The Victorian Chinese Memorial Foundation, founded in 2004, is an Australian organization set up to find, preserve, and celebrae the history and heritage of Australia’s gold-rush Chinese.
On Sunday 25 November 2012 the Foundation dedicated a memorial in the Avoca Cemetery to the Chinese buried there who had lived and worked in the goldfields.
Among the speakers at the ceremony were Sunny Duong, Chief Executive officer of the Chinese Memorial Foundation; Peter Howell, Chairman of the Avoca Cemetery Trust; and Tony O’Shea, president of the Avoca and District Historical Society, who spoke about the history of the cemetery.
At the microphone is Sunny Duong, CEO of the Chinese Memorial Foundation, and behind him is Peter Howell, Chairman of the Avoca Cemetery Trust. In the foreground are the roasted pigs and other food later eaten at the banquet that followed the dedication.
The dedication ceremony was followed by a banquet in the Avoca RSL Hall which three roasted pigs, fowls, and a great deal more.
Many people came to Avoca for the dedication.
Since 2005, the Chinese Memorial Foundation has erected memorials like Avoca’s at more than fifteen cemeteries. For example, there are now memorials at Melbourne General Cemetery, Beechworth, Carlyle cemetery near Rutherglen, Linton, Myrtleford, and Creswick.
See also:
- Chinese in Avoca cemetery
- Report of dedication cemetery in Pyrenees Pioneers no 268 December 2012
- Zhuang, Y. (2019, April 27). Meet the group restoring the Graves of gold rush-era Chinese migrants. The Age. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/meet-the-group-restoring-the-graves-of-gold-rush-era-chinese-migrants-20190425-p51h8t.html
- Memorials, Chinese sections. (2025, October 3). Scattered Legacy:A national digital project preserving and reconnecting the objects, places, and stories of Chinese-Australian history. https://www.scatteredlegacy.org.au/essays/memorials-chinese-sections
2 thoughts on “Memorial to the Chinese in the Avoca Cemetery”