Old newspaper articles that concern the Emmaville temple

The Emmaville temple features prominently in Chinese-language Australian newspapers. This is a sample of these articles, summarized in English.

LOCATION

Digitised newspapers available on the National Library of Australia Trove search engine

Article 1

Article 2

Article 3

Article 4

Article 5

NOTES AND SUMMARIES

Emmaville’s Chinese Names: Emmaville is referred to almost exclusively in Australia’s early Chinese-language newspapers by what are clearly transliterations (by a “Chinese transliteration”, the translator means a rendering of an English sound in Chinese characters) of “Vegetable” and “Vegetable Creek”, the latter being the town’s former and alternative name (for detail on the name change, which seems to have taken place officially in 1882, see: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221706686 and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192327403); the sole example of Emmaville being referred to by means of a direct transliteration—“厭麻胡埠” “Yim-maa-woo Town”—appears in an article that quotes a report carried in the English-language newspapers, and is quickly followed by a clarification that the town in question is the one known to Chinese people as “威治步埠” “Vee-gee-bo Town”. This preference on the part of Chinese speakers for the earlier name appears to have been shared by many English speakers, as is evidenced for example by its continued use in the names of various local clubs and institutions; though the translator has observed that, in general, old Australian names tended to persist for longer in Chinese, e.g. 閃慎埠 “Sim-son Town” or “Simsons” for Maryborough, Victoria (after European settlers the Simson brothers), and 科北埠 “For-berk Town” or “Fort Bourke” for Bourke, New South Wales.

For references to Emmaville/Vegetable Creek in the Chinese-language newspapers under a variety of similar transliterations, see: 

1895 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166859486 (“威治咘” “Vee-gee-bo”);

1897 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169050998 (“威治布錫坑” “Vee-gee-bo Tin Diggings/Tin Town”—in Australia and North America the word “diggings” had developed the secondary sense of “small town”; the name can thus be translated either way);

1901 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227923091 (“威治步埠” “Vee-gee-bo Town”);

1909 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169074768 (“惠治布埠” “Vee-gee-bo Town”);

1911 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227976385 (“威治甫克力” “Vee-gee-bo Kek-lek/Klek”);

1912 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168801703 (“威治甫埠” “Vee-gee-bo Town”);

1920 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225212836 (“威治布埠” “Vee-gee-bo Town”);

1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227455665 (“威治布克力埠” “Vee-gee-bo Kek-lek/Klek Town”); and

1937 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226008498 (“為治布埠” “Vee-gee-bo Town”).

The temple’s Chinese name: Articles 3, 5 and 7 all indicate that the Emmaville temple was styled the 列聖宮 “Lit Shing Kung”, meaning “House(s) of Saints” or “House(s) of Holy Ones”, in reference to a temple of the more humble variety that is dedicated to three or more deities. This name can be seen on a plaque that is hung immediately above the temple’s front entrance in the photograph of its façade (see text 2b in “photographs of the Emmaville temple’s façade and interior”), its three characters being the largest and most prominent on the entire façade. Articles 5 and 6 indicate that the temple was also referred to unofficially by reference to its principal deity: see the following note, and note 14 about article 6.

The temple’s principal deity: The articles make it abundantly clear that the Emmaville temple’s principal deity was Chinese god of medicine 華佗 Hua T῾o (also written “華陀”). Article 7, for example, states explicitly that 華佗先師 “Bygone Master Hua T῾o” occupies the principal position amongst the deities to which the Emmaville temple is dedicated; while article 5 refers to the temple as the 列聖宮華陀廟 “House of Saints Hua T῾o Temple”. (For further detail on the content of the articles with respect to Hua T῾o, see the specific notes on each.)

Other temples at which Hua T῾o is known to have been venerated in this period are the Atherton temple and the 列聖宮 “House of Saints” temple at 23 Wexford Street, and later at 86 Goulburn Street, Sydney; however, it would appear that Hua T῾o was not the principal deity of either.

Chinese speakers should note that the first character in the name 華佗 Hua T῾o, which character is a surname, has a distinctive pronunciation. In Cantonese, the name is pronounced Waah Tòh, while in Mandarin it is pronounced Huà Tuó (“話佗” in both). The name is written “Hua T῾o” in Wade Giles romanisation for Mandarin, which is employed on this website for the names of premodern persons from Chinese literature. For more on Hua T῾o, see https://archive.org/stream/cu31924023116209?ref=ol#page/n93/mode/2up

The temple’s subsidiary deities: The articles give no indication as to the identities of the other deities venerated at the temple.

