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155-515: Sunnyside Sugar Plantation is the heritage-listed remains of a former sugar plantation at 94 Windermere Road, Windermere , Bundaberg Region , Queensland , Australia. It was built in c.  1880 s by South Sea Islander labour . It is also known as Dry-rubble Boundary Wall. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 13 May 1996. The former Sunnyside sugar plantation, which initially comprised 100 acres (40 hectares),

310-602: A cheap source of manpower. As a consequence, a large-scale trade of primarily Indian and Chinese indentured labourers began in the 1820s to fill this need. In 1838, 396 South Asian workers arrived in British Guiana, and such a stream of migrant labour would continue until the First World War . Other European nations, especially colonial powers such as France, Spain, and Portugal, soon followed suit, especially as Britain, through several treaties such as Strangford Treaty and

465-561: A dollar would be taken from coolies every month in order to pay off their debts. Workers from China were mainly transported to work in Peru and Cuba . However, many Chinese labourers worked in British colonies such as Singapore , New South Wales , Jamaica , British Guiana (now Guyana ), British Malaya , Trinidad and Tobago , British Honduras (now Belize ), as well as in the Dutch colonies within

620-484: A dry-rubble wall along Windermere Road. Initially the wall extended almost the full road frontage of Portion 85, but it has been reduced to about half this length (201 metres (659 ft)). The economy of Bundaberg was underpinned by the sugar industry from the early 1880s. During the late 19th century when South Sea Islanders were employed, it progressed from being the second largest sugar producing region in Queensland to

775-570: A general lack of immunity to a range of diseases to which Europeans had developed a partial immunity, such as measles, smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis, pneumonia, typhoid, dysentery and meningitis, proved fatal to both indigenous Australians and South Sea Islanders. He argued that the overall death rate of Pacific Islanders decreased from an average of 80 per 1000 (1879–87) to 35 per 1000 by 1893, suggesting that immunity built up over time. However, Islander deaths in Bundaberg appeared to be increasing. This

930-469: A group of Islanders was landed at Bowen , to be employed by pastoralists. By March 1868, 2107 Islanders had been brought to Queensland, employed in various capacities including agricultural and pastoral work, and as servants in the towns. They lived and worked anywhere from Mackay and Bowen, to the Wide Bay district and west to Roma . South Sea Islanders were generally employed on three-year contracts bound by

1085-533: A high marginal product of labor realized through the increasing number of enslaved people. Plantings of the Pará rubber tree ( Hevea brasiliensis ) are usually called plantations. Oil palm agriculture rapidly expands across wet tropical regions and is usually developed at a plantation scale. Fruit orchards are sometimes considered to be plantations. These include tobacco , sugarcane , pineapple , bell pepper , and cotton , especially in historical usage. Before

1240-545: A horse-drawn plough driven by a European, and dropping cane plants into the furrows. Similarly at harvest time, the Islanders would be involved in cutting and loading cane into horse-drawn drays driven by Europeans. Inspectors of Polynesians monitored the health and welfare of the Islanders. The first appointed to oversee Bundaberg and Maryborough in 1875 was also the sub-collector of customs. His 1877 replacement Charles Horrocks regularly inspected accommodation, clothing and weighed

1395-413: A labour force, and maintained better hygiene habits in comparison to Indian labourers, who were viewed as being lower in status and treated as children who required constant supervision. Unlike slavery, coolie labour was (in theory) under contract, consensual, paid, and temporary, with the coolie able to regain complete freedom after their term of service. Regulations were put in place as early as 1837 by

1550-508: A lack of natural regeneration. The tree species used in a plantation are also an important factor. Where non-native varieties or species are grown, few native faunas are adapted to exploit these, and further biodiversity loss occurs. However, even non-native tree species may serve as corridors for wildlife and act as a buffer for native forests, reducing edge effect . Once a plantation is established, managing it becomes an important environmental factor. The most critical aspect of management

1705-483: A lack of proper care for the sick. The first inspector to be specifically allocated to Bundaberg was William O'Connell in 1882. The death rate remained high amongst the Islander population. Statistics provided to Parliament in 1888 indicated there had been 40,861 Islanders brought to Queensland since 1868, with 23,700 returned to their islands and 7635 deaths, although it was noted that not all deaths had been reported. While

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1860-500: A million indentured labourers were present on the island. They worked on sugar estates, factories, in transport, and on construction sites. In 1837, the British East India Company issued a set of regulations for the trade. The rules provided for each labourer to be personally authorised for transportation by an officer designated by the company, limited the length of service to five years subject to voluntary renewal, made

2015-510: A much greater extent than their Indian counterparts, and consequently, there was a much higher level of Chinese emigration during this period. The trade flourished from 1847 to 1854 without incident, until reports began to surface of the mistreatment of the workers in Cuba and Peru. As the British government had political and legal responsibility for many of the ports involved – including Amoy – such ports were immediately closed. Despite these closures,

2170-507: A natural forest is cleared for a planted forest, then a reduction in biodiversity and loss of habitat will likely result. In some cases, their establishment may involve draining wetlands to replace mixed hardwoods that formerly predominated with pine species. If a plantation is established on abandoned agricultural land or highly degraded land, it can increase both habitat and biodiversity. A planted forest can be profitably established on lands that will not support agriculture or suffer from

2325-533: A new juice mill on site in 1906, making the small private juice mills obsolete. Millaquin then acquired numerous other plantations in the early 1900s. Sunnyside sold its cane to Windermere in 1911, and then Millaquin acquired both Windermere and The Hummock by 1912. Changes in Sunnyside's ownership occurred in the early 20th century. Edward Turner died in April 1910, having been thrown from his horse at Maroondan. His property

2480-431: A number of large house sites excised along Windermere Road including Lot 5 on RP 179915 in 1981; Lot 7 on RP 893076 in 1995; and Lot 8 on RP 825941 in 1997. The two mature fig trees on the property were likely to have been planted toward the end of the period that Islanders worked there and were used to mark the entrance to the house (original house no longer extant). Weeping fig trees ( Ficus benjamina ) are not native to

2635-541: A number of sugar plantations and numerous business interests in the region, including a store in town that became Buss and Turner in 1886 after James Edwin Turner (no relation to Edward Turner) from Sydney joined the firm. Edward Turner's juice mill was operational by 1884, when cane was crushed and the juice piped 3 miles (4.8 km) to the Millaquin Refinery (established 1881) for treatment. Juice mills were commonplace in

2790-416: A raised, linear ground feature believed to be part of a roadway-also known as a headland-dating from the sugar plantation era. The former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 13 May 1996 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The dry-rubble boundary wall and burial site on

2945-404: A severe minority, their morality was questioned and the actions of men as a result of having so few women was blamed on the women. Between 1858 and 1859, laws were put into place stating that the ratio of men to women could not exceed 2:1, whereas before it was 3:1. However, there continued to be a severe shortage of women. This gave women a new sense of power when it came to choosing a partner. With

3100-422: A small company which set up a rum distillery in 1888 which helped the industry through these hard times. Edward Turner's evidence to the commission indicated that he owned 250 acres (100 ha) in total, 110 (44.5ha) of which were under sugar cultivation, and a further 20 (8ha) cultivated for other purposes. He employed seven Europeans and 45 Islanders. His total wage bill for 1888 was £588 to Europeans and £1420 to

