Lady Barber

Barbering was a major part of the culture of Chinese people on the goldfields.

Lady Barber

Image Courtesy of: Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 9 October 1946, p.5.

"There are about one hundred and sixty-six millions of men in China who require to be shaved every day, and in this far off land there are several thousands who could not live in comfort without the services of the barber. It has been said on high authority, that the Chinaman is "afflicted with a strong hydrophobia," that he abhors cold water either as a beverage or for purposes of ablution and of cleanliness but the crowd of visitors and various appliances in the barber's shop clearly prove that if the Chinese hold cold water as an abomination, they are entirely in their element in the midst of warm water and soap suds. They are not habitually dirty, and are never seen in the streets of Beechworth, Sandhurst, or Ballarat either unshaven or unwashed, but they are patterns of cleanliness in their appearance in the public streets. Many of them are fastidious about their head dress."

Rev. Joseph Kidger Tucker,, The Aborigines and the Chinese in Australia, Sydney, Joseph Cook & Co., 1868, p.33.

The Daily News, 22 October 1943, p.16, CHIN SOON

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 9 October 1946, p.5, CHINESE LADY BARBER

The Sun-Herald, 11 April 1954, p.26, Film Cast's Peril On Sea Bed

Torres News, 16 July 2008, p.13, Vale: Frances Celena Horobin (nee Chin Soon) 4/10/1926 - 10/5/2008

Chinese barber

Image Courtesy of: Australian Town and Country Journal, 2 August 1884, p.27,