Names of firms and temple keepers: The articles provide the following names of and information about four temple keepers and two firms:

TK1: 林報 “Lam Po”. Article 3, which is a notice that was published 13^th August 1897, and seemingly not carried before that date, states that 林報 “Lam Po” was the name of the previous temple keeper, who has now left the area.

TK2: 李希顏/李禧顏 “Lee Hee Ngan”, a.k.a. Hee Kee. Article 3 states that 李希顏 “Lee Hee Ngan” is the name of the man who has assumed the role of temple keeper following the departure of the abovementioned 林報 “Lam Po”. Article 7 is a notice posted years later by 李禧顏 “Lee Hee Ngan”, the English text above which seems to identify him by the business name Hee Kee—this would be consistent with the historical practice by which Chinese business proprietors or managers adopted their English firm name as their English personal name. In the notice, “Lee Hee Ngan”, who gives his native place to be the Cantonese-speaking district of 高要 Ko Yiu, states that he had served as the Emmaville temple’s temple keeper some time ago, for a period of several years, and had now reassumed the role, for a continuous period of 3 years, following the death of 何宏業 “Ho Hung Yip” (see TK4 below). The notice is dated the first day of the seventh month of the thirty-fourth year of the Kwang Hsü Era, which equates to the 28^th of July 1908.

TK3: 黃官意 Wong Goon Yee. Article 5, which is an 8^th June 1901 advertisement for the Emmaville temple, names 黃官意 Wong Goon Yee, in both Chinese and English, as the temple keeper. This advertisement was carried in the newspaper over a number of weeks, and seems to have first appeared on page 3 of the 5^th June 1901 edition.

TK4: 何宏業 “Ho Hung Yip”. Article 6 is a notice posted by 何宏業 “Ho Hong Yip”, stating that he has taken on the role of temple keeper. “Ho Hong Yip” identifies himself in the notice as a 香邑張家邊人士 “native of Cheung Ka Pin, Heung Shan”. The notice is dated the 7^th day of the 4^th month of the sexagenary year 乙未 “IIviii”, which equates to the 1^st of May 1895, and does not therefore correlate with the 20^th May 1905 date of the newspaper in which it is published: the most likely explanation for this is that the sexagenary year was miswritten, and should have been given as 乙巳 “IIvi”, which would yield a date of the 10^th of May 1905.

F1 and F2: 希記 Hee Kee and 錦生昌 Kum Sing Chong respectively. Article 3, which is a notice seemingly posted by or on behalf of 李希顏 “Lee Hee Ngan”, states that persons in other townships writing to request the drawing of chim papers should address their mail to the Emmaville firm of 希記 Hee Kee, or to the firm of 錦生昌 Kum Sing Chong for redirection. (Note that the equivalence of the English name “Kum Sing Chong” and the Chinese name “錦生昌” has been inferred on the basis of the closeness of their pronunciation in the See Yip language; and that the source of this English name is a 1912 character reference for one Lum Hop, who is given to be an “assistant storekeeper in the employ of Kum Sing Chong, general storekeepers of Emmaville”: see National Archives of Australia, NAA: J2483, 269/40 “Certificate Exempting from Dictation Test (CEDT) – Name: Lum Hop (of Emmaville NSW) – Nationality: Chinese – Birthplace: Canton – departed for China per ST ALBANS on 19 September 1919, returned to Brisbane per ST ALBANS on 29 March 1921”; or page 20 of the PDF version on the NAA website, which is identified by Item ID 9116399. Likewise, the equivalence between the English name “Hee Kee” and the Chinese name “希記” has been inferred on the basis of the closeness of their pronunciation in Cantonese, in addition to the following compelling evidence: the fact that the names are separately provided by the same writer in two notices—articles 3 and 7—as that of the appropriate recipient when addressing mail to him; the fact that the first character of that man’s personal name seems to have been the source of the business name; and the fact that “Hee Kee” is the name by which he identifies himself personally in English in article 7.)