3255-581: A stonemason for Robert Cran at his plantation Yengarie , west of Maryborough. Turner purchased a town allotment in Churchill Street, Maryborough, in 1867 which he sold in mid 1874. He then selected 100 acres (40 ha) in the Woongarra Scrub to the east of Bundaberg in June 1874. His selection, Portion 85, comprised 60 acres (24 ha) of agricultural land and 40 (16ha) of second class pastoral. He lived on

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3410-587: A term of service. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act barred the entry of any Chinese labourer to the U.S. Despite attempts to restrict the influx of cheap labour from China, beginning in the 1870s Chinese workers helped construct a vast network of levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta . These levees made thousands of acres of fertile marshlands available for agricultural production. Although Chinese workers contributed to

3565-552: A tool of environmental restoration . Sugar plantations were highly valued in the Caribbean by the British and French colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the use of sugar in Europe rose during this period. Sugarcane is still an important crop in Cuba. Sugar plantations also arose in countries such as Barbados and Cuba because of the natural endowments that they had. These natural endowments included soil conducive to growing sugar and

3720-599: A total of up to half a million Chinese workers had been exported. However, by 1890, there were still newspaper reports of coolie labour being used in Madagascar. The term coolie was also applied to Chinese workers recruited for contracts on cacao plantations in German Samoa . German planters went to great lengths to secure access to their coolie labour supply from China. In 1908, a Chinese commissioner, Lin Shu Fen, reported on

3875-485: A transition between slaves and free labour. They were neither free nor slaves. Indentured Chinese servants also laboured in the sugarcane fields of Cuba well after the 1884 abolition of slavery in the country. Two scholars of Chinese labour in Cuba, Juan Pastrana and Juan Pérez de la Riva , substantiated horrific conditions of Chinese coolies in Cuba and stated that coolies were slaves in all but name. Researcher Denise Helly believes that despite their slave-like treatment,

4030-515: A treaty with the United Kingdom on the recruitment of contract workers in 1870. In Mauritius, the Indian population is now demographically dominant, with Indian festivals being celebrated as national holidays . This system prevailed until the early twentieth century. Increasing focus on the brutalities and abuses of the trade by the sensationalist media of the time incited public outrage and led to

4185-527: A variety of negative implications. In modern-day English, it is usually regarded as offensive. In India, its country of origin, it is considered a derogatory slur. In many respects it is similar to the Spanish term peón , although both terms are used in some countries with different implications. In the 21st century, coolie is generally considered a racial slur for Asians in Oceania , Africa, Southeast Asia, and

4340-486: A way that they became dependent on the plantation owners so that in practice they remained there long after their contracts expired; possibly as little as 10% of the coolies actually returned to their original country of origin. Colonial legislation was also passed to severely limit their freedoms; in Mauritius, a compulsory pass system was instituted to enable their movements to be easily tracked. Conditions were much worse in

4495-501: Is a form of human slavery, and is forever prohibited in this State, and all contracts for coolie labour shall be void." In 1938, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the term in one of his fireside chats (Number 13, 24 July 1938) while telling a story about "two Chinese coolies" arguing in a crowd. In South America, Chinese indentured labourers worked in Peru's silver mines and coastal industries (i.e., guano , sugar, and cotton) from

4650-419: Is constructed of local surface volcanic rock, colloquially known as blue metal, collected when the land was being cleared for sugar cultivation in the 1880s. Some of the rocks show signs of spalling prior to removal from the fields. The wall is composed of larger rocks on the outside with smaller rocks piled into the cavity and used to fill the gaps between the larger ones. This process has been repeated upwards in

4805-633: Is preferable to life on a par with the Chinese." In 1868, the Burlingame Treaty would ensure certain protections for Chinese immigrants in the U.S. and emphasise that any Chinese immigration to the U.S. must be free and voluntary, reaffirming that "coolies", being unfree, were unwelcome and prohibited from entering the U.S. In 1875, Congress passed the Page Act , which prohibited the bringing of any Chinese subjects without their consent in order to hold them for

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4960-621: Is set to release in 2025. It is generally understood that the term comes from the Hindi and Telugu word kulī ( कुली ), (కూలి) , meaning "day-labourer", which is probably associated with the Urdu word quli ( قلی ), meaning "slave". The Urdu word is thought to come from the Tamil word kulī ("hire" or "hireling"). The word kūli , meaning "wages", is present throughout the Dravidian language family, with

5115-532: Is situated on Windermere Road, to the east of Bundaberg . The property was established by Edward Turner in 1875, and used to grow sugar from the early 1880s, in which work South Sea Islanders were employed until the turn of the century. In 1884 Turner established a juice mill on the property, piping his cane juice to the Millaquin refinery. Remnants of the sugar plantation era include two weeping fig trees ( Ficus benjamina ), an area of 29 burials in three rows, as well as

5270-420: Is the rotation period. Plantations harvested on more extended rotation periods (30 years or more) can provide similar benefits to a naturally regenerated forest managed for wood production on a similar rotation. This is especially true if native species are used. In the case of exotic species, the habitat can be improved significantly if the impact is mitigated by measures such as leaving blocks of native species in

5425-627: The American Civil War . The mild temperate climate , plentiful rainfall, and fertile soils of the Southeastern United States allowed the flourishing of large plantations, where large numbers of enslaved Africans were held captive and forced to produce crops to create wealth for a white elite . When Newfoundland was colonized by England in 1610, the original colonists were called "planters", and their fishing rooms were known as "fishing plantations". These terms were used well into

5580-646: The Atlantic slave trade and slavery itself, which for centuries had served as the preferred mode of labour in European colonies in the Americas . The British were the first to experiment with coolie labour when, in 1806, two hundred Chinese labourers were transported to the colony of Trinidad to work on the plantations there. The "Trinidad experiment" was not a success, with only twenty to thirty labourers remaining in Trinidad by

5735-581: The Atlantic slave trade . Mortality was very high; it is estimated that from 1847 to 1859, the average mortality rate for coolies aboard ships to Cuba was 15.2%, and losses among ships to Peru were as high as 40% in the 1850s, and 30.44% from 1860 to 1863. Coolies were sold and taken to work in plantations or mines with very bad living and working conditions. The duration of a contract was typically five to eight years, but many coolies did not live out their term of service due to hard labour and mistreatment. Survivors were often forced to remain in servitude beyond

5890-623: The British authorities in India to safeguard these principles of voluntary, contractual work and safe, sanitary transportation. The Chinese government also made efforts to secure the well-being of their nation's workers, with representatives being sent to relevant governments around the world. Some Western abolitionists saw coolie labour as paving the way towards abolition , to gradually and peacefully replace African slave labour without loss of profit. However, other abolitionist groups and individuals – such as

6045-634: The Chinese Engineering and Mining Company was instrumental in supplying Chinese coolie labour to South African mines at the request of mine owners, who considered such labour cheaper than native African and white labour. The horrendous conditions suffered by Indian coolie labourers in South Africa led some politicians in the British Parliament to question the coolie system. In 1866, the British, French and Chinese governments agreed to mitigate

