Name/Title
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT (SCAN)Entry/Object ID
2012.4.7Context
These photographs are linked to the Ah Foo (Affoo) family of Queensland. It is not known when Jimmy Affoo arrived but he was the proprietor of a boarding house and market garden in central Queensland by the 1860s. He married Evelina Vessey from Lincolnshire in Rockhampton and after living in Springsure were lured to the goldfields of Charters Towers and the Palmer River in 1873. In 1877 when the gold rushes declined, they returned to Springsure where they ran the Post Office Hotel, then the Carriers’ Arms, the Springsure Hotel (Springsure), Springsure Hotel (Barcaldine), Federal Hotel (Longreach). They had a family of thirteen children who were all highly musical and they formed the Affoo Family Band which toured the district. Kevin Rains has recently published a book on the history of the family which is held in the Museum’s library.
Historic: These photographs are linked to the Ah Foo (Affoo) family of Queensland. It is not known when Jimmy Affoo arrived but he was the proprietor of a boarding house and market garden in central Queensland by the 1860s. He married Evelina Vessey from Lincolnshire in Rockhampton and after living in Springsure were lured to the goldfields of Charters Towers and the Palmer River in 1873. In 1877 when the gold rushes declined, they returned to Springsure where they ran the Post Office Hotel, then the Carriers’ Arms, the Springsure Hotel (Springsure), Springsure Hotel (Barcaldine), Federal Hotel (Longreach). They had a family of thirteen children who were all highly musical and they formed the Affoo Family Band which toured the district. Kevin Rains has recently published a book on the history of the family which is held in the Museum’s library.
Aesthetic: These are standard family photographs of the period.
Scientific: Chinese history of central Queensland, Chinese involvement in hotel and music industry in Australia.
Social: These photos have significance for descendants of the Affoo family but are also of interest to those with an interest in the hotel industry and amateur music in Australia.
Provenance: Further information identifying individuals in the photographs needs to be obtained. There is more information about the family in Kevin Rains’s book.
Interpretive: Useful in telling the Chinese history of Queensland, involvement of Chinese Australians in the music industry and also example of a Chinese-Australian family history.Acquisition
Accession
2012.4Source or Donor
LOUWRENS SandraAcquisition Method
Donation