The Chinese in Bunbury (1890s-1910s)

Not much is known about the Chinese men and their families who immigrated to Australia and settled in Bunbury. Newspaper accounts are sparse and those that do exist are littered with racial judgments of the times. Many Chinese identities are merged in the historical record as many articles refer to them as ‘Chinamen’ instead of their actual names. These people provided fresh vegetable produce to those living in and around Bunbury from their Chinese vegetable gardens (reference; reference).  

Sampson Road and the land south of it, owned by Dr John Sampson, known as Sampson’s Town, was the primary location of Bunbury’s Chinese vegetable gardens, which supplied the town with fresh food (reference; reference; reference). There were also gardens on Vasse Road (reference). 

Despite the necessity of the services the Chinese provided for Bunbury, they came under the scrutiny of the Health Board (reference). They were called a ‘necessary evil’ as the Chinese were reputed to be ‘industrious’ and ‘hard working’ that ‘supply the community with cheap vegetables which cannot be done without.’ These quotes from 1901 show that the Chinese were highly valued and that people recognised Bunbury relied on their work (reference). This being said, the Chinese were blamed for people catching diseases such as diphtheria, despite these people only passing by (reference). Diphtheria is spread through an infected person’s cough, sneeze or open wound, so walking past the gardens could not have been the cause (reference; reference). There were no further cases of diphtheria and the Chinese carried out the ordered repairs and cleaning of their gardens (reference). 

In 1900 a Chinese man was welcomed to Bunbury was Pow Chee, a Chinese missionary from Perth who visited Bunbury to lecture on China and the Chinese (reference). 

One man whose identity exists in the historical record is Tuck Yeng. He was listed in the 1895 and 1897 post office directories as a fruiterer on Stephen Street in Bunbury (link; link). While information is lacking, there is evidence that he was in Portland, Victoria in 1877 and arrived in Western Australia at Albany on the steamer Colas in 1892 (reference; reference). On 9 October 1895, J C Illingworth of the Rose Hotel recommended that the government talk to Yeng and his fellow Chinese immigrants, Ah Ling, Kea Sand, Lee Wing and Wah Sam, for advice on how to grow fresh produce (reference).

Mow Sung was known as the Chinese gardener of Sampson’s Town (reference; reference). His garden patch was very fertile and neatly cultivated (reference). In 1906 his garden was threatened with destruction when the local authorities ordered Sampson’s Road aqueduct to be filled in (reference). His particular plot was called ‘Sampson’s Swamp’ as, during the winter, the ground was very moist (reference). His house, which he shared with four other Chinese men, came under attack by the Health Board that same year (reference). It was reported to be in a ‘very unsanitary condition’ with ‘garbage from the garden kept close to the house, and the refuse from the kitchen thrown at the back door (reference). The front was partly covered by an accumulation of old sacks, dirt and filth (reference). The inside was in a very dirty condition (reference). William Spencer reported that the house consisted of a couple of posts and a few bags (reference). The health inspector went as far as to claim that it was ‘the most unsanitary place he had yet to visit in Bunbury (reference).’ The outhouse was reported as ‘one of the worst of its kind’ and was in ‘a very dilapidated state (reference).’ As the area was swampy and lacked drainage, the health inspector reported that the rotting vegetable matter would create a very offensive smell to the residents in the vicinity when the swamp dried up in summer (reference). While all these claims against Mow’s house are likely accurate, it is no surprise they lived in poverty, given they were expected to work very long, hard days and receive very little money in return for their work, preventing them from being able to afford or construct more than a rudimentary shelter.

In 1906 Mow read a letter to the Municipal Council in a request for a drain (reference). His letter was referred to the works committee (reference). The issue arose due to recent changes to the roads that removed the drains (reference). 

“I respectfully ask your consideration of what is virtually a hardship for me. I am the lessee and ratepayer of garden in Sampson’s Road and have another ten years to run and owing to the small existing wooden drain being covered up by filling in my garden will be flooded out next winter. I respectfully point out that this is the first request I have made and as a ratepayer, ask your consideration and humbly request that you will insert a drain along the roadway so that the threatened loss of my livelihood may not become a reality. Thanking you in anticipation for your equitable decision’ - Mow Sung (reference). 

Mow had to continue to fight to get the drain (reference).

“At the risk of appearing tedious, I must refer to my case again. The filling up of the roadway and covering up of the existing box drain will have the effect in rainy weather of throwing all the stormwater back on my garden. All that I respectfully ask for, and I think I am equitably entitled to it, is that you put in a surface drain as deep as the old box drain so as to carry off the storm waters, not to drain my whole garden. As a ratepayer I respectfully ask your favourable consideration of my request, as unless it is done my garden will be ruined and my means of livelihood gone. Through ruin will stare me in the face unless you grant me this request, still I am loath to revert to extreme measures.” - Mow Sung (reference).

Mow’s plight was again referred to the works committee (reference). 

In 1901 the gardens of South Bunbury were suffering from a robbery (reference). This included the Chinese gardens in Sampson’s Town, resulting in a loss of produce and income (reference). In 1902 another Chinese resident of Sampson’s Town, Ah Way, had his pants stolen (reference). On Wednesday, 11 June 1902, Ah Way went to put on a suit of clothes but found the trousers missing and had to get another pair (reference). Ah Way told the police he saw Ned Crawford, the accused, in an empty house in Sampson’s Town with his trousers (reference). Ned was found guilty and sentenced to three months of hard labour for stealing the pants and other items (reference). 

In 1895 the gardeners of Sampson’s Town were praised by a Bunbury resident for reopening the drain alongside William Spencer’s garden at their own cost (reference). Despite this, the Chinese gardens, including the smell, was often complained about in the newspapers (reference; reference). Other complaints included the ‘uncleanly state of the verandah (reference). Not all complaints were found true. In 1897 J Law, a resident of Sampson’s Town, complained about a ‘nuisance caused by the Chinese occupier of a house in close proximity to his’. He claimed they were using his verandah for storing manure. The complaint was investigated, with the inspector stating that ‘The Chinese lived at the eastern end of Sampson Town and the deposit was at the eastern end of the house, so that if anybody were inconvenienced it would be the Chinese themselves (reference).’

For many years it was discussed that the gardens be filled in so it would no longer be a swamp in winter (reference). By 1912, part of the garden had already been filled in, and discussions to fill the rest were in progress (reference).