FROM OUR ARCHIVES___ GOLD RUSH
Searching hands sifting, searching minds hoping. Tent cities for miles. Ale, smoke, mud. Weathered men standing over pans, weary eyes searching for that elusive golden flash that would herald their fortune. Welcome to the Australian 1850s Gold Rush.
Chinese miners who came seeking these fortunes were often subject to degradation and resentment, yet also were the establishers of the rich Chinese culture Australia shares in today. This is their story.
The onset of the gold rushes in Victoria and New South Wales from 1850 brought the first indentured Chinese labourers to the country. Between 1854 and 1855, over 30,000 Chinese arrived on the Australian goldfields. But instead of greeting them with respect, many were treated with suspicion, mostly because of their perceived luck in panning for gold.
Although the Chinese people were industrious and peaceful, resentment flared up against them. Several anti-Chinese leagues were established as well as legislation to restrict Chinese immigration. Over time, this resentment cooled, and by the 1990s, there were approximately 450,000 people of Chinese heritage living in Australia. They have become an integral part of the fabric of Australian society.
The small but burgeoning Chinese community in Melbourne’s Little Bourke Street provided for all the needs of the diggers in the 1850s with lodgings, food, equipment and medicine. In the 1860s, this area was solidified as the meeting place for the Chinese community. As the goldfields slowly dried up, some Chinese returned to China, whereas others made their mark on the Melbourne CBD.
Sydney’s Chinatown district is now the largest in Australia. Its current position, between Central Station and Darling Harbour, is the third settlement under the Chinatown name in Sydney. The culture and traditions of China are evident in such sculptures as ‘Golden Water Mouth’, made from a dead tree trunk; it brings good luck and good fortune to the whole Chinese community.
Chinese influence was not only felt in the major cities; major goldfields like the ones in Ballarat were beacons of hope (Ironically, the first gold unearthed in Ballarat was at Poverty Point, by John Dunlop and James Regan in 1851). Just fewer than 10,000 Chinese men moved to Ballarat to join in the rush, and a quarter of all men on the goldfields were Chinese. Ballarat developed a reputation as the ‘New Gold Mountain’, and its fame spread to surrounding towns, such as Clunes and Ararat. The Ararat Goldfield was discovered by accident in 1857 by a group of 700 Chinese miners making their way towards the Central Victorian Goldfields.
Stopping to refill their water supplies, they discovered the Canton Lead, one of the world’s richest shallow alluvial goldfields, stretching over eight kilometres. Population on the Ararat Goldfield exploded to over 30,000 in just a few weeks. In honour of the Chinese miners, the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre was opened in 2001, and it celebrates the rich culture of Chinese settlement in Australia.
The goldfields were tough, gritty places. The Chinese men elected to leave their wives at home in China and send their fortune back, but the Australian and European attitude towards women was less thoughtful. The Victorian-era woman was seen to be the wife, mother and homemaker. She must be ‘childlike, indeterminate and pale, passive, submissive, mindless, genteel and nice’. This picture of passivity translated directly into the clothing of the day.
Victorian fashion was an impression of status. How one dressed was an indication of one’s wealth, social status, and influence. Mark Kershaw, upon visiting Melbourne in 1886, commented on his dismay on seeing “nice-looking, stylishly dressed creatures talking and walking with ill-dressed young larrikins”. Perhaps the most telling point here is his comment on the women of the day not being well-dressed and stylish, but by being ‘creatures’.
The leisure and upper classes overdressed and entertained to excess, revelling in the fortune and luxuries that came from success on the goldfields. Dressing to impress was not only to flaunt your wealth, but also to prove your allegiance to the upper class. The Victorian style of women’s clothing included the crinoline skirt and the bustle, which was eventually replaced with the corset and the S-bend silhouette. The highly restrictive nature of women’s clothing reflected the nature of their social status; even though they were physically harming themselves, they kept wearing the clothing or would risk ‘being considered unworthy of their class’. The corset still has its wearers today; thankfully, its status has moved from forced to elected wear.
Restriction of both the Chinese and women during that time has now ended. Equality reigns supreme – both groups have found their voice and place in Australian society. fluoro’s 1850s inspired shoot captures the distinctive mood of the time: dark, ominous, yet surprisingly glamourous and a touch excessive, with still a little room for hope.
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Creative — HM, Melbourne Australia
Art direction — Miguel Valenzuela
Styling — JSM
Hair/makeup Mae Taylor
Photography Long Photography
Model Chervil for Vivien’s Models
Clothing & Accessories Cose Ipanema’s private archives & current collection, Melbourne, Australia.
