Boxing in the bush

This photograph of two men boxing is from the Wong Ah Sat archive. The men may have been friends or neighbours of Amelia Eve Wong and Henry Hackney Wong, two enthusiastic amateur photographers who lived on their family’s property at Bolong, NSW. Amelia Eve Wong and her brother created many outdoor portraits such as this one, posing their subjects in the rural landscape.

Boxing was traditionally a working class, male activity. The two men in the photograph may have been farm labourers;  their suntanned  faces, necks and lower arms suggest long hours spent outdoors. Behind them is a fence or possibly the ropes of an outdoor boxing ring. Boxing was also a popular subject with at least one other amateur photographer at this time, and there are several other photographs of boxers in this collection. The sport also features in some photographs from the Phillips collection posted previously on Photo of the Day.

Wong Ah Sat, father of Amelia Eve and Henry Hackney Wong, came to Australia from southern China in 1857. In 1864 he married Amelia Hackney, who had come with her prosperous and well-educated family from Manchester, England, where they had been involved in the drapery trade. Sat and Amelia took up a property near Bathurst and later moved to Bolong where they ran a store and raised a large family, becoming respected members of the predominantly Anglo-Celtic farming community.

The Powerhouse Museum holds a collection of objects and photographs from the Wong family, many of which are currently on display in the exhibition, What’s in store? A history of retailing in Australia.

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photography by Amelia Eve Wong and/or HenryH.Wong
Powerhouse Museum collection: 97/92/12-4/13
No known copyright restrictions.

Tags: boxing, men, rural scenes