In the Perth metropolitan area, Chinese worked in groups of between two to ten men although the number required to work the garden in a busy season was an average of six men for a six acre block. Gardens were usually leased by a partnership of two or three men who worked the plot year round. During the growing or busy season the summer months in Perth and the winter months in country areas, extra labour was employed. Seasonal labour was supplied from a pool of Chinese who alternated between working in metropolitan and country gardens.

            Out-of-season work included carting and ploughing-in fertiliser and preparing seed beds. In the metropolitan area, the busy season started in the spring months when the seeds were planted. After transplanting, seedlings were watered twice daily and beds weeded regularly. Work in the gardens continued seven days a week. Daily watering started at sunrise and lasted through to sunset and, at times, continued with the aid of lanterns. Each day was interspersed with three rest breaks. Morning tea consisting of Chinese steamed bread and tea, and afternoon tea of Chinese cakes and team were taken in the vegetable garden. Lunch, a substantial meal of rice, meat and fresh vegetables was eaten in the gardeners’ living quarters and was followed by a half hour break.  Except for the three breaks, work continued throughout the day, even through rain and extreme heat. Gardeners wore long straw cloaks, imported from China, when working in the rain, and large straw hats, also from China, for working in the heat. At the end of each working day they took hot towel rubs to relieve muscular aches. For backache, a common complaint amongst gardeners, Chinese remedies were used.  One in particular consisted of applying a ‘Tiger Balm’ potion to the back then rubbing the affected area with a penny until the skin became red.

            Except for cooking and marketing produce, there seemed to have been little division of labour in the gardens and work was assigned equally. The leaseholder or one of the co-owners of the garden undertook the job of cooking. Well-cooked food of good quality was considered essential and the task of cooking at least two large meals a day was rarely shared. Marketing, whether it was hawking vegetables or taking fresh produce to the markets, was the province of those with familiarity with the English language, either a partner in the leasehold or a permanent employee.

            Simple technology was employed in the gardens. Tools consisted of hoes, spades and wooden ploughs.

            To the wider Australian community the gardeners were a necessary source of cheap and fresh produce. They were like a mobile grocery service, as they sold door-to-door from their horse-drawn carts. However there was not a close connection or bond between them. Many gardeners were referred to as ‘John Chinaman’ and children often raided the gardens as a dare from their peers.

ont left to right: Bill Gooey, Lee Lee Chong Dolly Chiang, Edie Hoy Poy (in fur collar) and Lee Wan Chong.

The Lee brothers were the last two Chinese gardeners in York. They returned to China in 1975 (aged in their mid 90s) with Australian pensions and lived out their last days in their village home surrounded by family. At one time there were three brothers living in WA with one coming via the USA after cutting trees in Oregon barely eking out a living. ‘Lee Crescent’ is named after the men in York as well as many of their gardening implements on display at the York Museum.

Bill Gooey’s father John Lew Gooey was a Chinese gardener who had large gardens along Charles Street, North Perth in the early part of the twentieth century. John Gooey was a teacher in China but became a successful gardener and all his children completed school to go onto other careers.

Like many Chinese the family name was changed from Lew to Gooey as many Caucasians were unaware of the Chinese tradition of family names first. Unfortunately plans in the mid 1980s to name a street after the family were shelved by the North Perth Council after feedback suggested the name would become a figment of derision rather than respect. However a recent local tribute to the Chinese gardeners can by found at Smith’s Lake along with recognition to the indigenous significance in the area.

Chinese gardeners provided an essential service to many country towns, as the only source of fresh produce. If there was no Chinese gardener supplies had to sent from the metropolitian area. Ah Sam & Co, a Chinese fresh produce business would often send supplies to these towns as well as supplying most of Perth’s major hotels and many visiting ships. Quan Ah Shem founder of the business was also a founding member of the Chung Wah Association. The family name was changed from Quan to Shem by the local authorities and is still carried on today.