Killing of Chinese at Lambing Flat (Young), Tuesday, 13 November 1860
Two died that day
At [Lambing Flat] many of the Chinese were cruelly beaten, but no one was killed.” (National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 2001).
The following historical-fiction account of the first Lambing Flat riot during November 1860 is based on contemporary newspaper reports and archival records, many of which are reproduced at the end of the piece. The characters are fictional, apart from that of Police Inspector Henry Zouch, though the actions are based on real events. The aim of the piece is to reflect the horror of life in the New South Wales goldfields for the Chinese during this period. Racism was extreme and obvious.
Lambing Flat, Tuesday, 13 November 1860
“Shi-ling - Run! Run!”
Han Sai Lu shouted to his friend as he stood outside their tent, looking up the valley towards the approaching mob.
Shi was cradling by the creek, flecks of gold gleaming in the midday sun amidst the dirty water. He turned and looked up, ears pricked, aware of the rising anger of the Australian diggers.
“The diggers! They come to kill us,” Han shouted to Shi as he ran towards him.
It’s the Vigilance Committee, Shi thought fearfully.
He hopped up and grabbed Han’s arm.
“Quick, follow me. Don’t look back.”
They headed down the valley, through the sprawling camp. All around their comrades were fleeing. Others stood transfixed, unable to comprehend the impending danger posed by the approaching drunken, riotous mob.
Hundreds of diggers marched towards the Chinese camp, armed with picks and shovels, whips, swords, rifles, and pistols. Women and children followed close behind.
Shi and Han ran down by the creek, which turned slightly to the west. They continued to the south, up a small hill where there was cover amongst the giant granite boulders and tall eucalyptus. From there they overlooked the camp and could see the ensuing melee as the mob entered.
“Look”, said Shi to Han, “They’ve got Chu.”
Two men dragged 20 year old Chu Bou along the dirt from the point on the creek where he’d been cradling for gold towards the edge of the road and the noisy crowd.
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His Chinese comrades gathered around, shouting and stomping in protest as a tall, heavy set, bearded man held Chu’s arms with an iron grip. Another pulled him along by his pig-tailed hair, whilst a third smashed a pick handle across his chest and legs.
“Please, please, let go”, cried Chu.
“No way Ching Chong, you damned pest,” was the slurred response from one of the drunken assailants.
The mob fell upon Chu and the men, singing along to the band and waving flags with the words “No Chinese” painted in large letters upon them.
“Off with his tail!” came a cry from amongst the crowd as the struggling young man was dragged along the dusty ground, the sharp rocky detritus cutting his legs, buttocks and back.
“Where’s my sword?” shouted one of the men as he threw Chu to the ground, kicked his head with a boot muddied by a broken cradle, and planted it firmly upon the diminutive Chinaman’s chest.
“Here it is,” said his friend.
The digger took the blade, lifted Chu’s upper body, and sliced hair and skin from the terrified young man’s scalp.
“Aaaahh”, screamed Chu, as the flesh was pulled away from the bone and he was flung back onto the ground. A pool of blood slowly turned the orange-brown soil dark about his head.
The damp, blood-soaked scalp was then held aloft, a trophy for the crowd.
A cheer went up.
“No Chinese – no more stealing our gold! No Chinese!”
“I should get a pretty price for this one!” the perpetrator shouted as he tied the bloodied pigtail to the pole of the biggest flag.
On the ground Chu lay motionless, the blood flowing from his head slowing turning the pale brown, dusty soil a dark mud.
“More pigtails! Don’t let ‘em get away!” came shouts from the crowd.
The mob kept moving, over and around Chu’s body, kicking him and cursing all the while, on through the camp and down along the creek, destroying the tents, stealing gold and food, smashing the equipment of the Chinese diggers.
Those who were too slow to escape were chased down and corralled by the brutal mob, where they were beaten and spat upon.
Han and Shi looked on from a distance.
“We’ve got to help Chu,” whispered Han.
“We can’t. They’ll do the same to us. We have to wait here,” responded Shi, tears streaming down his face amidst a mixture of fear and rage.
More of the Chinese men were pulled aside, young and old, their scalps cut off with anger and rough blades; their beaten and bloodied bodies thrown to the ground and trampled in the dust.
“Hey look – this one’s got the ears on it as well,” shouted the man with the sword as he held aloft another scalp.
The mob pushed on through the camp, laughing, singing and shouting curses.
Han and Shi looked down towards Chu. He was not moving. Others now lay on the ground about the camp, rolling about in pain, quivering, shaking, bleeding, groaning; some lifeless, like Chu, alone and left to die by the mob.
Smoke began to rise from the camp, amid the flames of burning equipment, broken tents, destroyed shanty shacks and the looted Chinese temple.
That previous day the diggers had come to smoke opium, sell their gold, gamble, eat and carouse with the Chinese. This day they destroyed all in their path, with the camp now deemed a place of “bad characters” and “thieves” - an excuse for action by the Vigilance Committee if the authorities should inquire.
By late afternoon the Chinese camp was cleared. The diggers marched back through the smoldering ruins as the band played on. Thirteen bloodied scalps hung from the standard – a flag bearing the Southern Cross of Eureka and a call to “Roll Up, Roll Up” for the cause of “No Chinese”.
