A safe haven
- Home
-
Explore the scroll
- Before the gold rush
- Chinese workers
- Australian gold rush
- Chinese miners
- Anti-Chinese violence
- Lambing flat riots
- A safe haven
- Isolated and homesick
- Rise of merchants
- Market gardens and musicians
- Vendors and cooks
- Laundries and factories
- The general store
- Trouble in the homeland
- Opium
- Revolution in China
- Republican victory
- Healing the sick
- The strength of traditions
- Religion
- Developing the north
- Riverboat trade
- Entrepreneurs
- Politics and racism
- Invasion
- The support effort
- The Second World War
- The war effort
- The People's Republic of China
- Melbourne Olympics
- Colombo Plan
- Multiculturalism
- Professions
- Rising to the top
- Australia's Bicentenary
- Towards the future
- Final inscription
- How to read the scroll
- Creating the scroll
- The people
- Acknowledgements and bibliography
A safe haven
In the centre of this scene an injured Chinese man is being tended to by a friendly new settler, James Roberts. Roberts and his family sheltered many Chinese miners during the Lambing Flat riots.
Helping injured Chinese miners
The Lambing Flat riots were a series of violent anti-Chinese demonstrations that took place in the Burrangong region of New South Wales. The riots were mostly on Lambing Flat goldfields. However, violence also occurred on the surrounding goldfields of Spring Creek, Stoney Creek, Back Creek, Wombat, Blackguard Gully and Tipperary Gully. James Roberts and his family gave refuge to many injured Chinese miners on their property just outside the Back Creek goldfields. Over the course of a few weeks, about 1200 Chinese refugees arrived at the Roberts station. In helping the injured Chinese miners, the Roberts family risked having their produce boycotted and being attacked themselves by the angry mobs.
