Sam and Opal’s story deeply resonated with me as I am also of Chinese heritage. My ancestors arrived on Bangka Island, Indonesia, in the early 19th Century. Like Sam, they also came from southern China, and like Sam, they had come to a new country because of mining – to work in the tin mines there. In both cases, they had to adapt to the changing circumstances and make the best of it. My ancestors moved up from mining to become book-keepers at the mine. Later, they bought a bit of land nearby and started a pepper plantation.

Not much was left of Sam and Opal’s settlement a hundred years on.

A hand-made mortar and pestle.

A few rusty tractor parts.

The odd slab of sandstone from their homestead.

However, it was enlightening to learn about this couple, and to know that their descendents still live in the district. It is people like Sam and Opal that make Australia what it is today.

We saw a memorial plaque dedicated to two pioneers of the region, Sam and Opal Ah Bow.

Sam came to Australia from Guangzhou to mine the gold fields, ending up as a cook at Lawn Hill Station. He was ‘given’ Opal, a local indigenous woman, by the station owner, Frank Hann. A marriage ensued. Chinese/Aboriginal marriages were common in the Outback as both races were discriminated against. However it wasn’t only love that compelled them to tie the knot. If they didn’t marry, their children would have been taken away by the local authorities to be part of the Stolen Generation.

Happily, that didn’t happen to this family. Sam and Opal settled at Louie Creek, had eight children, and cultivated the land into a successful market garden, saving many in the district from scurvy. Many Chinese families joined them, and Opal, a mid-wife, was also said to have delivered many babies at the settlement.