Season 2 Episode 2: Mei Quong Tart - The entrepreneur who started Sydney's first cafes
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Image: State Library of NSW
Mei Quong Tart was one of the most recognised figures in Sydney during the late 1800s. He was an entrepreneur and philanthropist - and most importantly, he opened Sydney’s very first cafes. Yes, we owe our fantastic cafe culture to a Chinese immigrant who spoke with a Scottish accent.
![](https://newstories.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Quong-Tart-staff-at-137-King-Street-1890s.jpg)
Image: State Library of NSW
We know a lot about the life and works of Mei Quong Tart because he was so prominent and well-respected. He had a string of successful businesses - and you can still see some of the facades of his cafes around Sydney today. He also had a social conscience at a time when that wasn’t in vogue - he treated his employees well and hosted suffragette meetings.
His life was tragically cut short in a botched robbery but his legacy lives on in cafes and tea rooms across the city.
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![](https://newstories.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Quong-Tart-and-Margaret.jpg)
![](https://newstories.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Quong-Tart-family-at-Gallop-House.jpg)
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![](https://newstories.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Porcelain-Quong-Tart-teapot-c-Jamie-North.-Sydney-Living-Museums-2014.jpg)
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![](https://newstories.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Arthur-Markham-Quong-Tart-son.jpg)
References
Ali, B. (2005). Quong Tart and early Chinese businesses in Fiji. Journal of Pacific Studies, 28(1), 78.
Couchman, S. (2006). 'Then in the Distance Quong Tart Did We See': Quong Tart, Celebrity and Photography. Journal of Australian Colonial History, 8(December), 159.
Fitzgerald, S. (2008). Chinese | The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved from Dictionary of Sydney: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/chinese
Kuo, M.-F. (2008). The Chinese Australian Herald and the shaping of a modern 'Imagined' Chinese Community in 1890s colonial Sydney. Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies, 2, 34-53.
Lea-Scarlett, E. (n.d.). Mei Quong Tart. Retrieved from Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mei-quong-tart-4181
Loong Shan Tea House. (1889, December 23). Evening News.
Quong Tart inside the Loong Shan Tea rooms. (n.d.). Retrieved from Sydney Living Museums: https://blogs.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/cook/ladies-who-lunched/attachment/9056/
Quong Tart’s famous tearooms – and scones! (2014). Retrieved from Sydney Living Museums: https://blogs.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/cook/quong-tarts-famous-tearooms/
Sutton, C. (2014, 5 29). 'A cowboy town of pubs, oyster saloons and chophouses': Amazing pictures reveal 19th century Sydney life as seen through the eyes of a Chinese immigrant. The Daily Mail. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2641360/From-goldfields-Sydney-society-amazing-pictures-19th-century-Sydney-reveal-lives-women-Chinese-immigrants.html
Tart, M. (1911). The Life of Quong Tart or , How A Foreigner Succeeded in A British Community. Sydney: W. M. Maclardy, "Ben Franklin" Printing Works.
The man who brought cafe society to town. (2003, July 18). The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-man-who-brought-cafe-society-to-town-20030718-gdh477.html
Who was Quong Tart? (n.d.). Retrieved from State Library of NSW: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/learning/who-was-quong-tart