6200-521: The Dutch East Indies and Suriname . The first shipment of Chinese labourers was to the British colony of Trinidad in 1806 "in an attempt to establish a settlement of free peasant cultivators and labourers". On many of the voyages, the labourers were transported on the same vessels that had been used to transport African slaves in previous years. The coolie slave trade run by American captains and local agents, mainly consisting of debt slavery ,

6355-560: The Opium Wars , as well as the resulting political and economic instability, to broker deals for "contracted" workers. Anglophone capitalists referred to the opium trade and captive Chinese labour as "poison and pigs". Portuguese Macao was the center of coolie slavery: it was described as "the only real business" in Macao from 1848 to 1873, generating enormous profits for the Portuguese until it

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6510-540: The Southern United States from the 17th into the 20th century. The complex included everything from the main residence down to the pens for livestock . Until the abolition of slavery , such plantations were generally self-sufficient settlements that relied on the forced labor of enslaved people. Plantations are an important aspect of the history of the Southern United States , particularly before

6665-510: The Treaty of Paris of 1814 , also pressured other nations to abolish their involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. In most European colonies, the importation of Asian labourers began in earnest after the abolition of slavery. However, in some colonies, such as Cuba , slavery would not end until 1886, about forty years after coolies were introduced. A number of contemporary and modern historians noted

6820-493: The company store . In Brazil, a sugarcane plantation was termed an engenho ("engine"), and the 17th-century English usage for organized colonial production was "factory." Such colonial social and economic structures are discussed at Plantation economy . Sugar workers on plantations in Cuba and elsewhere in the Caribbean lived in company towns known as bateyes . Plantation complexes were common on agricultural plantations in

6975-720: The 1820s. However, such efforts inspired Sir John Gladstone , one of the earliest proponents of coolie labour, to seek out coolies for his sugar plantations in British Guiana in the hopes of replacing his Afro-Caribbean labour force after the abolition of slavery there in 1833 . Social and political pressure led to the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833, with other European nations eventually following suit. Labour-intensive work in European colonies, such as those involving plantations and mines, were left without

7130-458: The 1866 reforms, the scale of abuse and conditions of near slavery did not get any better – if anything they deteriorated. In the early 1870s, an increased media exposure of the trade led to a public outcry, and the British, as well as the Chinese government, put pressure on the Portuguese colonial authorities in Macau to bring the trade there to an end; this was ultimately achieved in 1874. By that time,

7285-538: The 20th century. The following three plantations are maintained by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador as provincial heritage sites: Other fishing plantations: [REDACTED] Media related to Plantations at Wikimedia Commons Coolie Coolie (also spelled koelie , kouli , khuli , khulie , kuli , cooli , cooly , or quli ) is a pejorative term used for low-wage labourers , typically those of Indian or Chinese descent. The word coolie

7440-570: The Americas; particularly in the Caribbean . The word originated in the 17th-century Indian subcontinent and meant "day labourer"; starting in the 20th century, the word was used in British Raj India to refer to porters at railway stations. The term differs from the word " Dougla ", which refers to people of mixed African and Indian ancestry. Coolie is instead used to refer to people of fully-blooded Indian descent whose ancestors migrated to

7595-454: The Asian population was soon a major component of the island demographic. Starting in 1879, many Indians were transported to Fiji to work on the sugarcane plantations. Many of them chose to stay after their term of indenture elapsed, and today their descendants account for about 40% of the total population. Indian workers were also imported into the Dutch colony of Surinam after the Dutch signed

7750-518: The British Anti-Slavery Society and the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society , along with American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison – were highly critical of coolie labour. Proslavery advocates, particularly in the Southern United States , condemned coolie labour but used it to argue against the abolition of American slavery , claiming the latter was more "humane" than the former. In practice, however, as many opponents of

7905-463: The British authorities to regulate and mitigate the worst abuses. Workers were regularly checked up on by health inspectors , and they were vetted before transportation to ensure that they were suitably healthy and fit to be able to endure the rigours of labour. Children under the age of 15 were not allowed to be transported from their parents under any circumstances. The first campaign in England against

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8060-765: The British former colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. This is particularly so in South Africa , Eastern African countries, Trinidad and Tobago , Guyana , Suriname , Jamaica , other parts of the Caribbean , Mauritius , Fiji , and the Malay Peninsula . In modern Indian popular culture, coolies have often been portrayed as working-class heroes or anti-heroes. Indian films celebrating coolies include Deewaar (1975), Coolie (1983), and several films titled Coolie No. 1 (released in 1991 , 1995 , and 2020 ). A new Tamil movie titled Coolie starring Rajinikanth

8215-599: The Bundaberg district, including one associated with the former Mon Repos sugar plantation and entered in the Queensland Heritage Register (the South Sea Islander Wall ). Edward Turner was a stonemason and it is probable that he directed construction of the wall at Sunnyside. The creation of dry-stone boundary walls was commonplace in England where many of Queensland's settlers originated. Islanders were also employed in planting cane, by following behind

8370-710: The Bundaberg region and were known to have been introduced as street trees in Bourbong Street in 1891 ( Bourbong Street Weeping Figs ). It is also known that local bank manager, member of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society and trustee of the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens , William Fullerton, was cultivating them for distribution around the town in 1897. It is likely the two fig trees growing at Sunnyside today were planted after this time. The Bundaberg and District South Sea Islanders Action Group

8525-722: The Cane Growers Union formed in 1908. Ben Courtice was later Chairman of the Cane Growers Association. Cattermull died in 1935 and the mortgage over the plantation was transferred to his executors. Another of the Courtice brothers, Fred , was a Labor Party member of the Queensland Legislative Council and became Chairman of the Woongarra Shire in the 1940s. Ben Courtice became a Senator in 1937 and

8680-477: The Chinese coolies who arrived in Peru between 1849 and 1874 died within the contract period. In 1860, it was calculated that of the 4,000 coolies brought to the Chinchas since the trade began, not one had survived. Because of these unbearable conditions, Chinese coolies often revolted against their Ko-Hung bosses and foreign company bosses at ports of departure, on ships, and in foreign lands. The coolies were put in

8835-526: The French colonies of Réunion, Guadeloupe, and Martinique, where workers were 'systematically overworked' and abnormally high mortality rates were recorded for those working in the mines. Generally, Indian coolies were noted to have higher mortality rates as a whole, and were less likely to be able to return home. Companies would often promise good food, durable clothing, adequate housing, safe passage, and schools. However, these promises were rarely kept, leading to

8990-666: The Grenadines , Grenada , Saint Kitts and Nevis , British Honduras , Barbados , the rest of the British West Indies , and British Malaya . The Dutch shipped workers to labour on the plantations on Surinam , the Netherlands Antilles , and the Dutch East Indies . The French shipped labourers to Guadeloupe , Martinique , French Guiana , the rest of the French West Indies , and Réunion . A system of agents

9145-413: The Islander named Tong, who brought the charge to the court, was cancelled. Tong said he had never received good food from Turner in the five years he had worked there, but that this was the first time he had complained to Caulfield. Turner had remarried a widow, Sarah Barney, who brought five children to the marriage. It was Sarah's responsibility to provide food, although Edward was held accountable. Turner

