Chinese gold miners in Aotearoa New Zealand: 1865 onwards

BACKGROUND

The first Chinese New Zealander was Wong Appo Hocton (王鶴庭) who arrived in Nelson in 1842. But it wasn’t until the end of 1865 that Chinese came in larger numbers to the goldfields of Otago and the West Coast.

CONTENTS

• The first Chinese New Zealander  
• The Aotearoa New Zealand gold rushes  
• Chinese miners  
• Early Chinese on the goldfields   
• Chinese mining settlements 
• Papers Past articles relating to Chinese gold miners 
• Supporting resources 
• Glossary

THE FIRST CHINESE NEW ZEALANDER 

Appo Hocton was born in China, the son of Fook Ting and his wife, Pae See. According to family tradition, his birth name was Wong Ahpoo Hock Ting (王鶴庭) and he was born on 18 August 1819. But declarations he made in New Zealand mean he could have been born as late as 1823...

Source: Hocton, Appo — Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. CC BY-NC 3.0 NZ. Information added. 

THE AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND GOLD RUSHES 

The gold rushes attracted for the first time to New Zealand a significant group of non-European immigrants – the Chinese. 

Source: History of immigration — Miners, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 

CHINESE MINERS 

Chinese miners were first invited to Otago in 1865 when Pākehā miners left in large numbers for the new West Coast goldfields. The first Chinese scouting parties arrived in December of that year and a larger number of migrants started coming from 1866. By the end of the 1860s, some 2,000 Chinese were in Otago. They worked over fields thoroughly and some kept mining for many years. 

Source: Otago region — Gold and development, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.  

EARLY CHINESE ON THE GOLDFIELDS  

By 1869 there were about 2,000 Chinese people in New Zealand. Almost all were men who came to work the goldfields of Otago and the West Coast. Most of them probably intended to make their fortunes and return to China. An 1871 report dismissed popular allegations against the Chinese, but pressure mounted to exclude further arrivals. Formal restrictions on Chinese immigrants were imposed in 1881. 

Source: Immigration regulation — 1881–1914 restrictions on Chinese and others, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

On the goldfields, the early Chinese spent a lot of energy making sure they had positive engagements with white settlers. However, sometimes they were excluded from living within town boundaries. The Lawrence Chinese camp was an example of this.  

CHINESE MINING SETTLEMENTS

Chinese miners mostly worked the ground that Europeans had abandoned as unprofitable. They worked hard and established more permanent settlements than Europeans. Many constructed sod and schist cottages, dry stone walls, and planted gardens. 

Source: Gold and gold mining — Māori and Chinese miners, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

The biggest Chinese centres

The Lawrence Chinese camp in Central Otago was the largest of the two Chinese mining settlements with around 500 residents at its height, while Round Hill in Southland had at least 300 residents. Each settlement had its own hotel, shops and places of worship.

The Lawrence site is registered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero as an important cultural and historic place. Two buildings still stand; the Poon Fah Joss House the last of its kind in the country, and the old Chinese Empire Hotel which is now a visitor centre.

PAPERS PAST ARTICLES RELATING TO CHINESE GOLD MINERS

SUPPORTING RESOURCES  

The Arrowtown Chinese settlement — Central Otago had several Chinese settlements. Arrowtown was studied extensively by archaeologists in the early 1980s and is the best memorial to these settlers.

Chinaman's gold — this current affairs programme follows the work of archaeologist Neville Ritchie, who in 1981 led one of Aotearoa's "biggest archaeological operations" yet — an excavation of Cromwell's Chinatown.  

Chinese gold miner keepsakes — Chinese gold miners used many Chinese-made objects here in Aotearoa NZ. The majority of these were ceramics associated with the packaging, transport, storage, preparation, cooking or consumption of food.

The Chinese New Year — an account from the Lake Wakatip Mail newspaper about the 1873 February Chinese New Year celebrations that were enjoyed by both Chinese and Europeans at Big Beach, Shotover. 

Honouring the dead — sinking of SS Ventnor in 1902 creates a unique bond between Chinese and Māori.

Into the light — the Dunedin Alloo family whakapapa back to Guangdong, China. 

Journey to Lan Yuan — why is there a Chinese garden in Dunedin? In 1865 the Otago Provincial Government make a formal request for Chinese from Victoria to fill a worker shortage in Otago. 

New gold mountain — descendants of the first marriages between Chinese and Europeans in New Zealand faced discrimination and hid their ancestry.

The remarkable journeys of NZ's Chinese goldminers — information about a documentary on the lives of New Zealand's Chinese goldminers and immigrants.

The story of the SS Ventnor— in 1902 the SS Ventnor sank off Hokianga harbour, carrying the bones of 499 Chinese miners with it. Their descendants tell the story of finally recognising the Chinese miners. 

The sunken coffins of 499 Chinese gold miners — this video explores the SS Ventnor, a tomb ship from NZ bound for China that was shipwrecked and sank off Hokianga harbour. 

Window on a harsh existence — between 1880 and 1900, the Arrowtown settlement was home to 16-20 men, who built a row of simple sod huts separate from the township in one of the coldest locations in the area.

GLOSSARY 

Definitions below have been taken from the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary and Te Aka, the Māori dictionary.

articulate — to express or explain your thoughts or feelings clearly in words. 

allegations — public statements made without giving proof, accusing somebody of doing something that is wrong or illegal.

archaeologist — a person who studies the cultures of the past, and of periods of history by examining the parts of buildings and objects found in the ground.

ceramics — a pot or other object made of clay that has been made permanently hard by heat.

declaration — an official or formal statement, especially about the plans of a government or an organization.

schist — a type of rock formed of layers of different minerals, that breaks naturally into thin flat pieces.

scouting — an act of getting information by looking around an area.

whakapapa — genealogy, genealogical table, lineage, descent - reciting whakapapa was, and is an important skill and reflected the importance of genealogies in Māori society. 

This story was curated and compiled by Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa | National Library of New Zealand, Services to Schools staff, 2023. We acknowledge the content, research, guidance, and review provided by Kirsten Wong for the New Zealand Chinese Association, Lynette Shum, and Emeritus Professor Dr Manying Ip.