There were no police; no one in authority to decry the inhumanity of the actions this day. Just the ad-hoc Vigilance Committee, to do what the diggers felt needed to be done; to do what the politicians and the police would not do: clear the Chinese from the diggings.
And on this day some 500 were cleared out at Lambing Flat, with brutal force and no redress.
Han and Shi hid amongst the granite boulders until the
riotous perpetrators were gone. Some of their compatriots sought shelter at the
nearby farm of a friendly settler. Now, along with fellow survivors, the two
young men scurried down to the destroyed camp and secured the bodies of the
dead and wounded. All were carried or assisted on the ten mile walk to safety.
Chu was buried that night, alongside an old man, Li Ah, in one of the farmer’s paddocks. There was no ceremony and no tombstone to mark the grave, as protect against those who would seek its desecration. The Chinese silently, secretly mourned the death of Chu and Li, then moved on, further south, to an abandoned goldfield. When the time was right, they would return to the farm for the bodies, gather the remains and dispatch them home to Nanjing and Yunan, where they would be buried with honor and tradition.
For the time being Han and Shi were safe.
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In the weeks following they spoke of meeting Mr. Zouch, the special policeman sent to the diggings to investigate the riots. They would tell him what happened; ask that those who killed Chu Bou and Li Ah be brought to justice. They would ask for protection.
No such meeting ever took place.
It seemed that Zouch was only interested in talking with the diggers.
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Some two months later, it was now Chinese New Year, early February 1861, a time of celebration. Shi sat by a tent, tears running down his cheeks as he read Mr. Zouch’s report in The Empire:
Goulburn, 2 January 1861
To: The Inspector-General of Police, Sydney.
Sir, — I have the honour to inform you that, after the strictest inquiry from reliable sources as to the alleged killing of Chinese, and the disturbances — burning of tents &c., I have no hesitation in stating that the whole affair has been grossly exaggerated and over-coloured; and nothing but good has resulted, though the means used were illegal in the destruction of the shanties - the resort of thieves and the scenes of robbery - carried out in a proper spirit. But as to a Vigilance Committee - there was nothing of the kind; it was a gathering of well-disposed and decent men, though some Germans, one in particular, whose names I have, headed the mob, drawn sword in hand, and took a leading, and not the most peaceable part in the proceedings. In reference to the attack on the Chinese, I have reason to believe that it was quite unconnected with the other gathering, inasmuch as most of the latter were more or less intoxicated, much fewer in number, and it is said most of the rejected shanty keepers and their satellites were the prime movers, if not the organisers of the outrages, in order to throw odium on the destroyers of their shanties. Happily, no greater harm resulted to the victims than a few bruises, and the loss of thirteen pigtails. There is no evidence whatever as to any having been killed; one is certainly reported missing by his friends, but none saw him maltreated, nor do they believe him dead. Every search has been made by the police, but no clue can be got, or trace of a body found….
Henry Zouch, Superintendent Mounted Patrol, Southern Roads.
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Worse was yet to come….
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Part 2 - The Facts
Attacks on Chinese on the Burrangong Goldfields and other incidents of racist behaviour towards the Chinese in the region of Lambing Flat / Young
1860 – 1879
Compiled by Michael Organ
August – September 2021
1860-1 - Lambing Flat Riots
Many of the Chinese were cruelly beaten, but no one was killed. About 1,000 Chinese abandoned the field and set up camp near Roberts' homestead at Currowang sheep station, 20 km away (Ian Coates, 'The Lambing Flat riots', in T. Stannage et al., Gold and Civilization, Art Exhibitions, Sydney, Australia and National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 2001; Lauren Carroll Harris, The riots history erased: reckoning with the racism of Lambing Flat, The Guardian, 7 August 2018)
30 Chinese were killed during a Lambing Flat riot and are buried on a property nearby. There are letters from Chinese people written at the time which record this, and the property owners have marked off the land where the bodies are buried (Anonymous, Pers. comm., June 2021)
Introduction
Europeans,
Americans and Australians viciously attacked, and in some instances killed,
Chinese miners on the Burrangong goldfields in the region of present-day Young between
November 1860 and September 1861. They also physically forced thousands off the goldfields and destroyed or stole their equipment and belongings. These are now known as the Lambing Flat riots.
Contemporary accounts, documents and reminiscences point to the death and
injury of numerous Chinese, though official coverups by police, politicians and perpetrators have continually claimed
there were "no deaths". The most explosive incident occurred on 31 June 1861 when
some 3,000 miners attacked the Chinese, though the first, co-ordinated and
premeditated attack occurred on 13 November 1860 when some 1,000 riotous
diggers drove off 500 Chinese miners. The semi-fictional account above records this. The cause of these riots can be traced
back to the antipathy shown the Chinese on the Victorian goldfields almost a
decade earlier, and a deep seated racism by the British who made up the bulk of the immigrant population in Australia at the time. Migration of large numbers of Chinese into Australia during the
1850s gave rise to increasing race-based tensions amongst Australian and overseas diggers,
and at all levels of society, including the politicians of the day who bore their own prejudices. This was exacerbated by
racist newspaper reporting and lack of political support or police action to
defend the basic human rights of the Chinese. The following is a list of excerpts from contemporary newspapers which reflect some of these attitudes and actions.
