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