WITH debate about Arthur Head’s future and its role in WA’s bicentenary commemorations centring around its European and Indigenous connections, it turns out an important Chinese connection might need to be thrown into the mix.

Researchers from a UWA research project into Chinese migration have spotted something that also caught the Chook’s eye; a clue that Fremantle’s first Chinese-born resident Chow Moon may have been the carpenter responsible for the woodwork on the 1831 Round House, WA’s oldest surviving public building.

Two Centuries of Chinese Heritage in WA project officer Lucy Hair said because early migrants (other than the English) were poorly documented in the colony, they hadn’t been able to nail down Moon’s involvement, but the little evidence they did have suggested it was “very likely” he contributed.

Moon had been a carpenter aboard the Emily Taylor, which arrived in Fremantle on March 29,1830 and was soon employed by the Colonial government to explore the South West coastline and deliver the first European settlers to Augusta. But the 12-gun cruiser shipwrecked at South Bay during a storm in May 1830 and Moon and his colleagues became stranded in port; it was to become his life-long home.

“He probably didn’t mean to end up here,” Ms Hair said.

“It was just because something happened with his ship and he decided to stay. He’s kind of like an accidental immigrant, which is fascinating.”

Moon next turns up in the record as an employee of Henry Reveley; half-brother to Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and the Swan River Colony’s first civil engineer, who was just polishing off his panopticon design for the Round House.

Timing

The timing is probably the strongest clue to Moon’s involvement in the historic gaol; he takes up the job in August 1830, precisely when work on the Round House begins.

“If you think of how many people were in the colony in 1830 it’s a pretty small subset, and so an even smaller subset of those would have had carpentry skills, so that’s why we believe it’s likely, but we haven’t found anything other than this evidence that confirms it,” she said.

Ms Hair said she hopes a diary or ledger might one day be discovered to solve the mystery once and for all.

“I think… it could be proven, but just given that we know there weren’t a lot of skills in the colony at that time with building skills, it seems entirely possible that his skills would have been known and he would have been sought after.”

Moon’s story is emblematic of UWA’s broader project: a multi-year initiative funded by the National Foundation for Australia China Relations, culminating in a digital archive and physical exhibition that tells the stories of thousands of individuals. 

At its heart is a biographical database now hosted on UWA Collected.

“This isn’t just about immigration patterns or policy,” Ms Hair says. 

“It’s about individual lives; where they came from, why they came. 

“It’s about reclaiming stories that were never properly told.”

Moon’s legacy continues to ripple through Fremantle. 

A recently opened restaurant, Moon and Mary, pays tribute to his name and his wife’s, while his death reportedly influenced local road laws.

Traffic fatality

Moon was killed after being struck by the horse-drawn mail van in Fremantle – the colony’s first traffic fatality. His death led to speed limits in the port city and the mandating of lighting on all horse-drawn vehicles.

“A Chinese man helped shape the infrastructure and legal framework of the city,” Ms Hair said.

“That’s a piece of history most people don’t know.”

One of the most challenging aspects of the research has been uncovering the roles of Chinese women. 

“There were very few Chinese wives who came out, and virtually no single Chinese women,” Ms Hair said. 

“Uncovering their roles, often across great distances, is one of the most fascinating parts of the research. 

“Family stories are often the only surviving evidence.”

The project doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths, correcting and informing the public on some very common misconceptions about Chinese immigrants on the Goldfields, as well as the obstacles they faced. 

“You can’t talk about the Chinese in Western Australia without talking about racist policies,” she said. 

“It’s just impossible.”

Despite these barriers, the exhibition celebrates stories of resilience. 

“They worked hard, looked after their families, and built lives here. That’s something I really admire.”

Community involvement has been central to the project’s success.

Descendants have come forward with fragments of memories, snippets of conversation, names recalled from old photographs, and stories passed down through generations. 

“Sometimes that tiny little bit of remembering that Auntie Whoever said someone worked in a restaurant is enough to connect the dots.”

The exhibition has recently launched at UWA’s Reid Library, which will be followed by a January showing at Council House in Perth.

The curators hope it will become a living archive, one that empowers Chinese Australians to reclaim their history and share that history with others.

“We’re proud of what we’ve done,” Ms Hair said.

“But there’s still so much more to uncover. This is just the beginning.”

by GEORGIA FELLOWES and STEVE GRANT