Thursday Island
Date Published
:
: Town/small
: Far North (Qld)
: pearling industry
“The Chinese presence in Torres Strait predates the establishment of a government settlement on Thursday Island in 1877. Oral tradition tells of Chinese junks visiting islands in search of bêche-de-mer. Chinese men were often employed as engineers, sailors, stewards and cooks on steamers and fishing vessels that plied the strait before and after settlement of Thursday Island. Within the strait, however, Thursday Island became the principal site of Chinese migration during the late 19th century. Here, the Chinese were to establish over time a significant presence numerically, economically and, to a limited extent, politically."
Guy Ramsay, The Chinese Diaspora in Torres Strait: Cross-cultural connections and contentions on Thursday Island. In, Navigating boundaries: the Asian diaspora in Torres Strait / editors Anna Shnukel, Guy Ramsay and Yuriko Nagata. Publisher Canberra : Pandanus Books, 2004, p.54.