9300-610: The Islanders from unscrupulous recruiters and employers including the Kidnapping Act of 1872 and the Pacific Islanders Labourers Act 1875. Following a Select Committee enquiry into Polynesian Labour, further amendments were initiated in 1877 and 1878 but not legislated. Then in December 1880 new Premier Thomas McIlwraith rescinded the 1868 Act, introducing a new Pacific Islander Labourers Act 1880 which set limitations on

9455-566: The Islanders, which indicates an annual income of £84 for a European and £31.10/- for an Islander. At that time he considered he could not successfully run the plantation without South Sea Islander labour. By the end of 1891 it was evident that the prohibition of Islander labour would lead to the collapse of the sugar industry. New legislation was enacted in April 1892, stipulating conditions of employment for Islanders. It has been argued in Raymond Evans' "History of Queensland" (2007) that following

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9610-633: The Masters and Servants Act 1861. By 1868, there were reports that the recruitment of South Sea Islanders had devolved into kidnapping (a practice known as blackbirding ). In response the Polynesian Labourers Act 1868, was enacted to regulate recruitment. Under the Act, the Islanders were required to sign a contract for up to three years, on a minimum wage of £6 per year plus rations and a trip home after three years. Deaths and desertions were to be reported to

9765-485: The Sunnyside property, including the juice mill site was transferred into the ownership of Edward Turner's eldest son Herbert Turner and son-in-law Henry Cattermull. They had phased out Islander labour on the property by then. In February 1902, Herbert married Annie Thomas, the daughter of William Thomas, the engineer who designed and managed the Millaquin Mill. They built a house on The Hummock property, Portion 107, which

9920-507: The Windermere Road property boundary (to centreline of trunks) in the north-west corner of the allotment, and were planted in front of the early house on the property (removed in 1957). The heritage boundary part taking in these trees is set off from the outermost edge of the tree canopies of the trees by two metres. All other features and structures within this area are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance, including fencing,

10075-456: The abuse by requiring all traders to pay for the return of all workers after their contract ended. The employers in the British West Indies declined these conditions, bringing the trade there to an end. Until the trade was finally abolished in 1875, over 150,000 coolies had been sold to Cuba alone, the majority having been shipped from Macau. These labourers endured conditions far worse than those experienced by their Indian counterparts. Even after

10230-404: The age of recruits, their living conditions, medical service and ration provisions. Islanders could only be employed in tropical or semi-tropical agriculture, including the cultivation of sugar cane, cotton, tea, coffee, rice and spices. South Sea Islanders working in Bundaberg had initially arrived through Maryborough. The first direct shipment into the Port of Bundaberg occurred in May 1879, by

10385-441: The area with 24 established between 1882 and 1884, including at Ashgrove, Avoca , Fairymead, Glenmorris, Grange , Kepnock , Mabbro, Summerville, Windermere, and Woodbine by October 1883. Hummock, Oakwood, and Spring Hill mills were established in 1883 and Seaview, Mon Repos, and Sunnyside and Woodlands in 1884. Sunnyside's juice mill site (Sub 1), was transferred to Edward Turner's sole ownership in March 1888. In order to ensure

10540-425: The authorities when the scale of the abuses became known, but it was soon renewed due to its growing economic importance. A more rigorous regulatory framework was put into place and severe penalties were imposed for infractions in 1842. In that year, almost 35,000 people were shipped to Mauritius. In 1844, the trade was expanded to the colonies in the West Indies , including Jamaica, Trinidad, and Demerara , where

10695-413: The beginning of the end of slavery; in September of that year, Lincoln would also issue the Emancipation Proclamation . In another aspect, it was the beginning of Chinese exclusion in the U.S. and the beginning of federal immigration restriction. Within a decade, significant levels of anti-Chinese sentiment had built up, stoked by populists such as Denis Kearney with racist slogans – "To an American, death

10850-403: The building of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States and of the Canadian Pacific Railway in western Canada, Chinese settlement was discouraged after completion of the construction. State legislation, such as California's Foreign Miners' Tax Act of 1850 and 1852, would target Chinese immigrants in the U.S. The 1879 Constitution of California declared that "Asiatic coolieism

11005-427: The cane in protest. The Capricornian newspaper described the events as a "Kanaka strike". The Inspector came to Sunnyside and after interviewing others on the farm agreed they had not been given enough food. Caulfield referred to an earlier case dating from 1890 where it was proved Edward Turner supplied insufficient food. Turner was charged with breaching the Masters and Servants Act, and was fined. The agreement with

11160-413: The commercial production of timber or tree products such as palm oil , coffee , or rubber . Teak and bamboo plantations in India have given good results and an alternative crop solution to farmers of central India, where conventional farming was widespread. But due to the rising input costs of agriculture, many farmers have done teak and bamboo plantations, which require very little water (only during

11315-727: The conditions of his selection under the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1868 and in 1881 he applied to purchase the property, and a deed of grant was issued. Turner used South Sea Islander labour, as did most farmers in the district. The use of South Sea Islander labour had been pioneered in Australia in the 1840s by Benjamin Boyd in the New South Wales (NSW) Riverina District, employing them as shepherds in lieu of convict labour . The procurement of South Sea Islander labour to Queensland

11470-667: The contracted period. The 1860 Reglamento para la introducción de trabajadores chinos a la isla de Cuba (Regulation for the Introduction of Chinese Workers to the Island of Cuba) passed in Cuba. This regulation stipulated that the Coolie workers must recontract with their previous employer or another employer or they must leave Cuba at their own expense within 2 months after the end of their contract. Coolies were usually unable to afford to leave Cuba and were forced to recontract. This regulation blurred

11625-637: The contractor responsible for returning the worker after the contract elapsed, and required the vessels to conform to basic health standards . Despite this, conditions on the ships were often extremely crowded, with rampant disease and malnutrition . Coolies were also not informed about the length of the trip or about the island that they would be going to. The workers were paid a pittance for their labour, and were expected to work in often awful and harsh conditions. Although there were no large-scale scandals involving coolie abuse in British colonies, workers often ended up being forced to work, and manipulated in such

11780-535: The coolie trade likened the system of indentured labour to the slavery of the past. The campaign against coolie emigration was led by Joseph Sturge , with the Society of Friends. Petitions from Sturge, the Society of Friends, various other humanitarian groups, and from citizens of entire cities were routinely sent to the Colonial Offices. In response to this pressure, the labour export was temporarily stopped in 1839 by

11935-467: The cruel treatment of coolie workers on German plantations in the western Samoan Islands. The trade began largely after the establishment of colonial German Samoa in 1900 and lasted until the arrival of New Zealand forces in 1914. More than 2,000 Chinese coolies were present in the islands in 1914 and most were eventually repatriated by the New Zealand administration. Debates over coolie labour and slavery

12090-409: The current listing; it was ultimately successful despite a hostile initial report by the relevant Department that had recommended listing only the trees. The former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation, now known simply as Sunnyside, comprises about 40.4 hectares of arable land, with some fenced areas for horses and cattle and an area comprising a house, gardens and various sheds . The dry-rubble wall runs along

12245-547: The distinction between indentured servitude and slavery. It allowed for the Coolies to serve as a source of semi-captive labour given the intentional difficulty of returning home. The coolies who worked on the sugar plantations in Cuba and in the guano beds of the Chincha Islands ('the islands of Hell') of Peru were treated brutally. 75% of the Chinese coolies in Cuba died before fulfilling their contracts. More than two-thirds of

