For our first project, “Chinese temples heritage of Uralla, Tingha and Emmaville, NSW, Australia”, we photographed and digitised artefacts from historical Chinese temples of these three towns, and translated their inscriptions. These temples are no longer extant, but 71 items from their contents are preserved at museums in New England North West: the Wing Hing Long Museum in Tingha, McCrossin’s Mill Museum in Uralla, the Inverell Pioneer Village Museum, and the Emmaville Mining Museum.
Chinese migrants to the Australian colonies in the 19th Century, the great majority of whom were men, were a part of networks which supported their needs. Membership provided assistance in migration, in finding accommodation and work, in providing services such as remittance transfers, travel arrangements, assistance for the aged and infirm and repatriation of the bones of those who died here. Membership fees and gambling revenue covered running costs, leaving funds for benevolent causes, both in China and in Australia.
Beginning with the Chinese Masonic Society, this project presents research on the history and heritage of these associations and the people and places associated with Chinese Australian associations.