“Miner’s Right” and “Business License” For Chinese Immigrant
1911. Pair of letterpress documents, inscribed in ink and stamped “Tingha [NSW]”, dated “Jan. 16, 1911” and “Feb. 25, 1911” respectively, and annotated in ink in Chinese characters verso, 12.9 x 23.2cm (approx. each). Slight tears to edges, stains, old folds. The holder of the miner’s right was Kee Lim, whose name was misspelled as Key [sic] Lim in the business license granted for gardening. Each document was valid for six months in 1911 and was a renewal of a previously expired version. The place of issue for both documents was Tingha, a small town near Inverall in NSW. Tingha was first settled in 1841 by Sydney Hudson Darby and became a mining town after tin was discovered during the 1870s. Within a year Australia’s first commercial tin mines were operating at a private settlement known as Armidale Crossing, before it was renamed to Tingha in 1872. Around 5000 people arrived and about 1000 of the miners were Chinese. Ref: Wiki. Miner’s rights and business licence documents, issued to Chinese immigrants during the 19th and early 20th centuries in Australia, seldom survive and are subsequently extremely rare.
Item #CL205-18
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