12400-530: The earliest examples of plantations were the latifundia of the Roman Empire , which produced large quantities of grain, wine, and olive oil for export. Plantation agriculture proliferated with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonialism . Tree plantations, in the United States often called tree farms , are established for

12555-616: The early 1850s to the mid-1870s; about 100,000 people immigrated as indentured workers. They participated in the War of the Pacific , looting and burning down the haciendas where they worked after the capture of Lima by the invading Chilean army in January 1880. Some 2,000 coolies even joined the Chilean Army in Peru, taking care of the wounded and burying the dead. Others were sent by Chileans to work in

12710-444: The end of South Sea Islander recruitment from 31 March 1904 and deportation of all Islanders by 31 December 1906. However, there were exemptions for those who had arrived prior to 1879; who had married women not of their race; whose children were being educated in state schools; and those who possessed freehold land or who were fearful of their lives if returned to their former homes. The Sugar Labour Commission, established to report on

12865-675: The exception of the North Dravidian branch. It is also thought that the Hindi word qulī could have originated from the name of a Gujarati aboriginal tribe or caste. The Chinese word kǔlì ( 苦力 ) is an instance of phono-semantic matching that literally translates to "bitter strength" but is more commonly understood as "hard labour". In 1727, Engelbert Kämpfer described coolies as dock labourers who would unload Dutch merchant ships at Nagasaki in Japan. Merriam-Webster classifies

13020-522: The fig trees and graves after a long campaign by the Action Group in conjunction with the current owner, former federal MP Brian Courtice , a staunch advocate of recognising the abuses that occurred at Sunnyside and the graves of those who had died as a result. Ground penetrating radar was used on the site, finding 29 graves. The discovery spurred the Heritage Council to accede to the campaign and grant

13175-405: The first in the region to successfully establish a co-operative mill in 1896. Bundaberg was the second largest sugar producing region in Queensland between 1880 and 1900 when Islanders were employed. It produced 5797 tons (5890 tonnes) to Mackay's 12,023 tons (12,215 tonnes) in 1884. While all centres continually improved their output during the late 19th century, Bundaberg's output gradually closed

13330-464: The first two years). Teak and bamboo have legal protection from theft. Bamboo, once planted, gives output for 50 years till flowering occurs. Teak requires 20 years to grow to full maturity and fetch returns. These may be established for watershed or soil protection. They are established for erosion control, landslide stabilization, and windbreaks. Such plantations are established to foster native species and promote forest regeneration on degraded lands as

13485-469: The food rations for the Islanders. Instances of large numbers of Islanders dying on individual farms were investigated, with one of the worst examples being those employed by Robert Cran at his Maryborough plantations of Yerra Yerra, Yengari and Ilawarra. Seven deaths occurred at Yerra Yerra in 1878 due to dysentery from contaminated water. Again in 1880 a high mortality rate led to a medical investigation which blamed poor food, long working hours, bad water, and

13640-410: The former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation survive as important evidence of the enormous contribution made by South Sea Islanders to the establishment of a viable sugar industry in Queensland. In particular, they remain as testament to their contribution to the development of the sugar industry in the Bundaberg region, one of the major sugar districts in the state. The wall is also important physical evidence of

13795-503: The free and legal status of the Asian labourers in Cuba separated them from slaves. According to Rodriguez Pastor and Trazegnies Granda, the coolies could challenge their superiors, run away, petition government officials, and rebel. By 1870, labour contractors called enganchadores were used to manage and negotiate the contracts for Chinese Coolies in organised labour squads called Cuadrillas. “The enganchador negotiated all terms of work for his squad and handled all aspects of employment for

13950-618: The gap with Mackay. In 1893 Bundaberg produced 23,423 tons (23,798 tonnes) to Mackay's 24,872 (25,271 tonnes). By 1900, some sugar produced in Childers , Maryborough and Tiaro was processed in Bundaberg, and their production statistics were then included with Bundaberg, skewing the statistics in Bundaberg's favour. In 1900, 59,076 tons (60,023 tonnes) were produced, compared with 17,521 (17,802 tonnes) in Mackay. By that time Ingham had out-produced Mackay with 20,222 tons (20,546 tonnes). During 1901-1902

14105-733: The general health and welfare of South Sea Islanders in Bundaberg included an Islanders' hospital, designed by the Government Architect and built at a cost of £512 in 1893. The provision of a hospital had been referred to in the Pacific Islanders Immigration Act 1892, although it was not mandatory. Christian guidance was provided by Florence Young of Fairymead Plantation who started the Queensland Kanaka Mission in 1886, as an evangelical and non-denominational church ( South Sea Islander Church ). The Anglican Church

14260-583: The great majority of them carried men. This led to a high rate of Chinese men marrying women of other ethnicities, such as Indian women and mixed-race Creole women. The contrast in the female-to-male ratio between Indian and Chinese immigrants has been compared by historians. In Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies, just 18,731 Chinese women and 92,985 Chinese men served as coolies on plantations. Chinese women migrated less than Javanese and Indian women as indentured coolies. The number of Chinese women as coolies

14415-496: The higher mortality rate and image of Indian coolies being "dirty". The voyage itself was often a highly dangerous venture, especially for coolie women. Though some ships had made attempts to prevent assault, rape, and general mistreatment in sailor contracts, these crimes were still common. Even with punishments in place, on ship and land, men who assaulted women and children were rarely punished, leaving women in an even more vulnerable position. However, there were also attempts by

14570-439: The house (a nineteenth century house relocated to the property in 1957) and its garden, the grave of Sidney Thomas Courtice and its marker, and a recent metal shed to the west of the house. The site of 29 South Sea Islander labourer burials mapped by Bundaberg Regional Council in 2012 is located about 50 metres (160 ft) to the south-east of the fig trees. The burials were mapped in three rows aligned approximately parallel to

14725-528: The industry which underpinned the prosperity of Bundaberg, with the first of many sugar mills there established by Richard Palmer in 1872. Edward Turner, his wife Janet and daughter Pauline arrived in Hervey Bay aboard the "Sultana" in 1866. A native of Oswestry , Shropshire , England and a stonemason/bricklayer by trade, Turner reputedly first went prospecting on the Palmer River goldfields. He then worked as

14880-593: The influence of the old form of colonial slavery on the coolie system. The coolie trade, much like the slave trade, was intended to provide a labour force for colonial plantations in the Americas and the Pacific whose cash crops were in high demand across the Atlantic World . Coolies frequently worked on slave plantations which had been previously worked by enslaved Africans, and similarly brutal treatment could be meted out by plantation overseers in response to real or perceived offences. On some Caribbean plantations,

15035-870: The introduction of South Sea Island labourers to Queensland. Robert Towns' first group of 67 South Sea Islanders arrived in Brisbane on the "Don Juan" on 14 August 1863. They went to work on his cotton plantation Townsvale (later Veresdale ) on the Logan River , where Towns hoped to capitalise on declining cotton production in America during the Civil War . Captain Claudius Whish used Islanders on his Oaklands Sugar Mill near Caboolture as did Captain Louis Hope on his Ormiston sugar plantation at Ormiston , near Cleveland . In 1865

