Pig Oven, Goulburn

In an interview with Matthew Higgins, Lionel Nomchong described pig ovens on his father’s market gardens in Goulburn. Lionel’s grandfather, Nam Cheong Ng, who arrived in Sydney from Canton c.1870, had general stores in Mongarlowe and Braidwood, including the well-known Nomchong Bros. general store. Lionel’s father, William Nomchong, moved to Goulburn where he had a 14-acre market garden on the Mulwaree River, run by his step-brother George Nomchong. In the interview, Lionel recalled more than one earthen oven four or five feet high, three or four feet wide outside the house. He described in detail how sucking pigs were processed and cooked in the ovens before being taken to the cemetery on a wooden platform where ceremonies would take place. Nomchong stated in the interview that the garden and its pig oven is now gone, the family having left the garden after World War II.

Lionel Nomchong interviewed by Matthew Higgins for the Canberra Region Oral History Project [sound recording], National Library of Australia, 1995, Tape 2, 10:12-14:05, accessed 14 September 2023, < https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/559729> In Juanita Kwok, A reassessment of Chinese pig ovens in Australia, Journal of Australasian Mining History, Vol. 21, October 2023, p.104.