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* Anti-Chinese editorial, Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 13 April 1860:
… It is extremely probable that more Chinese will be killed by Christian shot [in the war in China] than the numbers yet landed in Australia….
* Lambing Flat riot, Tuesday, 13 November 1860 - refer the semi-fictional account above, and contemporary accounts below upon which it is based.
* Lambing Flat diggings – expulsion of the Chinese, Yass Courier, 17 November 1860:
The Chinese have been compelled to evacuate the diggings. On Tuesday [13th] a large party of diggers marched to the camps of the moon-faces, accompanied by a brass band playing enlivening airs. On arriving at the spot, John Chinaman was obliged to make himself scarce, and as soon as he was driven off the ground, all the tents were demolished in an instant. We believe that no violence to the person was committed in getting quit of these pests.
Report on the first riot, Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday, 18 December 1860:
LAMBING FLAT (From the Yass Courier of Saturday.)
RUMOURED ATTACK ON THE CHINESE— ONE OR TWO KILLED.
Information was brought to Yass on last Wednesday forenoon that some of the European population on Lambing Flat, after occurrences of Sunday last, as reported in our last issue, attacked a party of Chinese, and maltreated them to such an extent as to cause the death of at least one of their number. Some reports say two of the Chinese were killed. We are informed that the "tails " of the unfortunate Celestials were cut off in so barbarous a manner as to detach the skin from the back of the head ; and further, that the brutality was carried to the length of cutting the ears off of several. We can scarcely give the reports credence, and sincerely hope, for the reputation of the miners on Lambing Flat, that the whole statement is unfounded ; but the particulars have been repeated to us by two or three respectable persons, and hence our giving it publicity. It is certainly to be regretted that the Government have been so laggard in affording needful protection to life and property on the diggings, the sole staff, only very recently appointed, consisting of a Commissioner and two mounted troopers, who are stationed some twelve miles distant from the locality where mining operations are carried on.
Two Chinese killed at Lambing Flat riots, Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 21 December 1860:
At the Lambing Flat diggings there have been some very serious riots, the result of an almost total absence of police protection. The miners have risen in a body, formed a "vigilance committee," and driven away the Chinese, of whom two, it is reported, have been killed, and ten wounded. The rioters have also burnt down a number of shanties, which were said to be the resort of bad character, and they threaten to crop the ears of any thieves or bad characters whom they may catch. We have not heard what steps have been taken by the Government to sustain law and order at this place and to bring the murderers to justice; but, if the measures for this purpose are not prompt and effective, the Government will be eternally disgraced, and the peace of the whole country imperiled.
Atrocities at Lambing Flat, Launceston Examiner, Saturday 22 December 1860:
At the Lambing Flat diggings there have been some very serious riots, the result of an almost total absence of police protection. The miners have risen in a body, formed a "vigilance committee," and driven away the Chinese, of whom two, it is stated, have been killed, and ten wounded. The rioters have also burnt down a number of shanties, which were said to be the resort of bad characters, and they threaten to crop the ears of any thieves or bad characters they may catch.
Defence of the diggers, The Empire, Monday, 7 January 1861:
On Saturday last, our daily contemporary returned to the charge against the mining population at Lambing Flat. The rise and progress of this little romance of party-journalism cannot have been forgotten. In the midst of the metropolitan elections, when it seemed desirable for the support of the bad cause, espoused to paint the labouring population in the most hideous colours, a startling telegram was issued by the Herald. The public were informed, in large capitals, that a serious riot had taken place at Lambing Flat ; that a Vigilance Committee had been formed ; that hundreds of armed diggers were parading the place ; that two Chinamen had been killed and ten wounded ; and that some obnoxious persons had had their ears cut off. Those whose ears were of the requisite length for imbecile credulity may have believed these statements ; but most people set them down at once as gross exaggerations. The generally orderly character of the diggers on the New South Wales gold-fields was prima facie evidence in their favour ; and, some years' experience of the lengths to which unscrupulous persons would go in furtherance of political objects, afforded additional grounds for suspicion in the present case. When a person notoriously addicted to fibbing charges a great crime upon those who have hitherto borne an irreproachable character, the odds are decidedly in favour of the accused, and so it was on the occasion in question. Later intelligence continued to blow away the tissue of inventions which had been put forth, until but a very small sediment of truth remained at the bottom. The story was like that of the three black crows, which merely ended in a puke. The diggers had banded themselves together to get rid of some dangerous company, and the ejected evil-doers having come into collision with the Chinese, the latter had the worst of it, and a few of their pig-tails were cut off — a good-humoured and harmless, though somewhat contemptuous mode of punishment. There was, indeed, some vague rumour of a Chinaman having been killed, but nobody could trace this to any authentic foundation, and it was most likely, but an obstinate reservation on the part of the originators of the story, who were not quite generous enough to make a clean breast of it. But how has this satisfactory refutation been dealt with by the godfathers of the monstrous fiction? Instead of a candid acknowledgment of error, we find a cruel persistence in the slander, adorned and embellished with the most extravagant additions. Not only is it again asserted that many Chinamen were wounded, and one killed, but we are now informed that several of them were "scalped!" This wild Indian mode of torture is a novelty on the diggings — a gratifying proof that the Herald's powers of invention are by no means exhausted. We can conceive the horror