W O G s By Daniel So Why

W. O. G’s By Daniel So

Why Were Chinese Called W. O. G’s? • The reason they were called W. O. G’s was that it meant Wise Oriental Gentlemen. • This was attributed to the fact that Chinese men, instead of wasting energy making a great hole in the ground, purchased everything anyone would need at the gold fields such as food and tools and when the hasty miners left without enough provisions they had to buy it from the Chinese at excessive prices! • The Europeans regarded this as very wise because it was an easy way to get gold that they hadn’t thought of.

Why didn’t people like them • People didn’t like Chinese just because they’d never seen them before and that they couldn’t admit that Chinese had beaten them in getting gold. • Many Europeans tried to drive the Chinese out unlawfully by attacking their defense- less camps like at Lambing flats. The European miners took pick-axes and clubs and raided the Chinese camps. Many Chinese miners died and were only saved because some sympathetic armed miners sheltered them. • Also many people accused them of smoking opium even though most of the miners drank illegal alcohol too.

Why did they trade instead of mine? • Chinese men didn’t mine because their bodies weren’t built for mining or other such heavy duty work. So instead when they arrived they had seeds with them to plant trees and plants. They also realized that European people who came weren’t very well prepared for digging meaning they didn’t have any tools. • The Chinese people decided to profit from this by buying all of the tools needed and when unprepared miners realized that they didn’t have enough tools, the only place to get them from was the Chinese who sold it not for money but for gold! Also they were the only people to know how to grow vegetables on the goldfields so they got even more money from that. • In the rare cases that they did mine the Chinese were very successful because they were very determined and hardworking.

What did they wear and eat? • Chinese men wore traditional, loose fitting shirts and trousers with cone shaped ‘coolie’ hats or hats made out of the same material as their clothes were made from, and sandals. • Chinese men ate stir-fried vegetables grown from their market gardens with herbs and spices also grown there. • Many Europeans were attracted to the Chinese camps by the tantalising, exotic smells wafting through the air there, which were very different from their standard mutton stew and damper.

When did the first W. O. G arrive in Australia? • The first W. O. G to arrive in Australia arrived in 1853. • The first Chinese men to arrive in Australia came because landlords asked them to, believing that they would be cheap labour. • The Chinese men that came after were people who had heard rumours of the ‘new gold mountain’ or Hsin Chin San.

Were people racist back then? • Yes, people were racist back then which was displayed on many occasions such as the attack on Lambing Flats when European miners raided the Chinese camp mercilessly overrunning the fleeing Chinese. • Another example was the walk from Robe. This was when the government put a tax of 10 pounds on the head of every Chinese entering a Victorian port. Therefore the Chinese had to travel further to the South Australian port of Robe and walk many hundreds of miles to get to the diggings. • Also European miners were suspicious of the Chinese because of their strange practices, religion and clothing.

Were there many W. O. Gs in those times? • Yes, in fact there were many W. O. Gs in those times. At one point they numbered almost 40 000. • They mostly lived in groups or communities without their families. • Each community would have a joss house or temple, market gardens, butchers and all the tents. They were much more organised than the European camps.

What did W. O. Gs do with their gold? • When Chinese men found gold they usually used it to pay for their journey first, then sent whatever was left to their families back in China. • This made their families very powerful back in China. When they returned from the diggings they must have been unexpectedly treated like lords! • This was another reason why Chinese men weren’t liked by miners.

Why did W. O. Gs leave their families back in China? • Most Chinese men left their families back in China when they came to the goldfields. • This was mainly because they sent their gold back to China and had to send it to someone trustworthy back there to keep it for them when they came back. • If the Chinese man decided to stay then he would send for his family back in China and they would use some of the gold he sent them to finance the trip.

What did W. O. Gs do after they finished mining? • • • Most of the Chinese men went back to China to their families when they finished mining. They wanted to live out their lives in comfort. However some Chinese men did decide to settle in Australia, often becoming successful market gardeners and shop owners. Their descendants can be found here today.

Chinese man on the Goldfields