Political
correctness and revisionism has made more out of Fook Sing than should be the
case. He was simply a man of his time,
playing both sides against each other for his own benefit. This eventually caught up with him and he
lost the respect of his own community.
But that is for others to debate.
It is easy to
believe that the early brick makers were of European origin, but this is nor
the case. When the gold started to run
out, the Chinese miners, like the Europeans, moved into other occupations. One of these was Fook Sing, or Fok Sing,
depending on the reference you consult.
He began making bricks in Bendigo in the late 1850s, possibly 1857. He had arrived in Australia from China to
seek his fortune along with many of his countrymen. It is hard to know where he came from, but it is reasonable to
assume that he left southern China to come to Australia. Arriving in Adelaide in 1854, he undertook
the arduous trip overland to the gold fields.
An only child, Fook
never married nor had any children. He
appears to have been fluent in English as he is recorded as being an
interpreter in July 1856. He is also
recorded as being a faction head during September in what has been called the
“Chinese Riots” in 1856. The two
faction leaders were locked up and bail refused. Fook was head of the “Four Districts” (known as the Headman of
the Long Gully Camp) and Ah King was head of the “Five Districts.” The four districts were the former
counties of Xinhui, Taishan, Kaiping and Enping in the Pearl River Delta of
Southern Guangdong Province of China.
The Chinese were located in Emu Point at what was known as the “Ironbark
Camp.”
These groups had an
internal system of Justice that included flogging for offences proven. The “Bendigo Advertiser reported in 1856;
“We also had handed to us the other day a specimen of the English calligraphy
of Fok Sing the head-man of the four districts, which would not disgrace some
of the members of our precious House of Lords.
The freedom of hand and the accuracy of spelling were quite creditable
to this intelligent specimen of the Chinese race.”
Poor Fook seems to
have been an early casualty of the “tall poppy syndrome” being arrested when
another Chinese was wanted by the police.
He had previously been arrested during the “riot” but was “bound over to
keep the peace.” It appears that Fook
was well known to the police as his name appears regularly in relation to
various offences committed by other members of the Chinese community of
Bendigo. He was also described as a
“Police Informer.”
Whilst the
rebellion at Eureka in Ballarat, has become a well known episode in Australian
history, the Chinese in Bendigo were just as incensed over the enactment of a £4 per year residency permit. In May 1859 around 1000 Chinese massed and
marched on the Warden. Fook Sing was
their spokesperson and managed to delay collection of the fee until the
Legislature in Melbourne had a chance to reconsider the matter.
“CHINESE BUILDERS.
Those indefatigable people, the Chinese, have now gone into another
branch of "trade. Fook Sing, the brickmaker, has taken a contract
to build a smithy for Mr Bailey, of Hargreaves
street,of Chinese bricks. Yesterday a party of them might have been seen at work. They are constructing the walls on a peculiar
principle. It is of two bricks in thickness,
whose length runs parallel with the length of the wall, and a space
is left, between which is filled up with mortar. Many disparaging remarks was expressed of the work by European bricklayers,
but there appeared nothing to justify them. It appears to be well executed,
and will cost infinitely less than if done by Europeans, the difference
in price amounting to upwards of 30 per cent. “
“The Star” Ballarat Friday 3rd of
February 1869 from the Bendigo Advertiser.
Fook Sing built his
own brick kiln from hand-made bricks in Bendigo in 1859. The remains of this kiln now in Thunder
Street have been excavated and are the only known brick kiln of Chinese origin
outside China. It appears to be a form
of beehive kiln, about 15 metres long and 10 metres wide. It made bricks that were smaller and a different colour to those
of the day, as a standard size had been creeping into European works since the early
1800s.
It appears the a
firebox at the front, about 3 metres square sent heat uphill into the kiln,
creating a hotter fire than other European kilns of the day. This crossdaught kiln operated until the
late 1880s when the land was converted to market gardens.
The Victorian
Heritage website says; -
"Newspaper records indicate that the kiln was constructed
by the A'Fok, Fok Sing and Co in 1859 when the site was immediately south east
of the large Chinese camp known as Ironbark, established in 1855. The kiln
appears to have been in use until the 1880s when a market garden was
established on the site, the land having been acquired by Ah Jet in 1884. The
market garden was abandoned around 1950 however several trees on the site still
reflect this commercial use. The current owners purchased the land in the late
1970s.
Partial archaeological excavation of the site in late 2005
revealed the remains of a large domed clay brick kiln built into the bank in
the west of the site. The arched firebox leading to the firing chamber is at
least 1.5 metres deep and buried along with the fire box, flue, and lower
section of the circular firing chamber which is estimated to be around 10
metres in diameter, extending under Thunder Street. The kiln originally stood
about 10 metres high but the top of the dome has been partially demolished
during construction of the road. The design of the kiln strongly suggests
Asian, probably Chinese, technology especially in the construction of the
wall-through firebox.
Excavation on the kiln also revealed arteiacts associated
with the use of the kiln including brick fragments. Bricks used in the
construction of a garden wall in Rowan Street Bendigo are thought to have been
manufactured in the kiln.
Excavation of the later deposit which has filled the
firebox and a transect of test excavations across the site revealed a dense in situ deposit of mainly late 19th century
artifacts such as English and Chinese ceramics, including a number of complete
or near complete large earthenware jars, Chinese glass gaming counters and
bottle glass related to use of the site as a market garden and residence from
the 1880s.”
Fook died in
Castlemaine in 1896 at the age of 68.