of the European reader on taking up the print in question — his disordered vision of the Lambing Flat gold-digger, striding through the camp with a dozen reeking scalps in his girdle, and flourishing his keen scalping-knife in readiness for fresh customers. Who can tell by what means this abominable invention may find its way to the ears of the Chinese in their own country, and the barbarous retaliation it may provoke, on the scalps of European stragglers who may fall into their hands? A lie of ordinary dimensions seems to be too paltry an affair, and nothing but the strong drink of mendacity is thought worthy of dispensing. Upon those false premises are based assertions equally false. We are told that no official inquiry has been made into these alleged outrages ; "that no attempt has even been suggested to arrest the malefactors." Either these statements were known to be untrue, or they were made without that very slight investigation which would have established their falsehood. The whole affair is made, as usual, a charge against the Government; and the malicious work of an inventive brain is adopted as another argument against free institutions, and the "tyranny of the majority." The fact is, that as soon as ever these reports obtained circulation, the Government adopted measures to ascertain their truth or falsehood, and not an hour was lost in dispatching efficient police protection to the scene of these alleged atrocities. The result of a most rigid investigation, by a competent and experienced officer, is now before us, in the shape of an official letter from Captain ZOUCH to the Inspector-General of Police. This document we now subjoin, and its perusal may have a beneficial effect upon those who have been in the habit of receiving as facts the assertions of the most mendacious journal in the Australian colonies.
Goulburn, January 2nd, 1861.
Sir, — I have the honour to inform you of my return from Burrongong, whence I had, owing to certain rumours, proceeded, and where I remained from the 17th to the 28th ultimo daily, with from six to eight troopers, patrolling the diggings. After the strictest inquiry from reliable sources, as to the alleged killing of Chinese, and the disturbances — burning of tents &c., I have no hesitation in stating that the whole affair has been grossly exaggerated and over-coloured; not but that good has resulted, though the means used were illegal, — in the destruction of the shanties, (the resort of thieves and the scenes of robbery), worked and carried out in a proper spirit. But as to a Vigilance Committee, in the American acceptance of such an institution, there was nothing of the kind; it was a gathering of well disposed and decent men, though some Germans, one in particular, whose names I have, headed the mob, drawn sword in hand, and took a leading, and not the most peaceable part in the proceedings. In reference to the attack on the Chinese, some fifty, encamped amongst the other diggers, I have reason to believe that it was quite unconnected with the other gathering, inasmuch as most of the latter were more or less intoxicated, much fewer in number, and it is said most of the rejected shanty keepers and their satellites were the prime movers, if not the organisers of the outragers, in order to throw odium on the destroyers of their shanties. Happily no greater harm resulted to the victims than a few bruises, and the loss of thirteen pigtails. There is no evidence whatever as to any having been killed; one is certainly reported missing by his friends, but none saw him maltreated, nor do they believe him dead. Every search has been made by the police, but no clue can be got, or trace of a body found. I may mention that I ascertained beyond a doubt, that the report of Chinese having been killed originated with the European diggers. I left eight troopers and two detectives with the Commissioner, and have arranged as to quarters at Lambing Flat for the force. Two other stations will have to be formed, one at Stoney Creek, and another for mounted men in the centre of the three main creeks. Of those arrangements I will further communicate. I did not leave the diggings till the riot of the Christmas races and festivities had quite subsided, and all was as quiet as diggings usually are. I have &c.,
(Signed) H. ZOUCH, Superintendent Mounted Patrol, Southern Roads.
The Inspector-General of Police, Sydney.
What a very contemptible figure the most ingenious and elaborate falsehood displays in the presence of the naked truth! We have now the deliberate official report of Captain ZOUCH, in direct contradiction of the Herald, and it would be an insult to the discernment of the public to entertain a doubt which side they will believe. Instead of the diggers at Burrangong being a set of murderers, against whom our pious contemporary launches his Scriptural thunders, we have the testimony of an experienced officer of the police, that the only act of violence chargeable against them as a body has resulted in much good, and, though illegal in fact, was "worked and carried out in a proper spirit." Indeed, we have only to turn to the local paper in order to find a striking proof of the generally peaceful and orderly state of society at this gold-field. The Yass Courier of Wednesday last informs us that "a school has been opened by ladies at one time resident in Yass, and a pretty numerous band of juveniles have put in an attendance." What a commentary upon the horrible fictions of the scalping-knife, and the malicious picture of a people under the Divine ban for its "sanguine pollution!" We leave the subject with a quotation which, as our contemporary will scarcely dispute its authority, he will do well to lay to heart before compiling a further edition of his Legends of Terror :— "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."
No inquiry, Mount Alexander Mail, Friday, 11 January 1961:
THE RIOTS AT LAMBING FLAT. — The Yass Courier states that the former reports as to the riots at Lambing Flat and the murder of two Chinamen, &c., were exaggerated. It adds that on the evening of the day on which the sparring saloons were destroyed by the Vigilance Committee and their owners driven off the diggings, the mob fell across some Chinese, who certainly received more kicks than halfpence. They got knocked about a good deal, and one Chinaman lost his life from the buffets he received. Some others had their pigtails cutoff, and were somewhat injured, but there does not appear to have been any premeditation in the affair. It is singular that, that, although it was known that the Chinaman had come by his death by violence, no coroner's inquest or magisterial inquiry was held on the body.