15190-539: The issue of recruitment licences for Islanders after 31 December 1890. The Crown Lands Act 1884 in tandem with the Sugar Works Guarantee Act 1884 moved to establish small family-run farms underpinned by the opening up of former crown land and leases. Interim measures to compensate for the loss of cheaper Islander labour included the commencement of the government-supported, co-operatively- owned central mill system and some government-owned mills. The first of these

15345-433: The lands made available under the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1860 and the 1865 Coffee and Sugar Regulations. By 1868 the district surveyor John Thompson was instructed to mark out a town on the south bank of the river. This was completed by 1869 and the town was declared a port of entry in June 1871. The port serviced the copper mines of Mount Perry , although in competition with the nearby port of Maryborough . Sugar became

15500-586: The large plantations such as Fairymead, of 1,252 acres (507 ha) and Bingera of 1,150 acres (470 ha) which had large mills. The type of work undertaken by the South Sea Islanders on the property and their conditions were summarised by the eldest son Herbert Turner in his 1955 publication: "Rural Life in Sunny Queensland". He indicated that a property of approximately 150 acres with a juice mill required about 45 Islanders. The first duty of an owner

15655-504: The largest by 1900. The employment of Islanders was always controversial; a raft of legislation being introduced to protect their welfare in response to incidents of exploitation, and then to phase out their employment in favour of the use of white labour. The township of Bundaberg was established on the banks of the Burnett River . Timbergetters came through the area in the 1860s and were later followed by sugar planters taking advantage of

15810-447: The last part of the nineteenth century alone, there were 24 famines. Without permission from the British colonial authorities , the French transported Indian workers to their Pacific colony, Réunion, from as early as 1826. By 1830, over 3,000 labourers had been transported. After this trade was discovered, the French successfully negotiated with the British in 1860 for permission to transport over 6,000 workers annually, on condition that

15965-420: The layers. There is no mortar used in the construction. Two mature weeping fig trees (Ficus benjamina) are also located on the property to the south-west of the wall. Planted approximately 22 metres (72 ft) apart, they have trunks of about 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in diameter and their height is estimated at 17 metres (56 ft) in 2012. They are set back approximately 110 metres (360 ft) from

16120-677: The location of 29 possible graves to the south-east of the two mature fig trees. Deaths in the Turner family over this period have been attributed to typhoid , reputedly from drinking contaminated water from the well. Eldest daughter Pauline Fielding died in November 1889, followed by fourteen year old Isabella in December. Then their mother Janet Turner died in January 1890. It is likely that some Islanders on Sunnyside may also have succumbed to typhoid at this time. A further family death occurred in October 1894, when Edward's 19-year-old son Clarence drowned in

16275-484: The location of their burials is not known. It was commonplace to bury Islanders on the sugar plantations on which they worked. Over 600 Islanders were also buried in the Bundaberg general cemetery, the earliest recorded in 1879. Oral tradition states that a number of Islanders who worked on Sunnyside were buried on the property. Investigations undertaken by the Bundaberg Regional Council in 2012-13 indicated

16430-400: The lot boundaries. The northernmost row comprised 13 ground anomalies interpreted as burials. That to the south comprised 10 burials while that south again, 6 burials. A number of trees and post-and-rail fences stand within the area of the heritage boundary part that takes in these burials. These features are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance. Also identified in this area was

16585-539: The low wages typically paid to plantation workers are the basis of plantation profitability in some areas. In more recent times, overt slavery has been replaced by para-slavery or slavery-in-kind , including the sharecropping system , and even that has been severely reduced. At its most extreme, workers are in " debt bondage ": they must work to pay off a debt at such punitive interest rates that it may never be paid off. Others work unreasonably long hours and are paid subsistence wages that (in practice) may only be spent in

16740-412: The manual nature of this contribution, for without the availability of indentured labour, Woongarra Scrub farmers could not have converted their lands to an activity as initially labour-intensive as sugar growing. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. The boundary wall, which is approximately 200 metres (660 ft) in length, survives as one of

16895-451: The more intact examples of its type in the Bundaberg district, which around the turn of the century was chequered with such structures. In this sense it is rare. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history. The dry-rubble wall and burial site on the former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation are significant for their potential to contribute to further study and better understanding of

17050-403: The nearest magistrate. In 1870 government agents were appointed to sail with the recruiting vessels to supervise the conditions of appointment. During the 1870s and 1880s there was ongoing public criticism and political debate about the use of Islander labour. The number of recruitments increased from 1539 in 1868 to 10,057 by 30 June 1884. A number of Acts of Parliament were introduced to protect

17205-632: The newly conquered nitrate fields . By the 1820s, many Indians were voluntarily enlisting to go abroad for work, in the hopes of a better life. European merchants and businessmen quickly took advantage of this and began recruiting them for work as a cheap source of labour. British merchants began transporting Indians to colonies around the world, including Mauritius , Fiji , New South Wales , Natal , Kenya , Tanganyika , Somaliland , Bechuanaland , Seychelles , Uganda , Northern Rhodesia , Southern Rhodesia , Nyasaland , British Guiana , Trinidad and Tobago , Jamaica , Saint Lucia , Saint Vincent and

17360-410: The north-eastern boundary with Windermere Road, while the two mature fig trees stand about 100 metres (330 ft) to the south of the road in the north-west corner of 9/SP155824, and the burials site about 50 metres (160 ft) to the south-east of them. The dry-rubble wall extends for about 201 metres (659 ft) along the frontage of the former Sunnyside Sugar Plantation along Windermere Road. It

17515-465: The number of Islanders still in the district, which he estimated to be 1100. There had been some problems returning South Sea Islanders to their homes and others were keen to remain in Queensland. During the 1893 economic crisis , the Queensland National Bank formed a company known as Qunaba (QUeensland NAtional BAnk) which took over the financially struggling Millaquin refinery. It erected

17670-688: The numbers of coolies present could reach up to six hundred. In 1878, historian W. L. Distant wrote an article for the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute , detailing his time spent on West Indian plantations observing the work ethic and behaviours of coolies, and noted that many overseers believed that Asian coolies, much like enslaved Africans, held an affinity for intensive outdoor labour work. The views of overseers towards coolies differed based on ethnicity: Chinese and Japanese coolies were perceived to be harder working, more unified as

17825-561: The official ending of the coolie trade in 1916 by the British government. By that time, tens of thousands of Chinese workers were being used along the Western Front by the allied forces (see Chinese Labour Corps ). A major difference between the Chinese and Indian coolie trades was that women and children were brought from India, along with men, while Chinese coolies were 99% male. Although there are reports of ships (so called 'coolie ships') for Asian coolies carrying women and children,

17980-531: The period 1863 to 1877 reveals great variation in the terms of the new contracts, diverging not only from the original ones, but from each other. First, most coolies signed up for only one year, at most two years, and some for as few as three and six months – all far short of another eight years. Second, the monthly wages not only varied, but were always greater than the 4 pesos in the original contracts, in some cases significantly greater. Many specified payment in “peso fuerte,” that is, hard currency, not vouchers, which

18135-528: The plantation or retaining corridors of natural forest. In Brazil, similar measures are required by government regulation. Plantation owners extensively used enslaved Africans to work on early plantations (such as tobacco, rice, cotton, hemp, and sugar plantations) in the American colonies and the United States, throughout the Caribbean, the Americas, and in European-occupied areas of Africa. In modern times,

