The relationship between the Chinese and the police does not seem to have been any easier. Police attached to the Chinese Protectorate were responsible for collecting the levies as the Chinese headmen had been sacked for inciting a riot early in the life of the Protectorate.⁷⁹ Many Chinese tried to avoid paying the residence fees that were forced upon them in addition to the miner's right. The Chinese had emphatically rejected the unfair tax, vigorously petitioning the government on the subject in 1856 and in 1859.⁸⁰ The vast majority of court appearances for Chinese from 1857 to 1865 were for not possessing a residence license. For example, in 1857, of a total of 236 Chinese convictions, 163 were for not possessing a residence license, and forty-eight were for breaches of village regulations.⁸¹ In March 1860 Nun Pon, who was forty years old, died from pulmonary apoplexy while escaping from the police who had entered the Chinese village at Ironbark to search for Chinese with no residence tickets. Nun Pon had joined a group of Chinese who were running away from two police on foot and a mounted constable.⁸²

In many cases communication difficulties made an inquest necessary. For example, Dr O'Donnell, who arrived after Ah Tat had died in May 1863, refused to issue a death certificate because he said that 'the Chinese speak English so imperfectly it is impossible to ascertain the cause of death'.⁸³ Interpreters were present at inquest proceedings. Ah Look, an interpreter and Chinese Christian, assured the coroner at Ah Tat's inquest that he knew the value of an oath taken on the Bible. He swore to the accuracy of his translation and the honesty of the witnesses.⁸⁴ Post-mortems were frequently performed because no doctor had attended the deceased person during his illness. For mining accidents, coroners tried to find a European witness to help overcome language problems and in such cases no post-mortem was carried out. By 1863 post-mortems were performed more frequently on Chinese, but by this time a far greater percentage were dying from illness than from mining accidents.⁸⁵

The inquest records also give an appreciation of personal relationships between the Chinese and Europeans. Historians have highlighted animosity expressed in organised protest meetings, petitions and riots, while neglecting more mundane relationships. The inquest records, dealing with everyday relationships, show evidence of compassion and the sense of a common humanity that transcended language or cultural barriers. Europeans often took the initiative in rescue operations. When Hang Liu's body was thrown from a dray he was driving in Bridge Street in October 1858, Edward Jones, a Bridge Street chemist saw the accident from the door of his shop. He rushed out with a glass of water and went for the doctor, while other Europeans found a piece of board to serve as a stretcher and carried Hang Liu into a nearby hotel.⁸⁶ Kindness to strangers, especially those in destitute circumstances, is also evident in the inquests. When his countrymen moved from Poverty Gully to Eaglehawk Gully, A'Yut was left behind. Thomas McElwain, a carrier who lived nearby, found him very ill. A'Yut complained of pains in his stomach and had swollen hands and feet. Once they had made his acquaintance, A'Yut occasionally visited Thomas and Mary McElwain's tent where they gave him food to eat.⁸⁷ The evidence suggests an overriding sense that in matters of life and death, it was one human being's duty to help another.

Occasional working relationships are evident in the sphere of business. In February 1856, John Browning, a farmer, took a load of rice to Long Gully for his neighbour A'Hong, a refreshment tent keeper from Ravenswood. A'Hong also hired a horse from Browning to ride into Bendigo. He died from 'a violent blow to the abdomen, consistent with falling off a horse'.⁸⁸ In mining there are no such examples of Chinese and Europeans working together, but it is evident they mined in close proximity. Even when the Chinese were separated into encampments, Europeans were living and working close by. Europeans responded quickly to calls for help and removed dead bodies though the time needed for this difficult task was often measured in hours, not minutes. When Chong Hing disappeared in a hole full of sludge, between twenty and thirty Englishmen assisted in getting him out of the hole, a task that took an hour. Patrick Franklin was one who went into sludge nearly to his own depth to find the body and tie a rope around the dead man.⁸⁹ Language barriers were overcome by sign language.

One inquest provides a rare example of a relationship between a Chinese man and a European woman.⁹⁰ On the afternoon of 12 December 1862, Ah Shong visited Anne and Martha Reid's store and asked if he could stay and rest. Anne agreed and showed him to a back room where he drank her ginger beer and 'something else out of a bottle that he said was brandy'. The post-mortem revealed that the something else was opium. Ah Shong was still there at ten o'clock at night and when Anne told him it was time to leave he asked to stay the night. Martha Reid gave up her bedroom for Ah Shong and slept with her sister. During the night, discovering Ah Shong in convulsions, the sisters moved him to a warmer room and bathed his hands in vinegar and water before going to find a Chinese person who spoke English. The responsibility of care for the sick man was thus handed to the Chinese, who called the doctor. Ah Shong died the next morning from brain congestion caused by the introduction of a large amount of opium into his stomach. Underlying the obvious kindness shown to the Chinese man is the possibility of a personal friendship or relationship.