Only one Chinese man killed in Lambing Flat riots / Police denial of vigilantly action, Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 21 January 1861:
The accounts from Lambing Flat continue to be uncertain and conflicting; but there is now reason to hope that, although the miners have formed a "Vigilance Committee," and have administered some rather rough justice, according to their own notions of what is fitting, the story of murderous outrages upon the Chinese has been exaggerated ….. The Yass Courier of Saturday last states that the former reports as to the riots at Lambing Flat and the murder of two Chinamen, &c., were exaggerated. It adds that "on the evening of the day on which the sparring saloons were destroyed by the Vigilance Committee and their owners driven off the diggings, the mob fell across some Chinese, who certainly received more kicks than half-pence. They got knocked about a good deal, and one Chinaman lost his life from the buffets he received. Some others had their pigtails cut off, and were somewhat injured, but there does not appear to have been any premeditation in the affair. "It is singular that, although it was known that the Chinaman had come by his death by violence, no coroner's inquest or magisterial inquiry was held on the body." …. Captain Zouch, in his official report from Lambing Flat diggings, has contradicted the rumour as to the killing of Chinamen, &c. The rioter did no more, he states, than burn a few shanties, the known resorts of bad characters, and the vigilance committee, when they formed, was not a vigilance committee in the American sense, but a mere organisation for the preservation of order, in the absence of police protection.
Killing and scalping of Chinese at Lambing Flat, The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser, Friday, 28 December 1860:
We learn from the Lambing Flat gold-field that hostilities have occurred between the Europeans and Chinese there, and that several of the latter have been killed. It is also said that those Chinese who have escaped death have been treated with brutal violence, their pigtails having been cut off with the adhering scalp, and that others have been deprived of their ears.
No talk of killing Chinese, Goulburn Herald, Saturday, 29 December 1860:
The Burrangong Diggings, To the editor of the Herald. Sir, - Having visited these diggings last week … I heard nothing of Chinese being killed … J.M.
Parliamentary Proceedings, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Wednesday, 30 January 1861:
LAMBING FLAT DIGGINGS.
Mr. DANIEL asked, without notice -" Whether the Government had taken any steps to prevent riot and loss of life at the Lambing Flat Diggings, and to protect the Chinese from the violence of those who had threatened to turn them away from the diggings?"
Mr. COWPER was not prepared to answer the question and he might have done if he had received notice of it. But he would say what had been done by the Government. Information had been made to them that the Lambing Flat diggings were not in a satisfactory state; and the police officer on the spot had made such provision as was in his power. He (Mr. Cowper) had been of opinion, that some of the police might be withdrawn from Kiandra; but he found this was not possible. He had, therefore, authorised Captain M'Lerie to engage additional policemen, and he had engaged eight; who left the day before yesterday, for Goulburn. He was informed that there were 3000 persons assembled together, and were bent on preventing the Chinese working on the diggings. No personal injuries had been inflicted on the Chinese, but had prevented their working. Mr. M'Lerie had directed Mr. Zouch to take on these eight with his other men at Goulburn, at once to the diggings; Mr. Batty, of the Western District, was also directed to go to the Lambing Flat diggings. His (Mr. Cowper's) colleague, Mr. Robertson had telegraphed to Mr. Cloete, to go at once to these diggings ; and Mr. Beckham had received orders of a similar kind. So that if any riot took place, there would be sufficient force to protect the Chinese in the possession of their rights. And as long as the Chinese paid for mineral rights, the Government were bound to protect them in - possession of those rights.
More riots, more police, Sydney Mail, 2 February 1861:
Lambing Flat. — The following information was received in town by telegraph on Tuesday from Yass: The Europeans have made another attack on the Chinese, and have organised themselves so as to extract a pledge from nearly all the Europeans on the gold-field to resist the Chinese working on the diggings. The inspector in charge of the police has, under these circumstances, telegraphed to Captain M'Lerie, to say that unless the Chinese are ordered off at once he cannot answer for the consequences, the Europeans being banded together to effect their purpose. Captain M'Lerie, Inspector-General of Police, on receiving the information respecting the disturbance, immediately telegraphed to Mr. Commissioner Zouch to proceed at once to Burrendong, with all the force he could get together. He also communicated with the police in the Western districts, and it is expected the whole force will meet at Burrendong on Saturday, and will be placed under the command of Mr. Commissioner Zouch.
Zouch defends rioters, Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advocate, 14 February 1861:
By telegraph from Yass disturbances are reported among the diggers at Lambing Flat. There are something like 1500 Chinese on the diggings. Their presence is very obnoxious to the European population. The latter party, described by Capt. Zouch as “decent, well-conducted men,” determined to effect the expulsion of the Celestials, which they did on Tuesday last. Mr. Commissioner Dixon attempted to interpose, but his life was threatened by the miners, who defy him and his force further to interfere. Resistance on the part of the authorities was futile, as it was impossible to retain in prison persons concerned in the disturbances accused of violence. The Herald's correspondent is informed that the Chinese located in the vicinity of the gold-fields were driven like a flock of sheep through a small place guarded by armed men, and counted out. Those that did not move through quick enough were dealt with in a most savage manner by their assailants. About 50 mounted troopers are new on the ground, and their presence, it is thought, will be sufficient to quell further outbreaks.
