State Library collections
Date Published
: Collections
: Australia
: Australia
: 1800 to 2025
All the State Libraries of Australia hold valuable collections, many of which date back to their 19th-century foundations. Their holdings include objects and photographs of relevance to Chinese Australian history, although these materials are often not well categorised. As a result, any search using “Chinese” will usually produce a mixed assortment of items. Even so, the collections are well worth exploring.
The National Library of Australia is the only institution with a dedicated portal specifically focused on Chinese–Australian history. All the state libraries—particularly those in NSW, Victoria and Queensland—would greatly benefit from developing similar portals given the depth and richness of their collections. Nevertheless, searching both their online catalogues and the substantial body of non-digitised material can yield highly interesting objects, documents, and images.
State Libraries - collection highlights include:
State Library of Queensland (SLQ)
Memorandum of Agreement for "Choo" (1850)
Chinese translation of the Gold Fields Regulations and Gold Fields Act of 1873
"Chinese on the Road to the Palmer" (1875)
Collections often includes much related to the Northern Territory which was a territory of South Australia until 1911.
Letter from Walter Butler to his mother, from Camp Beechworth, July 11, 1857. (Notes fighting between Chinese and Europeans.)
The Chinese question, or, Yellow agony by Robert Shapland, 1880
The Chinese question from a Chinaman's point of view by Way Lee, Y. S. W, 1907
State Library Western Australia
Extracts from the minutes of the Methodist Chinese School held in Murray Street mission premises, 1901-1905.
Lee family Papers, 1955-1974 [manuscript]
Chung Wah Association records, 1909-1934.
Ang's defence [still merely described as "manuscript in Chinese characters"]
What Happened to Riley
Gold Medal
State Library of Victoria (SLV)
Chinese encampment [art original] / Charles Lyall, 1854.
The Chinese question analyzed : with a full statement of facts / by One who knows them. 1857
[Illuminated address] To The Reverend Cheok Hong Cheong on behalf of our Fellow Countrymen in New South Wales [picture]
Chong, A. Henry Fine artist. 1900
Library & Archives Northern Territory
[Illustrated menu from Mr. and Mrs George Lim]. 1964
Northern Territory of South Australia, North-Western district : reports (geological and general) resulting from the explorations made by the Government Geologist and staff during 1905 - S2: Primitive Methods of Chinese Mining
WA
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TAS
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See also: National Library of Australia