More about 李希顏/李禧顏 “Lee Hee Ngan”, a.k.a. Hee Kee: The keeper of Tingha’s lavish 1883 Howell Road temple was a certain Hee Lun(g) (see Brown, Potstickers and Panning, p.22 and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article184681928), whose Chinese name appears to have been variously written in newspaper donor lists as “李禧倫” and “李禧麟” “Lee Hee Lun(g)”. His surname and the first character of his given name are thus a match for Hee Kee’s, whose Chinese name was “Lee Hee Ngan”—which was variously written “李希顏” and “李禧顏” in the articles above, and appears to have been written in one newspaper donor list as “李熙顏” (all three are homophonous). This similarity could indicate that the two men were members of the same generation within the one clan or family, i.e. that they were cousins or brothers. Indeed, it would seem that there was at least one other member of this clan in New England, as is evidenced by a reference to a certain “威治咘埠李禧祥” “Lee Hee Cheung of Emmaville” in a 16^th August 1895 newspaper article. However, there is also another possibility that may warrant further investigation: that “Lee Hee Ngan” and “Lee Hee Lun(g)” are one and the same person. This is conceivable not only because of the similarity of their names and their identical vocations, but because it may be that the second character of the two given names was pronounced identically in one or other vernacular, and the numerous ways in which their names are written in the newspapers suggests that writers were unsure of the correct characters. The statement in Potstickers and Panning that Hee Lun officiated at the Chinese temple in Tingha from 1879 to 1909 would, however, appear to militate against the possibility that he was also a temple keeper in Emmaville at certain times within this period.

More about 何宏業 “Ho Hung Yip”: The declaration made by 何宏業 “Ho Hung Yip” in article 6 that he is a native of 張家邊Cheung Ka Pin village, Heung Shan serves to distinguish him as a speaker of a unique Hokkien vernacular, called 張家邊話 “Cheung-ka-pin-ese”, which is spoken there and in quite a number of surrounding villages.

Article 1: Article 1 relates that a report was published last Tuesday in a Western newspaper, which asserted that Chinese people in Emmaville had, on account of drought, destroyed the wooden idol in the local temple and replaced it with another, and that rain had ensued. The Chinese newspaper states that it is unsure as to the veracity of this report, and is merely relaying it. It seems likely that the report in a Western newspaper that was referred to was one published on page 2 of the Glen Innes Examiner and General Advertiser on Tuesday 24^th September 1895.

Article 2: Article 2 is a notice denying, in the strongest terms, the report referenced by article 1. It asserts that:

1. not only local Chinese people but even local Western officials worship at the Chinese temple in Emmaville;
2. why the Western newspaper would report the destruction of an idol had been unclear, until a letter was received from 蔡良“Choy Leung”, which stated that it was an intentional act of defamation on the part of Westerners; and
3. none would dare commit an act of desecration given that: the temple is splendid; its deities are celebrated; its lamps are ever bright; the smoke from its censer takes the form of magic runes [this, and the three preceding phrases, are expressed in the original by means of elegant four-syllable Literary Chinese expressions, not odd descriptive phrases like this English paraphrase]; and Chinese people soon to return home in glory all look to its deity(ies) for protection. 

The inspiration for the English-language report referenced by articles 1 and 2: Trove searches reveal a very similar English-language report to that referenced by articles 1 and 2, about the replacement of an idol in Emmaville, that was published in 1881 (see http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64974548). But later English-language reminiscences, published in 1887 and 1920, suggest that it was actually an idol at Skeleton Creek, not Emmaville, that was replaced after a prolonged drought (see “A Joss Story” at http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238400882 and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128688252). (The article from 1887 does not mention Skeleton Creek, but rather “a tin-mining camp near Tingha”, which it indicates had a single store and a joss house; the article from 1920, which tells a similar story, does name Skeleton Creek, and states that it was “a Chinese tin-field” with a population of upwards of 400, whose largest buildings were a general store and a joss house.)

Article 3: Article 3 is a notice about a change in temple keeper at the “House(s) of Holy Ones” in the New South Wales town of Emmaville (or rather “Vee-gee-bo Tin Diggings/Tin Town”). The notice states that the temple’s “Bygone Master Hua T῾o” deity has for some time been known far and wide for his responsiveness, and that countrymen in other townships often send letters with prayers. It relates that the previous temple keeper, 林報 “Lam Po” , has now left the area, and that the new temple keeper is 李希顏 “Lee Hee Ngan”. I then requests that, to avoid misdirection of their mail, persons in other townships writing to request the drawing of chim papers should address their letters to the Emmaville firm of 希記 Hee Kee, or to the firm of 錦生昌 Kum Sing Chong for redirection, and not to 林報 “Lam Po”. It appears that this notice was first carried in the newspaper on 13^th August 1897. Its wording suggests that the author or person who authorised it was the new temple keeper 李希顏 “Lee Hee Ngan”.