Police withdraw from Lambing Flat, Sydney Morning Herald, Friday, 21 June 1861:
It is understood that the troops have been recalled from Lambing Flat. If so there will very likely be some further anti-Chinese riots. The Celestials are still numerous in this quarter, and it has been found scarcely possible to restrain them within the limits set apart for their exclusive occupation. These advances will probably, when the troops shall have retired, be made the excuse for further rioting ; the more readily so as all those who took part in the former outbreak have been allowed to go unpunished…. The census return for the Burrangong gold-field shews that the number of Europeans there is 10,097, and of Chinese 489….. It is reported that a collision has taken place between the Chinese and the other diggers at Native Dog Creek, Western Gold Fields, in which the Chinese were the aggressors. Several are said to have been wounded on both sides-some dangerously….
Eye-witness account of atrocities, Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 15 July 1861:
News and notes. By a Sydney man. I wrote to you on Thursday, and no very great amount of incident has turned up since. We had an eclipse of the sun to-day, according to the astronomers, but as there has been a general eclipse of the sky this morning, with a dull, watery veil of clouds, we saw nothing of the semi-extinguishment of the diurnal luminary. The weather is getting wintry, and we have had two or three sharp nights, with slight hints of frost in the mornings. The Burrangong rioters are said to be leaving the scene of their late outrage in great numbers. They dread the merited punishment of their atrocities, of which, this time, there is no room to doubt. Bad and deplorable as is the system of Chinese immigration, there is no excuse for the barbarous manner in which these ruffians have treated the poor creatures. Here is the testimony of an eye-witness, and the evidence is corroborated from all quarters.
"I am camped at Demondrill Creek, about six or eight miles from Lambing Flat. On the creek and neighbourhood, there were about 2000 or more Chinese digging, and apparently doing well. I am not near the Chinese, but sufficiently near to witness one of the most barbarous scenes I ever saw, or wish to see again. For some days past, there has been great talk of a "roll up" on the part of the diggers to expel the Chinese. To-day the affair took place in earnest. About ten o'clock this morning, the diggers from the 'rush,' some 5000, came on to the flat, headed by a band of music, and a number of flags —one flag in particular had emblazoned on it in large characters 'No Chinese.' A great number of the Chinese were camped, and some were digging. The diggers commenced a most brutal attack on them, and after routing, cutting off their 'tails,' and the ears of some of them, destroyed their tents and tools, also all kinds of food that the Chinese had stored up for use ; bags of rice were cut open and thrown on to fires that were lighted for that purpose, buckets, tubs, cradle, etc., were also burnt. The diggers then started from the Flat, for this place, headed, of course, by the German band, and the flag-bearer. The Chinese hearing of their approach, at once commenced to pack up everything they could lay their hands on. Before the mob of diggers made their appearance some hundreds got clear off with their swags, but some 1500 were caught leaving with their swags on their backs. They were driven on to an open space of land, and there bailed up, and then brutally attacked by the diggers with sticks, &c. This part of the affair was most heart-rending; the Chinese dropt their swags and took to running, but on being perceived were followed and beaten about the head, back, legs, and body in a most frightful manner. Their 'tails' were cut off with blunt knives. The shrieks of the Chinese were dreadful. During the attack, tents, tools, and wearables were burnt, together with a large quantity of general stores. As the work of demolition concluded, the diggers returned to the Flat, headed by the band, and flags, one of which was decorated with a number of Chinamen's 'tails.' To-night all is still, the place lately occupied by the Chinese looks dark and desolate, with the exception of the fires still burning with Chinese property. I stood in front of our tent and witnessed all that took place; we are camped within a stone's throw of the troopers. camp. Zouch has arrived at Lambing Flat with his troops. More police are concentrating at Burrangong, and Griffins, from Braidwood, will have the chief command of the police, of whom about fifty will be available. There will be energetic actions this time even if bloodshed be the result, but I fear that the rascals who ought to be made an example of will have escaped.
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1872 - Assault of Foo Waa and Poh Yen, Burrangong Argus, 9 March 1872:
Assault.
Eugene "Brennan Thomas McGlynn and Henry Mullins were charged with assaulting, on 25th February, a Chinaman, Foo Waa, at Wombat. Mr. Freestone appeared for complainant. Mr Gordon for defendants.
Complainant Reposed, through an interpreter : I keep a store at Wombat ; on last Sunday week the three defendants were at my place and agreed to bring in three horses which were lost for 10s. ; they afterwards brought back the three horses, and another Chinaman Poh Yen paid them ; defendants said it was too little and wanted some watermelons ; Poh Yen gave them some watermelons and they returned to the hut ; I asked Brennan for 1s. which he owed me for some hair oil ; they began flashing about and knocking the things about ; they knocked some bottles off the shelves ; I pushed them out ; two of them shaped at me, and McGlynn me on the back of the neck with a stick and knocked me down ; I was senseless for nearly an hour ; no one else was there at the time.
