By Pamela See

Although the new book, ‘Too much like Englishmen: Amoy Migrants in Australia’ was written for a relatively narrow niche audience, namely the descendants of these indentured labourers, the work examines a significant yet underserved slice of Australia’s settlement history.

The author, a celebrated scholar in the field of Australian Chinese history, Dr Michael Williams, explained, “Although we think of them as 3000 people at the time, Australia – New South Wales, wasn’t very big”.

“So, 3000 makes them a fairly prominent workforce,” said Dr Williams.

His new book, which was published in January, investigates the procurement, prospering or prosecution of indentured labourers who travelled to the pre-separation Colony of New South Wales via the port of Amoy, or present-day Xiamen, between 1848 and 1853.

From previously underused accounts from “Her Majesty’s Court of Inquiry” to numerous “Vignettes”, including an annotated portrait of William Edward Oram Chi and his family, a combination of comprehensiveness and candor makes the book a compelling read.

“What I tried to do was say that there was this range of possibilities. There were people who were straight out coerced and kidnapped, and there were people who thought, well, life would give ‘em a chance.”

“…once they got to Australia… quite a number were successful and became quite wealthy and established,” Dr Williams said.

A decade after arriving in Australia, Chi made his first application to become naturalised as a British subject.

He had been working as “an artificial flower-maker” and was, in the 1860s, a “confectioner” by trade.

He had also been baptised into the Methodist (now Uniting) Church of Australia.   

However, Dr Williams, also acknowledges that others were not as fortunate, “…spending the rest of their lives just being shepherds and going blind because they were out in the sun all the time”.

“They got cataracts and they never got past that,” he said.

One of the former blind residents of the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum, which Dr Williams profiled, was Tan Hong.

He arrived in Australia as a 29-year-old in 1849. By the time he was sent to the aforementioned institution as an 81-year-old, he had shepherded and sheared for over five decades on “various stations” across Gayndah and the Condamine districts.

With a PhD from the University of Hong Kong, Dr Williams has published several books including: ‘Australia’s Dictation Test: The Test it was a Crime to Fail’, in 2021, and ‘Every Requisite for a Campaign Upon the Goldfields’, in 2024.

Dr Williams recounts that the catalyst for entering this specialised field was, “reading by chance about this guy who was talking about how he and his dad would go back to their village”.

“The usual kind of personal migration I was aware of was just one way – people come to Australia, and that’s all.

“And, so this idea of the Chinese people constantly going back and forth, which the Amoy didn’t do of course, was fascinating,” Dr Williams said.

Preparation for his most recent book involved extensive consultation with descendants and family researchers.

He validated their testimonies with references to an assortment of documents from death certificates to naturalisation registers.

They were “a feisty lot, often appearing in court”, he said, citing newspaper articles as an invaluable resource.

This virtual compendium of Australian Amoy history is beyond accessible.

Written in a conversational style and enhanced with more than thirty images, including extremely rare photographs of some indentured labourers themselves, the book is a thoroughly engaging experience.

 

Too much like Englishmen: Amoy Migrants in Australia is now available for purchase at: ChideStudy Press.

Amoy descendants are invited to contact the author for a free digital copy via chidestudypress@gmail.com