18290-413: The property which he named "Sunnyside" from January 1875. By the following year Turner had cleared and cultivated 18 acres. He built a slab house with three rooms and a kitchen with a brick oven and a number of outbuildings; established a waterhole and a well; built a pigsty and a calf paddock and was growing maize at this time. By 1880 he had 20 acres under cultivation, with an unknown crop. Turner fulfilled

18445-698: The repatriation of Pacific Islanders, took evidence in Bundaberg in April 1906. Frank Courtice, city organiser of the Bundaberg District Workers Union, said he supported the development of the State refinery system and the cutting up of plantations into smaller farms run by individual farmers. This concept was supported by Henry Albert Cattermull, overseer on Sunnyside, who said he had used white labourers since 1902, who were mostly local farmers' sons, and he found them more reliable than itinerant workers. Henry St George Caulfield also gave evidence in relation to

18600-485: The rewriting of the legislation the recruitment of Islanders was a reformed business, with so many pieces of protective legislation, regulation and inspection schedules in place that the prospects of exploitation and ill- treatment of workers were substantially reduced. Islanders became more skilled in negotiations and bargained for higher wages and more liberal contracts. This occurred on Sunnyside in 1893. A new Inspector of Polynesians in Bundaberg, Henry St George Caulfield

18755-521: The rise of cotton in the American South, indigo and rice were also sometimes called plantation crops. Probably the most critical factor a plantation has on the local environment is the site where the plantation is established. In Brazil, coffee plantations would use slash-and-burn agriculture, tearing down rainforests and planting coffee trees that depleted the nutrients in soil. Once the soil had been sapped, growers would move on to another place. If

18910-464: The role of South Sea Islanders in the sugar industry and Queensland's history; and their burial practices, working conditions and health. Plantation In modern use, the term usually refers only to large-scale estates. Before about 1860, it was the usual term for a farm of any size in the southern parts of British North America , with, as Noah Webster noted, "farm" becoming the usual term from about Maryland northward. The enslavement of people

19065-664: The same neighbourhoods as Africans and, since most were unable to return to their homeland or have their wives come to the New World, many married African women. The coolies' interracial relationships and marriages with Africans, Europeans, and Indigenous peoples , formed some of the modern world's Afro-Asian and Asian Latin American populations. In Spanish, coolies were referred to as colonos asiáticos ('Asian colonists'). The Spanish colony of Cuba feared slave uprisings such as those that took place in Haiti , and used coolies as

19220-564: The schooner "Lucy and Adelaide". The Islanders numbered 81 males and seven females. The number contracted to each farm or plantation is unknown. Labourers were recruited from a number of locations including the Solomon Islands , New Hebrides , and Loyalty Islands , all with different languages and customs. This region is now known as Melanesia , and includes the Bismark Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Despite claims that Edward Turner

19375-473: The selectors, the role of the Islanders was to clear the remaining virgin scrub: felling, burning and clearing the large volcanic stones, which were collected and sometimes drilled and blasted. Rocks unearthed during this process were placed on wooden sleds, pulled by draught horses. Big rocks which would not fit on the sled would be broken up with spalling hammers. These pieces would then be placed on corn bags; an Islander on each corner, it would then be carried to

19530-466: The sled. When full, the sleds were taken to the end of the paddock where they were unloaded. Dry-rubble walls were constructed in layers, with larger stones placed around the outside and smaller stones used for infill. This seems to have been a common construction method in the Woongarra and was employed at Sunnyside to make a wall along the northern boundary of the property. About 6 examples of it remain in

19685-403: The statistics provided annually were broken down by district, they were not provided in relation to specific plantations. For example, in 1892, there were 186 deaths in Bundaberg, which was 66 more than the previous year, with dysentery a common cause. The rates remained high in subsequent years also, with 181 Islanders dead in 1893 and 175 in 1894. Economic historian Ralph Schlomowitz suggests that

19840-476: The sugar cane fields from the port of Xiamen , one of the five Chinese treaty ports opened to the British by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The trade soon spread to other ports in Guangdong , and demand became particularly strong in Peru for workers in the silver mines and the guano collecting industry. Australia began importing workers in 1848. These workers were deceived about their terms of employment to

19995-570: The system argued, abuse and violence in the coolie trade was rampant. Some of these labourers signed employment contracts based on misleading promises, while others were kidnapped and sold into servitude; some were victims of clan violence whose captors sold them to coolie merchants, while others sold themselves to pay off gambling debts. Those who did sign on voluntarily generally had contracts of two to five years. In addition to having their passage paid for, coolies were also paid under twenty cents per day on average. However, in certain regions, roughly

20150-414: The term coolie as "usually offensive". Oxford English Dictionary states it is "dated, offensive". Dictionary.com considers it "disparaging and offensive". The importation of Asian labourers into European colonies occurred as early as the 17th century. However, in the 19th century, a far more robust system of trade involving coolies occurred, in direct response to the gradual abolition of both

20305-458: The trade simply shifted to the more accommodating port within the Portuguese enclave of Macau . Many coolies were first deceived or kidnapped, and then kept in barracoons (detention centres) or loading vessels in the ports of departure, as were African slaves . Their voyages, which are sometimes called the Pacific Passage, were as inhumane and dangerous as the notorious Middle Passage of

20460-451: The trade would be suspended if abuses were discovered to be taking place. The British began to transport Indians to Mauritius starting in 1829. Slavery was abolished there in 1833, with Mauritian planters receiving two million pounds sterling in compensation for the loss of their slaves. The planters turned to bringing in a large number of indentured labourers from India to work in the sugar cane fields. Between 1834 and 1921, around half

20615-601: The viability of the juice mill, Turner acquired another parcel of land on the southern slopes of The Hummock (Portion 87) in October 1888. This expanded his property to 190 acres (77 ha), financed by a £2000 mortgage from the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney against the Sunnyside property. Sunnyside was typical of the smaller family-run sugar plantations in Bundaberg, which were generally between 150 and 200 acres (61 and 81 ha). Many had their own juice mills, piping juice to Millaquin refinery - as opposed to

20770-531: The waterhole after suffering an epileptic fit. His body was found by his brother-in-law, Henry Albert Cattermull. In the meantime, a change in government in 1883 led to new laws aimed at excluding Islander labour. The preference for white labour was implicit in the Pacific Islanders Labourers Act 1884 which was much more specific than the 1880 Act in relation to the type of work an Islander could be employed in, specifically restricting them to field work. The Pacific Island Labourers' Amendment Act 1885 legislated against

20925-525: The workers, including obtaining advances from the planters for salaries, distributing tools, arranging housing and food, and assuming responsibility for discipline, control, and supervision.” (Hu-DeHart). The enganchador had flexibility in the length of the Coolies’ recontract. The Coolie was also able to negotiate their wages and often had the upper hand as the employer had to yield to market forces. “Recontracting terms varied considerably. A batch of recontracts from

21080-404: Was "very small" while Chinese men were easily taken into the coolie trade. In Cuba, men made up the vast majority of Chinese indentured servants on sugar plantations; in Peru, non-Chinese women married the mostly male Chinese coolies. Polyandry was a common practice among Indian coolies. Between 1845 and 1917, twenty-five per cent of all Indians brought to the Caribbean were women. With women as

