Nan Hunt interviewed by Juanita Kwok, 2015

Interview in three parts undertaken as research for PhD thesis (graduated 2019), The Chinese in Bathurst: Recovering Forgotten Histories.

Nan Hunt was interviewed on 5 May 2015 at her home in Bathurst. Nan was then 96 years old, born 1918. She died later in 2015.

Nan had no Chinese ancestry but her family had an orchard on the O’Connell Rd.
Nan was able to recall Chinese vegetable gardens on either side of the Great Western Highway as you enter Bathurst. She also recalled a Chinese man who led the other gardeners walking into town from gardens in Kelso. Nan referred to him as the “King Chinaman”. Her description of the “King Chinaman” matches the photograph of George Chew Ming, President of the Chinese Masonic Lodge in Bathurst.

Nan married Walter Hunt who owned the property “Penrose” in White Rock. Walter was the author of the essay “ The Chinese Invasion of the Bathurst District”. The Essay is contained within the - Development Brief for the Construction of Chinese Diggings at Bathurst Goldfields”, “ Hsin Chin Shan, The New Gold Mountain: The Chinese Miners in Bathurst”, Philip Shaw, 1998. The booklet is held in the collection of the Bathurst District Historical Museum Research Office.