This photograph of a woman and child seated in a sulky is from the Wong Ah Sat archive. The Wong family ran a general store situated in the middle of the family’s sheep property at Bolong via Crookwell, amid the homestead, orchard and work buildings. Amelia Eve Wong and her brother, Henry Hackney Wong, two of Wong Ah Sat’s children, are thought to have been enthusiastic amateur photographers responsible for making some of the photographs in this collection.
Wong Ah Sat 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.
Photography by Amelia Eve Wong and/or Henry Hackney Wong.
No known copyright restrictions.
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