Associations between European women and Chinese men were severely frowned upon by both Europeans and Chinese. Yet European women lived in the Chinese villages as companions and occasionally wives. The only example in the records studied of a marriage between a European woman and a Chinese man shows stark evidence of prejudice in the Chinese community against the European wife. Ah Sown, a storekeeper of Jackass Flat, had married fifteen year old Louisa, a native of Hobart, in 1862.⁹¹ Ah Sown died in March 1864 of liver disease and gallstones, but after the inquest a large number of Chinese approached the coroner requesting an inquiry into the death. They expressed 'great disquiet and fear' that Louisa, who they pointed out, was the daughter of an old Tasmanian convict, had poisoned her husband.⁹² The Coroner could find no evidence to support their allegations. The post-mortem clearly showed that Ah Sown had not been poisoned. Louisa Ah Sown was found to have followed all the doctor's instructions, cared for her husband in his illness and regarded him with fondness as 'a good husband who supported her comfortably'. While prejudice existed about the formation of relationships between European women and Chinese men, this prejudice was mutual, and despite its existence, occasional relationships were formed and successful marriages took place.

After the inquest - the funeral
At the completion of the inquest, the body of the deceased became the responsibility of the closest relative. If married, the marriage partner took responsibility, but if, as in most cases, the person was unmarried, the task fell to the closest male relative. In the absence of relatives, subscriptions were raised among the deceased's countrymen to pay for the burial. We know that in death as in life the Chinese living in Bendigo generally took responsibility for caring for their countrymen who were mostly buried in 'common' graves. In these cases, although the Chinese had not purchased a license of interment which gave ownership of the plot, they had paid a fee to open the grave.⁹³ Although the Cemeteries Act of 1854 mandated free burial for the poor, it was rare for Chinese to be buried in paupers' graves.⁹⁴ Clan societies also mostly took responsibility for organising the funeral though sometimes European funeral directors were responsible.⁹⁵

Robert Bruce, Chinese Rites at the Graves of their Countrymen, in Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers, 10 September 1872.
La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria

The burial register of the White Hills Cemetery, the favoured resting place of the Chinese,⁹⁶ reveals that interment generally took place on the day of the inquest or the following day.⁹⁷ Many Chinese must have hoped that if they had the misfortune to die, they would eventually be exhumed and their bones returned to their families in China for permanent burial. The evidence from cemetery records shows that for most in Bendigo this was a vain hope as only a small proportion of Chinese were exhumed.⁹⁸

Descriptions of funeral processions and actual burial ceremonies are rare, but in September 1865, the Ovens Advertiser reported the funeral of Loy Ty, who had hanged himself at the Chinese Village at Spring Creek.⁹⁹ About two hundred Chinese mourners attended, paying up to three pounds to charter every buggy in the district. In contrast to European custom, white is the colour of mourning in China, and the mourners all wore white hatbands.¹⁰⁰ From the buggy next to the hearse, paper money was distributed along the road, to benefit the soul of the departed. At the graveside rice, pork, chicken and other foods were placed in and around the grave on which lighted candles were burning. At one part of the ceremony, the assembly knelt down in prayer.¹⁰¹ For Chinese in Victoria, we have enough evidence to suggest that, although simplified in form, burial ceremonies retained their importance, reinforcing the Chinese belief in the connection of the living and the dead, and the material and spiritual world, and the importance of continuing Chinese cultural practices.

Chinese Funeral Procession, nineteenth-century Bendigo (precise date unknown).
Digitally created at the Golden Dragon Museum. Copyright © 2001 Bendigo Chinese Association Museum

Conclusion
Inquest records provide a rare opportunity to gain a personal perspective on the living and working conditions of the Chinese as well as relationships between Chinese and Europeans on the Bendigo goldfields. In some respects they show us that the things that united these first generation goldseekers were greater than the things that divided them. The Chinese worked alongside Europeans and in similar ways on the Bendigo field. They used the same tools, experienced the same dangers, the same frustrations and the same successes. Their lives and aspirations were not so very different. Whether they were English, German, American, Maori or Chinese, all dreamed of making their fortunes, all were migrants living in a harsh environment far from their homelands, and all relied on networks of friends and family to support them.

There is no doubt that the Chinese preferred to live and work together as did different groups of Europeans and that working relationships were as uncommon as personal relationships. Yet the inquest records reveal a shared humanity that saw Europeans readily respond to Chinese in distress, whether by accident, illness or poverty. In emphasising the prejudice against the Chinese, it is easy to lose sight of these everyday individual connections that tell a different story.

While the Chinese were 'protected' their freedom was more affected by the scrutiny of government than by prejudice from individuals. But all miners, both Chinese and European, experienced difficulty in dealing with unfair taxes, expensive doctors, and hospitals which were difficult for the poor to access. While the existence of prejudiced attitudes and acts should not be ignored, treating the Chinese as victims obscures the detail of their lives. Inquest records, one of the few English language sources that allow Chinese miners to speak of everyday events, make a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the lives of the first Chinese immigrants.