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consisted of two storekeepers, two gardeners at Georgetown and a number of Chinese miners working at Western Creek. 1045 The population grew to 203 in 1886 and stabilized around this number from then on. In 1891 the Chinese population was estimated at 197, of whom 4 were married.1046 By 1902, the Chinese population had dropped to 142, with the majority of them working as gardeners.1047 Market gardening was a dominant Chinese occupation in the region and it continued well into the 20th century. A Chinatown developed in Georgetown, on the outskirts of town, and very quickly grew to provide opium shops, boarding houses, stores, a butcher and bakers. Men provided services as labourers, a carter, and gardeners.1048 By 1880, Chinatown had the first of three temples constructed.1049 The first was located on the corner of North and High Streets; the second was relocated around the corner in Low Street by 18921050, and the third opened with fanfare in 1905.1051 Following the 'Edwardstown, Palmer River Goldfield.', Australian Town and Country Journal, 2 June 1877, page 28 Bolton, Thousand Miles Away, 11-14. 1043 Etheridge Divisional Board Registers, 1882 and Etheridge Shire Council Rates and Valuations registers, multiple years. 1044 Queenslander, 9 March 1872, p. 10 andQueenslander, 30 March 1872, p.10. 1045 Queenslander, 24 February 1872, p.11. 1046 Census Records for years 1886, 1891. 1047 Morning Post, 10 January 1902, p.2. 1048 Etheridge Shire Council, Rate Cash Book 1882-1886 [valuation]; Etheridge Shire Council, Rate Cash Book 1888-1896; Etheridge Shire Council, Letterbook 1911-1913; Etheridge Shire Council, Valuation Register and Rate book 1916. 1049 Queenslander, 20 March 1880, p. 37: "’ John’ is keeping the high festival of the new year, and wakes the silent watches of the night by crackers and uncouth novices of fire. Here he has a Joss-house, with a gaudy standard floating in front.” Note: no physical evidence of temples remains. The last one pulled down in the mid 1950s and the collection sent south to Hill End NSW. 1050 Etheridge Shire Council, Rate Book, 1882-1884 and 1888-1896, 1041 1042 291 pattern set by many Chinese men across north Queensland, it was prominent community men Tom Tip, Yee Tong and Lim Kin who worked to gather funds and secure the erection of the temple, furnishing it with imported altars and furniture.1052 Further afield in a remote area of the Etheridge, Mt Hogan also had a bush temple which was present from 1888 until at least 1896, on land owned by prominent Townsville merchant firm On War Chong.1053 The Chinese Family Landscape of Georgetown consisted of 9 primary families before 1900 with only three Chinese–White mixed heritage couples to live in the Georgetown region for any length of time. The other two couples moved onto other goldfields after 1875. Up to 6 China born migrant couples lived in the region over a thirty-year period, though only 3 Chinese families remained permanently for any length of time. This included those of Ah Fook, the wife of Tom Tip (1885);1054 Ah Cum, the wife of Ah Gee (1890);1055 and Hoy How, the wife of Yee Tong (1894).1056 Georgetown, and the neighboring town of Croydon situated 89 miles (143 klms) west of Georgetown, shared a special connection based on their location and remoteness. This was evident in the connections between families in the Chinese community.1057 In addition, midwife Agnes How Chong, the wife of James Ah Sue in Mt Hogan, attended the births of several Chun Tie and Yet Foy couples, travelling considerable distance to attend to them.1058 James Ah Sue and his first generation Australian born wife, Agnes How Chong, were a well-known couple on the Etheridge where they were hoteliers and storekeepers at Mt Hogan.1059 Not only did they “Telegrams”, North Queensland Register, 30 January 1905, p. 6.It is presumed that successive constructions of the temple occurred due to a calamity befalling the previously constructed building. Many places including Maytown, Georgetown and Croydon suffered from termite attack with many buildings destroyed from what are colloquially referred to as ‘White Ants’. 1052 North Queensland Register, 16 January 1905, p. 7. 1053 Etheridge Shire Council, Rate Book 1882-1884 and 1888-1896. 1054 QBDM-MR-MF1885, 1885/001808, SIP TOM /TOM TIP married AH FOO/ AH FOOK, 8 June1885; QSA: COL/A435/85/6412 TOM TIP application for Certificate of Naturalisation, Georgetown, 1885. 1055 QBDM-MR-MF 1890, 1890/001433, AH GEE, AH SUM, AH CUM 16 August 1890. 1056 NAA: J2483, 144/85 YEE TONG. 1057 Etheridge Shire Council, Rate Book 1906-1908; Etheridge Shire Council, Valuation Register and Rate Book, 1911; Etheridge Shire Council, Valuation Register and Rate book, 1916.Sam Que Woo, a storekeeper with business interests at Georgetown, married Australian born Chinese Cissy Yet Foy from Croydon and together they settled in Cumberland where he operated a garden, store and hotel. James Ah Kee from Durham married Cissy’s sister Margaret and they settled in Durham before moving to Forsayth. James and Margaret owned a number of allotments around the Etheridge, including at Durham, Forsayth, Queenslander Creek, Charleston, and in Georgetown Chinatown which they leased to storekeeper Ah Kwong. 1058 QSA, CPS 14A/44 CROYDON: Register BDM sent to Normanton District Office by Court House Registrar, 1900-1908; Copy of Birth Certificate 51908 of Jing Way, supplied by Sadie Fong On, Atherton; Register of Births in the District of Burke in the Colony of Queensland, Registered by Clement Arnett Collard, District Register, Number 896.Agnes Ah Sue was sought out as an experienced midwife by women in the community. She attended a number of births across the region, including Alice Ah Chee, the daughter of Annie Holland and William Ah Chee. A son and a daughter of hers, James and Ellen Ah Sue, married a brother and sister of German parentage from Croydon, Alice Maria and Louis John Frederick Harstoff in 1886 and 1888 respectively. 1059 QBDM-MR-MF 1883, 1883/001637, SUE James/ CHUNG KUM SUE m. CHONG /HOW CHONG Agnes, 8 May 1883. They had been married at Townsville in 1883, but moved to the Etheridge not long after. 1051 292 successfully raise eight children on the Etheridge, but James Ah Sue was closely associated with the Mt Hogan temple. Georgetown 1890-1910 SHORT Chinese owned or occupied STREET Women or Families Tom Tip Ah Foo Tom Ming/Meng Chin Waugh /Chin Poo Yee Tong War Yuen Jang & Co Ah Hoon publican Ah Gee and Jane Gee Etheridge River Tom Ming LIM KIN TEMPLE LIM KIN / James Ah Kee Occ Ah Kwong store Ah Tie wood & bark opium shop Bow Pang STREET Tom Tip/ J. Ah Kee ST GEORGE STREET Temple 1892 New 1905 Tom Tip LOW HIGH STREET Tom Tip wood & iron "joss house“ 1883 NORTH STREET Fig. 94. Georgetown Chinatown: 1890 - 19101060 Chinese owned or occupied TEMPLE Market Garden Fig. 95. Georgetown Chinatown, Garden and Cemetery Areas: 1890- 19101061

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