21235-415: Was Minister for Trade and Customs from 1946 until 1949. The former Sunnyside plantation remains in the ownership of the Courtice family. The grave of former owner Sidney Thomas Courtice 1/04/1922-13/08/2007) is located under the westernmost of the two mature fig trees on the northern part of the property and is not considered to be of state heritage significance. Some subdivision has occurred on Sunnyside, with

21390-476: Was active in converting the Islanders who attended Sunday Service, while also providing evening classes teaching them to read. The process of sugar growing, crushing and refining changed dramatically in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, initiated in part by the Sugar Works Guarantee Act 1893 which provided for construction of government-supported central mills, employing white labour. Sixty farmers from Gin Gin were

21545-563: Was also charged with assaulting an Islander named Raincombe. This occurred during the July banking crisis, where eight of Queensland's banks closed, including the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney with which Turner had his £2000 mortgage. While this would not justify the insufficient supply of food to Islander labourers on Sunnyside, it does suggest one reason for it to have happened. Most banks reopened by August. Initiatives to improve

21700-492: Was appointed in April 1887. Caulfield had 13 years experience overseeing immigrant labour in Ceylon , and was thought to be "zealous in his duties as an inspector of plantations, and investigator of islanders' complaints against their employers". In July 1893, seven Islanders from Sunnyside Plantation complained to Caulfield that they were not being given enough food. Earlier that week they had burnt down one of their huts and set fire to

21855-489: Was banned due to pressure from the British government. Between 1851 and 1874 approximately 215,000 Chinese were shipped from Macau overseas, primarily to Cuba and Peru, with some being shipped to Guiana, Suriname, and Costa Rica . These coolies were obtained via a variety of sources, including some who were entrapped by brokers in Macau through loans for gambling, and others who were kidnapped or coerced. In 1847, two ships from Cuba transported workers to Havana to work in

22010-473: Was called the 'pig trade' as the living conditions were not dissimilar to that of livestock; on some vessels as many as 40 per cent of the coolies died en route. As many as 500 were crammed into a single ship hold, leaving no room to move. The coolies were also stamped on their backs like livestock. Foreign merchants took advantage of the unequal treaties negotiated between the Qing government and Western powers after

22165-494: Was divided between his son Herbert and son-in-law Henry Albert Cuttermull and his unmarried daughter Gertrude. His second wife Sarah had committed suicide in April 1907. The Sunnyside juice mill was closed down in 1911. In 1922 the Sunnyside Plantation was transferred to Benjamin and Sydney Herbert Courtice. They took out a £6000 mortgage with Cattermull. By that time Cattermull was a local councillor, having been president of

22320-444: Was established in Mackay in 1886, to only crush cane cut by white labour. In early 1889, a Royal Commission inquired into the viability of the sugar industry which was in decline at that time. From its 1865 initiation by Louis Hope, the industry had expanded rapidly over the subsequent twenty years. However, there was a marked decline between 1885 and 1893, attributed to drought and a slump in world sugar prices. Bundaberg farmers formed

22475-681: Was evidenced in statistics provided for the large plantations between December 1895 and December 1900, where Bingera experienced 135 deaths and Fairymead 58, both with increasing annual rates during this timeframe. Deaths on Sunnyside occurred in both the Turner family and amongst the Islander labourers in the late 1880s to early 1890s. The Bundaberg Genealogical Association, using newspaper sources, identified seven reported deaths of Islanders on Sunnyside plantation; these being Coora, 9/09/1887; Tartal 24/04/1888; Yantircca 12/03/1888; Byeena 21/08/1888; Beeteah 12/01/1889; Charlie 18/02/1889 and Neeoo 17/02/1889. The causes of these people's deaths are unknown, and

22630-404: Was first used in the 16th century by European traders across Asia. In the 18th century, the term more commonly referred to migrant Indian indentured labourers . In the 19th century, during the British colonial era , the term was adopted for the transportation and employment of Asian labourers via employment contracts on sugar plantations formerly worked by enslaved Africans. The word has had

22785-428: Was formed in the 1980s to improve understanding of the history of South Sea Islander peoples in the area and their important contribution to the sugar industry, and to locate sites significant to this history. The group has indicated it has a strong association with the fig trees, burials and dry-rubble wall on Sunnyside. The listing originally focused on the wall remains, but was substantially expanded in 2013 to include

22940-602: Was initiated by Captain Robert Towns . He had been involved in the importation of Asiatic labourers during the 1840s and 1850s in NSW, and was also part of a push for the use of Indian coolie labour in the early 1860s in Queensland. At the time the concept that labouring in the tropics was unhealthy for Europeans had widespread currency. The Queensland Government removed restrictions on the introduction of Asiatic labour in May 1861, which led to

23095-551: Was key in shaping the history of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. In February 1862, "An Act to Prohibit the 'Coolie Trade' by American Citizens in American vessels", also known as the Anti-Coolie Act , was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln, which prohibited any U.S. citizens and residents from trading in Chinese subjects, known as "coolies". In one aspect, the Anti-Coolie Act was the last of the U.S. slave trade laws, as well as

23250-531: Was known in the family as "Top Farm". Edward Turner moved to a new property at Maroondan near Gin Gin. Sunnyside was reputedly one of the few plantations in the Bundaberg district able to produce and crush during the drought of 1900-1903. Following Federation , the White Australia Policy predicated the end of Islander labour. New acts were introduced by the Commonwealth Government , requiring

23405-593: Was often used during the eight year original indenture.” (Hu-DeHart). Once they had fulfilled their contracts, colonos asiáticos integrated into the countries of Peru, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. They adopted cultural traditions from the natives and welcomed non-Chinese to experience and participate in their traditions. Before the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Havana had Latin America's largest Chinatown . From c.  1902–1910 ,

23560-455: Was personally involved in the recruitment trade, no evidence has been found indicating his ownership of any boat engaged in recruiting Islanders. Turner continued to plan the development of his farm. In December 1883 he subdivided a two and a half acre lot (Sub 1, Portion 185) (1ha) from the north-western corner of his allotment along Windermere Road. A juice mill was established on this site, in partnership with Frederic and Charles Buss. They had

23715-506: Was the norm in Maryland and states southward. The plantations there were forced-labor farms. The term "plantation" was used in most British colonies but very rarely in the United Kingdom itself in this sense. There it was used mainly for tree plantations , areas artificially planted with trees, whether purely for commercial forestry , or partly for ornamental effect in gardens and parks, when it might also cover plantings of garden shrubs. Among

23870-536: Was to supply each Islander with a new blanket, clothing, and a hat, a plug of tobacco, which was subsequently supplied weekly, and the clothing half-yearly. His pay was between £20 and £25 which was paid half yearly at the Immigration Depot in the presence of the Inspector of Polynesians. Three meals were supplied daily, as specified by Government regulations. While some of the properties had been cleared initially by

24025-537: Was used to infiltrate the rural villages of India and recruit labourers. They would often deceive the credulous workers about the great opportunities that awaited them for their own material betterment abroad. The Indians primarily came from the Indo-Gangetic Plain , but also from Tamil Nadu and other areas to the south of the country. Indians had faced a great number of social and economic disasters, causing them to be more eager than other groups to leave India. In

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