The Market Gardens Of Dark Dragon Ridge, New South Wales, Australia, 1876–1930

Authors

Peter Gibson, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

142493

Publication Details

Gibson, P. (2020). The Market Gardens Of Dark Dragon Ridge, New South Wales, Australia, 1876–1930. Australian Economic History Review,

Abstract

© 2020 Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd Long neglected within Eurocentric histories of Australian agriculture, a clearer view of Chinese market gardening in Australia has been emerging over recent decades. As a contribution to this ongoing work, this paper explores Chinese market gardens in Wollongong (known as Dark Dragon Ridge in Chinese), 70 km south of Sydney, between 1876 and 1930. Using a microhistorical framework with an emphasis on business and labour, and guided chiefly by gardeners' own accounts of their activities, I offer new insights into Chinese market gardening. This approach can, I conclude, markedly enhance understanding of this aspect of Australia's past.