Season 2 Episode 2: Mei Quong Tart - The entrepreneur who started Sydney's first cafes

 

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Mei Quong Tart
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.

 

Quong Tart & staff at the tea rooms at 137 King Street, 1890s
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.

 

Quong Tart's tea house interior 1890s - State Library of NSW
Quong Tart - State Library of NSW
Quong Tart tearooms menu
Quong Tart Tearooms menu - Image: Bronwyn Mackenzie Sydney Living Museums
Quong Tart tearooms menu printed - Image: Bronwyn Mackenzie, Sydney Living Museums
Quong Tart with wife Margaret - State Library of NSW
Quong Tart & family at Gallop House - State Library of NSW
Quong Tart at 777 George Street, 1891 - State Library of NSW
Quong Tart porcelain teapot - (c) Jamie North. Sydney Living Museums 2014
King Street 1889 with Quong Tart's tea house on right

Arthur Markham Quong Tart (son)

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