Article 4: Article 4 is a report, published on 16^th August 1899, that was based a letter received from Emmaville. It states the following: 

Following a drop in the tin price in the 19^th year of the Kwang Hsü Era (early 1893 till early 1894), and drought, Chinese people engaged in the tin-mining industry had been in a state of exceptional difficulty. Fortunately, the Lord above sent fine rains this year, and the price of tin is at present eighty-four pounds per ton. In consequence of this, the Chinese tin miners, content with their wages, are jubilant. The windfall, while partly owing to a natural cycle of growth and decline, is also due to divine providence, for which reason the Chinese population is wholeheartedly and enthusiastically donating to the local “Bygone Master Hua T῾o Temple”, in an act of respectful thanksgiving. A thanksgiving celebration that is scheduled for the sixth day of the tenth month, which will feature singing to orchestral accompaniment, fireworks and the like, is being prepared for, at an expense exceeding £100.

The sixth day of the tenth Chinese month would equate to the 8^th of November 1899.

Article 5: Article 5 is an advertisement for the “House(s) of Holy Ones Hua T῾o Temple” in Emmaville (or rather “Vee-gee-bo Tin Diggings/Tin Town”), which was carried in the newspaper over a number of weeks, and seems to have first appeared on page 3 of the 5^th June 1901 edition. It names 黃官意 Wong Goon Yee, in both Chinese and English, as the temple keeper, and states that the temple has been established for many years and has all along been praised for its deity’s(ies’) responsiveness, no requests going unanswered and no medical treatments proving ineffective. Persons writing with enquiries or to request chim papers are asked to address their mail to the English address written above to ensure it arrives without mishap. Wong Goon Yee is given to be the author or authoriser of the advertisement.

Article 6: Article 6 is a notice posted by 何宏業 “Ho Hong Yip”, stating that he has taken on the role of temple keeper at Emmaville. “Ho Hong Yip” identifies himself in the notice as a 香邑張家邊人士 “native of Cheung Ka Pin, Heung Shan”. The notice is dated the 7^th day of the 4^th month of the sexagenary year 乙未 “IIviii”, which equates to the 1^st of May 1895, and does not therefore correlate with the 20^th May 1905 date of the newspaper in which it is published: the most likely explanation for this is that the sexagenary year was miswritten, and should have been given as 乙巳 “IIvi”, which would yield a date of the 10^th of May 1905. “Ho Hong Yip” also states in the notice that the township’s “Bygone Master Hua T῾o” deity has ever been celebrated for his responsiveness, and that prayers made to him with a sincere heart will surely be granted. He asks that all prayers and requests for chim papers be posted to him care of 錦生昌 Kum Sing Chong, to avoid the potential for misdirection.

Article 7: Article 7 is a notice posted by 李禧顏 “Lee Hee Ngan”, the English text above which seems to identify him by the business name Hee Kee, which would be consistent with the historical practice by which Chinese business proprietors or managers adopted their English firm name as their English personal name. In this notice, “Lee Hee Ngan”, who gives his native place to be the Cantonese-speaking district of 高要 Ko Yiu, states that he had served as temple keeper at Emmaville’s “House(s) of Holy Ones Temple” some time ago, for a period of several years, and has now reassumed the role, for a continuous period of 3 years, following the death of 何宏業 “Ho Hung Yip”, and discussion and divination on the part of the temple’s directors. The article explicitly states that 華佗先師 “Bygone Master Hua T῾o” occupies the principal position amongst the deities to which the Emmaville temple is dedicated; praises this deity’s responsiveness; and notes his widespread reputation. “Lee Hee Ngan” requests in the notice that devotees’ prayers, expressions of thanksgiving, and requests for chim papers be sent to the address given above in English. He states that he will act in accordance with instructions received, and send a written reply. The notice is dated the first day of the seventh month of the thirty-fourth year of the Kwang Hsü Era, which equates to the 28^th of July 1908.

Relevant English-language newspaper reports and images: There is a range of English-language newspaper reports and images available on Trove that relate to the Emmaville temple with which this section is concerned; the earlier temple that it replaced; Emmaville Chinese society; or that provide descriptions or contain illustrations of Emmaville. Hyperlinks to a selection of these articles are listed below, preceded by the year of publication, and followed by parenthesised jottings on the content:

