By Juanita Kwok, 11 March 2025
Following on from my post on the Lambing Flat riots and the Chinese petitions, I am writing some posts about Chinese people who may have been at Lambing Flat at the time of the riots. One of these is Jenny Wright’s great-great-grandfather, Ah Chin. Jenny has been researching her great-great-grandparents Ah Chin and Sarah (nee Peaisley/Gale) for the last fourteen years. There is no gravestone to identify Ah Chin’s Chinese name and his village of birth, and Ah Chin is a name that appears quite commonly in newspaper archives.
Jenny Wright with a copy of her great-great grandparent’s marriage certificate. Courtesy of Jenny Wright.
While Jenny has not uncovered any hard evidence of Ah Chin’s entry point into the colonies, she believes that he arrived in Sydney and may have travelled to Lambing Flat. Some of those who were driven from Back Creek on 30 June 1861 found refuge on the Turon Goldfield. James Achay, “sworn interpreter at the Bathurst Courts”, wrote in a letter to the SMH, that he and the Chinese storekeepers of Bathurst had assisted upwards of 300 Chinese [who had been at Back Creek on 30 June] to reach the Turon diggings”.[2]
Ah Chin’s first appearance in the record is his marriage to Sarah (nee Peaisley) in Sofala on the Turon goldfield in NSW, on 1 September 1862. [1] The couple’s first child Emily, was born in Sofala, on the Turon Goldfield, (b. 14 June 1863), and baptised in Sofala in July 1863. The next record of the family is in Nerrigundah (a goldfield inland of Bodalla on the NSW south coast) where the couple’s second child Martha was born.[3]
In 1864, a petition was made to the NSW governor regarding compensation for losses sustained after the Lambing Flat riots. The petitioners had assembled from Kiandra [Snowy River], the Gulph, [Nerrigundah], the Macquarie [River, of which the Turon is a tributary] and the Rocky River [Uralla] diggings. The petition stated that the signatories had formerly resided at Back Creek, but had been driven away by the riots on 30 June 1861, and that all the property they possessed had been destroyed. They had applied for and been awarded compensation for their losses and had proceeded to Young to receive payment, but having to perform the journey on foot, had arrived in Young too late to receive payment. Ah Chin may have been one of those who travelled to Tuena, either from Sofala or Nerrigundah, to sign the petition on 28 March 1864.
The petition was a failure. Birth records show that Ah Chin and Sarah were in Nerrigundah, for the births of Martha Ah Chin (b. 18 April 1865), Charles Ah Chin (b. 29 October 1867) and George Ah Chin (b. 1 January 1870) – before the family moved to the Ravenswood Goldfield in North Queensland.
An excerpt from the Lambing Flat petition 1864, showing signatories with the surname Chin.
Museums of History New South Wales – State Archives Collection: Department of Lands; NRS 7933, Letters received [Department of Lands and Public Works/Department of Lands I]. NRS-7933-1-[5/3673]-64/2663 | Lambing Flat riots petition, 1864 NRS-7933-1-[5/3673]-64/2663
There are nine signatories to the 1864 Lambing Flat petition with the surname Chin. Based on the pattern of movement of Sarah and Ah Chin, it seems quite possible that one of the nine persons with the surname Chin who signed the 1864 petition was Jenny’s great-grandfather, Ah Chin.
Jenny is writing a history of Ah Chin and Sarah which she plans to publish by 2026.
[1] NSW BDM Marriage Certificate 3016/1862.
[2] SMH, 12 September 1861, p.8 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13061100 )
[3] Emily AH CHING, born Sofala 1863, NSW BDM 13665/1863; Martha AH CHIN, born Nerrigundah 1865, NSW BDM 7331/1865; Charles AH CHIN, born Nerrigundah1867, NSW BDM 7846/1867; George AH CHIN born Nerrigundah1870, NSW BDM 7939/1870. __________________________________________________________