'Golden Prospects' The Chinese on the West Coast of New Zealand by: Julia Bradshaw (Curator & Researcher, Shantytown)
Golden Prospects is the moving story of the Chinese who came to the West Coast of New Zealand during the gold-rush days of the late 1860's and afterwards. It is a record of their experiences and the unique contribution they made as gold-miners, merchants, cooks, market gardeners, and even missionaries, to the West Coast's history and development.
This is a fascinating and highly readable book that opens the door on a poorly documented part of the West Coast's history. It is rich in personal stories, humorous anecdotes and details the sometimes turbulent interaction between Europeans and Chinese, the role that Chinese women played, inter-cultural marriages and the achievements of individual Chinese.
The Author
Julia Bradshaw has been writing about Otago and West Coast history for more than ten years and this is her fifth book. Her interest in the Chinese began when she employed as a researcher at the Lakes District Museum in Arrowtown. When Julia began working at Shantytown she discovered that the story of the Chinese on the West Coast was virtually untold. Her research led her through a maze of official sources, contemporary records and personal interviews with descendents, and this book is the result.
