived on the Australian goldfields.
Why did the Chinese move to Australia?
By the early 1850s, news of a gold rush in Australia had reached southern China, sparking an influx in Chinese migration to Australia. It is thought that approximately 7000 Chinese people came to work at the Araluen gold fields in southern NSW.
Where did Chinese immigrants live during the gold rush?
China was not immune to this new gold fever. Word of a mountain of gold across the ocean arrived in Hong Kong in 1849, and quickly spread throughout the Chinese provinces. By 1851, 25,000 Chinese immigrants had left their homes and moved to California, a land some came to call gam saan, or “gold mountain”.
Where did the Chinese first come to Australia?
The earliest Chinese contact with Australia appears to have come from fishermen searching the north-western coastline of Australia for sandalwood, bêche-de-mer (trepang) and sea cucumbers. Chinese sources refer to a 1477 map that shows the outline of the Australian continent.
Why did the Chinese immigrants come to Queensland?
A notable feature of the early Chinese settlement in Queensland, as in other places where overseas Chinese societies developed, was a communal pattern of settlement. Where they could, Chinese immigrants banded together for protection and mutual support within the new and sometimes hostile environment of the host country or colony.
What kind of jobs did the Chinese have in Australia?
At its height in 1861, the Chinese component of Australia’s population was 3.3%. In the early days, the Chinese worked at all kinds of jobs: shepherds, farmers, hawkers, shopkeepers, cooks, artisans, boatmen, fishermen, and general labourers. Their major contribution, however, was in opening up the country.
Where was the Chinese community in Brisbane in the 1880s?
A sizeable Chinese community also developed in Brisbane in the 1880s. The main business district was in Albert Street and Fortitude Valley, with market gardens distributed in outer areas, especially on the river flats of Breakfast Creek and Eagle Farm.