To Mr. Gordon : All three came together with the horses ; they agreed for 10s : Poh Yen gave them four half-crowns ; I did not pull Brennan off his horse ; I only asked him for the shilling ; there was no one there when I was knocked down ; I called out, and Poh Yen came ; I do not know when the policeman came, as I was stupified.
Poh Yen, who resides about fifteen yards from last witness, deposed ; I paid defendants four half-crowns for getting in the horses ; I took them to my place to get some water melons ; they afterwards went to Foo Waa's place ; I heard a noise, and looked oat ; I saw two of them shaping at Foo Waa, and that; man McGlynn knock him down with a stick ; I was struck ; Foo Wah was senseless, and McGlynn got a bucket of water to throw over him ; I would not let him; the constable came in about an hour.
To Mr Gordon : McGlynn knocked Foo Waa down and then hit me ; some more Chinese came up when Foo Waa was knocked down.
Senior Constable Watson deposed : Saw both the Chinamen on the day in question ; one was cut in the eye and the other on the back of the head ; Foo Waa did not seem much hurt ; both had blood on them ; some Chinamen came for me, and said a Chinaman was killed.
Chas. Phillips saw the three defendants at complainant's store on 25th Feb. Saw Foo Waa catch hold of Brennan, and prevent him getting on his horse ; heard something said about a shilling ; thought there were more than three Chinese here; did not see assault complained of.
Jaspar Full saw Brennan trying to get on his horse, and Foo Waa stopping him ; there appeared to be a general fight ; saw McGlynn get between Brennan and Foo Waa ; saw Foo Waa fall ; was about 200 yards away.
Brennan and Mullins were discharged, and McGlynn was fined £2, with his share of the costs, or in default 14 days imprisonment.
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1879 - Death by opium overdose at Young, Burrangong Argus, 12 March 1879:
CORONER'S INQUEST.
An inquest was held at the Courthouse on Saturday by the Coroner and a jury of twelve, touching the death of Michael Lynch. The jury were: — W. O. Hopkins, D. Hughes, W. Erhlich, A. K. Stephen, Robt. Farrar, W. Coss, R. Black, W J. R. Simms, W. Rodgers, S. Myers, N. P. Nielsen, D. M'Gregor.
The jury proceeded to view the body, after which the following evidence was taken :—
Constable Little deposed: About eleven o'clock this morning, from something I heard, I went to the residence of James M'Cann ; I found deceased partly dressed ; he was very black in the face and gasping for breath ; he appeared totally unconscious; while in the room a cup was handed to me with a small quantity of dark fluid in it; I produce it; under the pillow I found the small package produced ; it has a smell of opium ; Dr. Healey was there ; I searched deceased in presence of Dr. Healey, and at his request ; I found these small books produced ; deceased died while I was there ; it was between twelve and one o'clock.
Charles M'Gregor deposed : I am a miner; I reside at Kiandra; have known deceased about three years; I last saw him alive on Thursday night; he was at a store in town; I was in deceased's employ ; we had been doing a contract at Kiandra; we stopped at Mr. Rodgers's hotel; we came up town after tea; I parted with deceased at Hughes's hotel; he was sober, so was I; I then went to Mr. Rodgers's ; deceased had not been drinking ; he never appeared like a man who would commit suicide.
To Mr. Meares : Deceased went into a China man's place; I waited for him outside ; he got a small paper parcel there ; he did not tell me what was in it.
To a juror : I was informed deceased had a £90 cheque on him ; I did not see any money with him; it was at Tattersall’s Hotel (Thos. Hughes) where I went to with deceased ; one of the other men in deceased's employ told me that he had the cheque; deceased owed me money ; I was expecting to get it when he cashed the cheque; he sent for me yesterday to go to Rodgers's to be paid ; James M'Cann brought the message ; it was Joseph Harvey who told me deceased had the cheque.
To the Coroner: The Chinese shop was in Main-street.
Constable Little re-called deposed : I went with last witness to a Chinese store in Main-street this morning; he pointed it out to me as the store from which deceased bought the parcel ; the place is kept by Ah Kow ; last witness said that the Chinaman who gave deceased the parcel came over from On Leo's store, opposite.
James M'Cann deposed : I am a labourer residing at Young ; have known deceased for some time ; he came to my place about three o'clock this morning ; I was with him at Rodgers's on Thursday ; he knocked me up this morning ; I let him in ; he seemed quite sober; he told me he had just come down from Hayes's; I understood him to mean Hayes's at the top of the hill, near the cemetery ; he said he went up there to get himself off the drink ; he asked for some water; I think he drank about three cups; he asked me to get some brandy; I told him he would have to wait till daylight; he pulled his boots off and laid down on the bed ; he seemed perfectly sober and right; I lay down alongside of him ; he woke me at daylight and asked me to get some brandy and soda water; he gave me nine shillings ; I got four bottles of soda water and a bottle of brandy at Farrar's ; he had a bottle of soda water and a small drop of brandy ; it was about half-past six : he then asked me to go down and tell Joe Harvey, that he, deceased, would be down in the middle of the day and settle up with them all ; I did so, and went home again ; about a quarter of an hour after I got home my wife said to me ' Mick is dying '; she ran for Dr. Healey and I went inside : he was then gasping, and speechless ; I ran down as fast as I could to Dr. Healey's, and afterwards to some of deceased's friends ; Dr. Healey was there when I returned, and deceased was still living ; before I went for the brandy I was going to fix deceased's pillow, but he said 'Oh don't, I've got some medicine there '; I thought he was joking ; I did not see anything ; did not look.
