Why this historic house that was saved from demolition

Key points

The Victory House, built in 1906, was in a Ballarate family in a Chinese mining family.
After the house was saved from demolition, it is transformed into a Chinese cultural heritage museum.
Community leaders want to repeat the surroundings into a Chinatown and restore balls once lively Chinese presence from the gold rush era.
By 1858, the Chinese population had reached its peak with almost 10,000, which was about 25 percent of the adult male population.

According to the community groups, the restoration of a 120-year-old house is the first step to establish a Chinatown in ballarate in order to mark the contributions of thousands of Chinese workers who were drawn into the area both during and after the gold rush.

The Victory House is located in the Geelong Road 742 in the Ballarate suburb of Canadians and was built in 1906 by the Chinese mine manager James Wong Chung and his wife Margaret Wong Chung.

Interestingly, the funds – £ 400 ($ 17,560 in today's money) – were won over to the construction of the House of Margaret after he was called the winner, the victory in the Melbourne Cup from 1902.

The family lived in the house for more than a century until they were sold in 2008.

Now there are plans to convert the restored house into a Chinese Heritage Museum-the first step in a wider 10-year plan to revive Ballarate's historical Chinatown.

The local Chinese community chairman Charles Zhang and the founder of the Chinese library of Xin Jin Shan, Haoliang Sun, led the restoration of the winning house.

Sun said that the Canadian suburb in which the Victory House is standing, once had the highest concentration of Chinese miners in the ballarat and lived six Chinese village camp. These communities have long since disappeared.

Haoliang Sun, founder of the Chinese library of Xin Jin Shan, suggested a 10-year plan to rebuild ballat's Chinatown. Source: SBS / Nicole Gong

“Apart from the Chinese Goldrausch display in the Sovergägn Hill, there is no place in a ballarate today that shows how the Chinese actually lived during this time,” he said.

Historical records State that until 1855 around 2,000 to 5,000 Chinese miners were on the ballatum of Goldfield. By 1858, the Chinese population reached its peak with almost 10,000, which was about 25 percent of the adult male population in ballarat.

There is still a blue sign with his name that bears victory above the front door of the house. Source: SBS / Nicole Gong

In order to bring this story back to life, Sun and Zhang bought several buildings on the same street with more offers.

Her vision is to create a district that includes a Chinese medical shop, a tea house, a Chinese restaurant and an Asian supermarket – which you initially call Chinatown.

“We call it Chinatown, but the name doesn't matter,” said Sun. “What matters is that a room like this has to exist.”

Zhang admits that the construction of a Chinatown is a bold and complex undertaking – one that requires significant support from local, state and federal governments.

The local Chinese community leader Charles Zhang is confident that the Chinatown plan was rebuilt by ballarate. Source: SBS / Nicole Gong

“The restoration of a house can be done by one or two people. But the reconstruction of a Chinatown takes an entire team,” he said. “It is not something that can only be published out of passion or impulse.”

Nevertheless, Zhang, now in the 70s, remains optimistic.

“I hope that in my life I can devote my energy and ability to do something useful for future generations of Chinese Australians – to keep our history and culture alive.”

The Victory House Museum is currently waiting for the approval of the Council, which are accessible to the public. The ticket proceeds will run into the continued maintenance of the museum.

Visit the house in childhood

For the first time since his renovation, the sisters Denise Johnston and Julie Odgers returned to the Victory House, the former house of their great -grandparents in ballarate.

Pass by The 77 -year -old Johnston, the thick cypress hedge in the front yard, said that she no longer felt the fear she had as a child.

“It was always dark … When the wind came through, it was really like a haunted house,” she recalled.

But when they entered, they were warmly welcomed with open arms and homemade cookies.

“I felt very emotional when I entered. It just brought us these beautiful childhood memories,” said Johnston.

Descendants of the Wong Chung family, Julie Odgers (left) and Denise Johnston (right), returned to the Victory House in March. Source: SBS / Nicole Gong

The house was named after the Melbourne Cup, which was awarded to the Melbourne Cup, from 1902 that Margaret had chosen.

“Our great -grandmother (Margaret) loved horses. When we visit them, they would sit here and hear their radio and read the race guide,” said Odgers, 75.

Unfortunately, no one has won a race in the family since then, she added.

Historical photo of the Victory House, built in 1906 by a Chinese-Australian Goldfield family in a ballatum. Source: Delivered / B. Trembath private collection

The Wong Chung family

The Australian history of the Wong Chung family began with Jame's father Ah Wong Chung, who had emigrated in the late 19th century during the Victorian gold rush from the canton (now Guangzhou).

He led a general store in Linton and delivered goods that were imported from Chinese and European Minuts from China.

In 1868 he married the Irish wife Mary Anne Baker. The couple had a son, James, the future builder of the Victory House.

James married Margaret Ann Holderhead, born in Australia in 1896. After the couple had six children in Linton, it moved to ballarate in 1903 and initially lived in a small miner house.

At that time, James headed the nearby Woah Hawp Canton Mine. In 1906 the family moved to the newly built Victory House and welcomed another six children.

James Wong Chung and his mother Mary (left) and James Wong Chung (right). Source: Delivered / B. Trembath private collection

Almost lost

In 2022, the Victory House narrowly escaped the demolition when new landowners applied to renovate the location.

Four ballarate city councils argued that the house was not significant enough in view of the abundance of the historical buildings in the city.

But after support for support, including more than 120 Chinese-Australian organizations and descendants of the Wong Chung family, the house was saved and Heritage Register was placed in the ballarate.

Mick Trembath, son of Odgers and a offspring of the sixth generation, said that the restored Sieghaus had led far beyond his own family.

Mick Trembath, a descendant of the Wong Chung family, says that Victory House is proof of the history of the Chinese in ballarat. Source: SBS / Fujia Yang

“There are very few things in ballarat that contribute not only real memories of Chinese culture, but also every culture, (including) the Croatian population, the Polish people and the German people,” said Trembath.

“To have something like that … You can go through it, touch and fill it with memories. It's a really important thing.

“I was really glad that we could save it.”

Key points

Visit the house in childhood

The Wong Chung family

Almost lost

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