• 1874 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188979104 (a description of Vegetable Creek that makes no mention of Chinese people)
• 1877 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233674718 (not yet many Chinese people in the area; branch store of a Sydney Chinese store; anti-Chinese racism; Hong A. Shay; description of the nascent town of Vegetable Creek)
• 1878 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18833098 (report on Vegetable Creek; reference to the building of a joss house; clear examples of the use of Chinese Pidgin English—for more about Chinese Pidgin English (a.k.a. China Coast Pidgin), including a video re-enacting it being spoken, see: https://unravellingmag.com/articles/chinese-pidgin-english/http://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/130098/1/Content.pdf?accept=1)
• 1878 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article253062357 (racist cartoon; reference to political engagement of one form or another on the part of Chinese residents of Vegetable Creek)
• 1880 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161914711 (description and large illustration of the township of Vegetable Creek; no Chinese people or buildings evident in the illustration or the description; the first place where tin was found in the Vegetable Creek locality is given to be Tent Hill)
• 1881 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64974561 and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64974548 (inset illustration of the Vegetable Creek joss house, which would be the first one, established in 1878 (Wilton, Golden Threads, p. 29); the wallpaper looks very similar to that on the Tambaroora temple in a photograph of it entitled “Bark huts in Chinatown, Tambaroora”, which forms part of the State Library of New South Wales’ Holtermann Collection (see http://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110040774 or Kwok, “The Chinese in Bathurst: Recovering Forgotten Histories”, p.395); the temple is of modest proportions; there are couplet boards, possibly 8 characters in length, facing each other on the side walls; illustration of the Chinese camp, referencing the use by the Chinese of a modified version of the earth-closet system, in conformity with sanitary regulations)
• 1886 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162810542 (description of Emmaville and map; assertion made that it is impossible to say why the town was originally called Vegetable Creek, which the writer states is not a “nice” name; “Emmaville possesses an advantage which many of the far north settlements must envy it, and that is an abundant supply of fruit and vegetables, which is provided mainly by the Chinese gardeners”)
• 1887 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163286613 (a richly descriptive report on the opening of Emmaville’s 1887 temple)
• 1887 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article99903266 (description of the Emmaville temple; the writer appears to have been relatively well informed, and despite the disparaging tone he adopts one imagines that much of the description is accurate;“fans with handles eight feet long”; “boards painted black with Chinese texts on them in gilded letters”; “beautiful lanterns”; “the joss is the figure of a doctor … [who] holds a gilded pill in his hands … [he is a] very venerable-looking old gentleman”; Mr. Low Poy is the temple keeper; Mr. Low Poy’s mention of the mythical figure 盤古 “Poon Goo” suggests that he was speaker of Cantonese or the See Yip language)
• 1896 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71299307 (expression of thanks posted by Emmaville gardener Ah Boy on behalf of the Chinese residents of Emmaville)
• 1903 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page16808559 (photograph of the side and front of the Emmaville temple, showing a flag pole and surrounding fence and trees; a high-resolution scan of this image might reveal further detail)
• 1905 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71536195 (photograph of the township of Emmaville)
• 1926 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160389634 (description of historic Emmaville, with some important statements on the discovery of tin in the district and the origin of the town’s name Vegetable Creek; it is stated that it was a shepherd’s vegetable garden that gave its name to the creek, and his work that eventually led to the discovery of tin; whether or not the shepherd was Chinese is not explicitly stated, but the next sentence in the article begins “The Celestials had many fingers in the pie …”, which could indicate a train of thought on the part of the writer and thus support the contention that he was)
• 1926 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article183634400 (photographs of Emmaville, including of Chinese barrowmen; a photograph entitled the “Skeleton Creek Dredge”; assertion that a site associated with the Great Britain mine was the first place where tin was discovered at Vegetable Creek—cf. 1880 article listed above)
• 1931 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159792687 (reminiscences of Vegetable Creek, its Chinese residents, and its joss house)
• 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article184600088 (report on the destruction of the Emmaville Joss House in a fire; Sue Fong was responsible for the building, until he died, then there was a caretaker, whose possessions were destroyed in the fire)
• 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83435910 (report on the destruction of the Emmaville Joss House in a fire; “built more than 50 years ago”; dimensions and other details; stage at the northern end for the idol of the primary deity, which was 3 ft. high and 14 in. wide)
• 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article185202091 (report on the total destruction of the Emmaville Joss House in a fire, and remarks about it and its history)
• 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article184600247 (reminiscences of the Emmaville joss house; “All the surrounding centres were represented in the control of the “Joss House,” stewards being appointed”; Hi Tim was the “steward” for Tent Hill—“steward” would be a translation of the Chinese word “值理”, which is translated herein as “director”)
• 1951 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52255250 (Vegetable Creek was “so-called on account of the creek-side vegetable patches grown by its large Chinese population”—cf. reference to a single vegetable patch in the first 1926 article listed above)

