AH KING'S STONE HUT
SANDBAR ROAD DEEP LEAD, NORTHERN GRAMPIANS SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
This ruinous stone structure, probably erected in the late 19th century, is of architectural, historic and scientificsignificance to the Deep Lead district.
The hut is a rare example of a conglomerate rock, gravel and clay dwelling which was a method of construction once typical of the area. It indicates the early settlement of land in the area for agricultural purposes. The hut and its foreground represent a way of life during the Deep Lead gold rushes of the late 19th century. Chinese immigrants built huts and established market gardens to grow produce which they sold to miners in the area. It is of importance for its potential to provide information that contributes to a greater understanding of the history of teh settlement and establishment of the district, and has a strong presumption of archaeological research potential. Further historical reserach and archaeological investigation is recommended.
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AH KING'S STONE HUT - History
Many Chinese came to the Deep Lead Goldfields from the gold rush of the 1850s and continuing through the nineteenth century. A Chinese camp was established on the Deep Lead-Sandbar Road nearly opposite the Band of Hope Mine at the western end of the diggings. The camp had two stores, two hotels, a bootmaker and an opium den. On 30 January 1860 the number of Chinese on the diggings was 80 and this rose to 190 by September of that year. The highest number of Chinese recorded in the area was 375 in December 1861. The Stawell News of 5 August 1878 reported that there were 300 Chinese in the camp. The paper reported on 2 June 1881 on a visit to the Chinese camp by church ministers and that there were 200 Chinese in the camp. With the changing returns from gold mining some Chinese in the area moved from gold mining to assisting with clearing land for farmers and establishing market gardens.
One such Chinese, Mr. Ah King, is believed to have built this hut and established a market garden. In front of his hut, Mr. King cleared and levelled an area of land on which he grew vegetables which he sold to miners remaining in the district. It is believed that Mr. King continued living on this site until he died on 15 July 1909, aged 85 years. He was buried at the Deep Lead Cemetery next to his European wife, Kate Maria Louisa Ah King who died in 1874. His daughter Evangeline Look who died on 4 March 1907, aged 48 years is also buried with him.
A descendant of Ah King relates that Ah King was a blacksmith who married his European wife in Ballarat in October 1856. Mrs. Ah King came from Liverpool. Their children, 4 boys and 2 girls, were born in 1861 at Burnt Creek, 1864, 1866, 1868 and 1872 at Landsborough where Ah King was a miner and blacksmith and in 1874 at Pleasant Creek. It would appear that he did not settle in the Deep Creek area until 1874 and therefore the hut may date from 1870s. In 1876 Ah King was a signatory to the Deep Lead School petition.
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AH KING'S STONE HUTVictorian Heritage Inventory
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