To a juror : I did not see any other money with deceased.
Mary Ann M'Cann deposed : I am wife of last witness ; have known deceased for the last twelve months; he came to our place about three o'clock; my husband woke me, and told me deceased was there ; deceased asked it he could lie down for an hour ; he used often to come to our place; he lay down and my husband lay alongside of him ; deceased was quite sober; he woke my husband up about daylight, and asked him to go for some brandy; he said he wanted to get down town by one o'clock and be all right to see his men ; he had a glass of brandy and soda water ; he said he went to Hayes's, on the hill, for the purpose of getting away from the drink ; my husband was outside while I was getting the breakfast; I asked deceased to have some breakfast; he would not; while I was getting ready to go down the town, he asked for a cup of water ; he asked me to give him some soda and brandy before I went down the town; I was then getting ready ; he had asked my husband to go down the town and deliver a message to one of the men ; before I was ready to give deceased the soda and brandy my little girl came and told me he was sick ; I went to look at him ; he was black in the face; I then ran down to Dr. Healey's; I know the cup produced ; saw deceased with it this morning.
Selina M'Cann, a young child nine years of age, who was not sworn, stated : I gave Michael Lynch a cup of water this morning ; he asked me for a cup of water and a spoonful of sugar; I gave it to him ; he took something from under his pillow ; he put it in a cup and then stirred it round ; I gave him the cup of water and then went back for the sugar; when I took the sugar in he said 'go away'; I put the sugar into his hand; when I next saw the cup it was after the doctor come.
John Lynell deposed : I am a storekeeper living at Bulla Creek ; have known deceased two or three years; last saw him alive on Tuesday at my house; he had his dinner; he was quite sober; his brother, James Lynch, Charles M'Gregor, and Joseph Harvey were with him ; from something I heard I went to M'Cann's residence at about half-past ten this morning ; I saw deceased lying on a bed ; he was quite senseless ; he was not quite dead ; there was only the little girl in the place ; I enquired of the little girl what he had been drinking; she said he drank some nasty black stuff out of a cup; I asked her what became of it; she said it was under the mattress; I searched the bed and found the cup under, the pillow ; the cup and contents produced are the same; Dr. Healey came while I was there.
Dr. Healey deposed ; I am Government Medical Officer; I was called this morning by Mrs. M'Cann to see deceased ; during the time I was getting ready to start M'Cann called to hurry me ; I went to M'Cann's house and found Lynch, the deceased, lying on a single bed in the inner room; he was breathing stertorously, livid complexion, perspiring profusely, and the pupils of the eyes contracted; I made enquiry as to what he had taken, and underneath the pillow discovered the cup produced ; on making further search the powder contained in the package produced, and hearing a Chinese mark was found underneath the bed ; the symptoms indicated poisoning by opium, and I used the stomach pump, but without effect; I remained with deceased until he died at twelve o'clock ; he was insensible during the whole of the time ; I examined the body this evening; and in the stomach was a quantity of powder mixed with some fluid, the smell of which was precisely similar to that contained in the cup; judging from the quantity of solid matter in the stomach, which is exactly similar to that contained in the paper produced bearing the Chinese mark, I should judge there is about half an ounce in weight ; the preparation produced, is the refuse from the opium pipes used by the Chinese, and is, I am informed, sold at the rate of half a crown an ounce; I produce, for the information of the jury, a small quantity of the dry powder; the other has got wet; deceased's death was caused by an over dose of opium.
To the jury; I cannot tell whether deceased was in the habit of using opium; like all vegetable poisons the trace of it soon disappears from the body.
Joseph Jacobs deposed: I am a drover residing at Young ; have known deceased some time; last saw him on Thursday night between eight and nine o'clock; he was with Charles M'Gregor ; they went to the Chinese place next to Nielsen's; the Chinaman asked deceased what he wanted ; he said 5s worth of opium; the Chinaman told deceased to come in ; he did so ; I was outside fifteen or twenty minutes and did not see him come out; I took deceased to be under the influence of drink.
Tan Ka deposed: I live behind Mr. Hughes's, in Main-street; saw deceased about seven or eight o'clock on Friday night; I was at the cook shop kept by Ah Kow : I heard some one knock at the door; I asked what he wanted; he said opium, and that he wanted five shillings worth; I said ' I have none'; I left him; did not see him bring out a paper parcel; the packet produced is the refuse of opium; I did not supply it to deceased.
Ah Kow deposed: I have seen the body of deceased ; never saw him alive.
Verdict — That the said Michael Lynch died from an overdose of opium, and that there is no evidence to prove how it was administered.
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Last updated: 22 November 2022
Michael Organ, Australia (Home)
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