Chinese-language articles about Emmaville: In addition to the Chinese-language articles about the Emmaville temple that are the subject of this section, there is a wide range of Chinese-language articles available on Trove that are relevant to the Chinese history of Emmaville. Hyperlinks to these articles are listed below, preceded by the year of publication, and followed by parenthesised notes on content:

• 1895 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page15328986 (李禧祥 “Lee Hee Cheung” of Emmaville)
• 1895 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166859364 (notice on the bankruptcy of the Emmaville firm of “合盛” “Hop Shing”, and its transfer in ownership following a legal ruling; names of previous five partners are listed: 梁恆活 “Leung Hang Wut”, 黎官裕 “Lau Kwun Yu”, 阮帝煥 “Yuen Ti Woon”, 羅燦儒 “Law Tsan Yu” and 林明 “Lam Ming”; names of new owners listed: 張崇基 “Cheung Sung Ki”  and 梁保 “Leung Po”; notice posted by the new owners)
• 1899 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227918877 (long list of Vegetable Creek Chinese residents and firms that donated to the Vegetable Creek hospital; 蘇芳 Sue Fong; 李永源 Lee Wing Yuen, who is known to have been a resident of Glen Innes at a later time)
• 1906 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247426051 (list of Chinese Emmavillians donating to a 隆都 Loong Tu cause, thus suggesting that the people named came from this corner of the district of Heung Shan, in which a unique Hokkien vernacular known as 隆都話 “Loong-tu-ese” is spoken; no one with the surname 鄭 “Cheng” is listed)
• 1908 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246925784 (lists of donors from various places, including a set from Emmaville; the 鄭劉氏 “Mrs. Cheng, née Lau” listed after 鄭好 Mr. Howe is probably his new wife—see relevant footnote herein)
• 1908 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246924889 (lists of donors from various places, including a set from Emmaville)
• 1911 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/227976385 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227976424 (names of Chinese Emmavillians in a donation list and associated letter; key names: 李國勳 “Lee Kwok Fan” and 蘇芳 Sue Fong)
• 1912 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227967283 (long list of Emmaville donors)
• 1912 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168801703 (lists of donors from various places, including a set from Emmaville)
• 1914 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226551936 and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226553970 (visit by Chinese Republic News managing director 郭標 Mr. George (Kwok) Bew, and editor 趙國㑓 Mr. Chiu Kok Chun (a.k.a. Chiu Kwok-chun), to Emmaville and other towns in northern New South Wales; speeches were given in the reception room of the firm of 錦生昌 Kum Sing Chong)
• 1919 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/227019458 and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168568188 (share subscription drive through Emmaville and surrounding towns)
• 1920 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168568227 (Chinese Nationalist Party membership subscription drive through New England towns, including Emmaville, resulting in several tens joining, and the establishment of a postal address in Glen Innes, which might evolve into a branch in the near future; mention of a group that has formed in New England who are opposed to registering as Chinese Nationalist Party members)
• 1921 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227660518 (advertisement for 蘇芳 Sue Fong of Emmaville, physician and grocery manager; he hails from Heung Shan; his ability to treat syphilis is the focus of the advertisement’s heading)
• 1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227451155 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227453888 and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227459200 (notice about the intention to repatriate the bones of 25 deceased Chinese people buried at Emmaville; names and places of origin, where known, are listed; two men identified as Hakkas have no native place, even a district, listed with their names; the names do not match any others in this document; it seems that most of these 25 deceased Emmaville residents came from Heung Shan; the notice was posted by 蘇芳 Sue Fong and 王富 Wong Foo of Emmaville, and 關潤 “Kwan Yun” of G. Kwong Sing Co., Glen Innes)
• 1925 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227449941 (advertisement for the sale of a vegetable garden in Emmaville; the vendor is 方呀 “Fong Ah”)
• 1925 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227456017 (notice posted by the 威治布埠敬福堂 “Emmaville King Fook Tong” advising of the successful repatriation of the bones of deceased Chinese people buried at Emmaville, following a generous response to last year’s request for donations; the signatories are 蘇芳 Sue Fong and 王富 Wong Foo of Emmaville, and 關潤 “Kwan Yun”, who are given to be the directors of the 敬福堂 “King Fook Tong”; a list of donors and their donations is appended; the total amount donated was £164 1s. 6d.; a breakdown of expenses is also appended; the names of the deceased are listed)

This is a continually evolving website, and more information about these newspaper articles will be published as further research is conducted.