Restoring Old Chinese Headstones

4.4 Restoring Old Chinese Headstones in the Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.
Author: Leslie Wong.

Throughout the Otago region there are many lost Chinese graves in or out of cemeteries whose locations can only be found by local knowledge or in cemetery ledgers and historical accounts. In many historic places the cemeteries themselves have long disappeared. Dunedin has 3 major cemeteries that span the periods from the early Chinese gold miners, to the Chinese labourers of the 1920s to 1950s. One of the older cemeteries has its Chinese graves so desecrated that no amount of effort could restore the gravestones.

Luckily, at a once neglected place in the cemetery at Andersons Bay, Dunedin, there is an unique collection of 53 plots of which there are 46 restorable headstones. This area was originally considered to be wasteland only fit for the burial of aliens and the Chinese were segregated there into their own subdivision. Many names written into the official records had no resemblance to the transcribed names on the headstones. No major attempt had been made to produce an accurate transcript and find the full origins of those buried there.

By a twist of fate, trees and overgrowth had sheltered this location from the elements and public view for over 30 years. Today, we have an almost complete memorial to those early Chinese from the 1920's to nearly 1950. Unfortunately many headstones have been vandalised and broken, while others had tree branches growing against them, pushing them over and smashing them. In spite of what has happened, this is the best repository of Chinese headstones in Dunedin that could be restored to commemorate a chapter in our history.

Many Chinese came to this country with nothing but a suitcase full of hope, and when their time was up, they had even lost the suitcase. Few had the good fortune to realise their dreams and prosper.

The restoration project began ‘secretly’ by myself in 1996 and was planned to restore headstones in 3 phases with a time span of 2 years per phase. Originally it started with scrub cutting and clearing of a small section to see if the project was feasible and to see if some way could be devised to clean and glue together the broken headstones. If no solution could be found, the project could have been abandoned there and then.

The easy tasks were taken first in order to develop the skills necessary to tackle the more difficult problems. Many of the original white marble stones were green, having been eaten into by moss and the lettering badly weathered.

A few of the unbroken stones were chemically washed and bleached to make them white again. Special tools were devised to recut the lettering that had all but faded. Because some stones were too old and brittle, the use of the traditional hammer and chisel method was not possible. Original carving mistakes or missing lines are left uncorrected. A restored white stone could not be photographed to record what was written and the lettering had to be hand painted in black or gold for the final photograph.

A broken stone found in the soil was taken home to see if it could be cleaned and glued together. Fortunately, a modern epoxy glue was found and the join was stronger than the original stone. It was necessary to clamp the two halves together for the glue to take hold. At the gravesite a concrete base was cast to hold the restored headstone. Many broken headstones had to be restored at home and where possible the missing piece had to be fabricated with a concrete aggregate and colour matched, with the missing characters remade. To passersby, my front lawn often resembled a cemetery with several headstones in various stages of restoration.

There are a few headstones that have the lettering inlaid with black lead. These should have been everlasting, and are the most difficult to restore. When the lead was first hammered in, the carved lettering beneath fractured. Over the years a fungus grew between the fractures and the lead, and eventually the lead and pieces of marble fell out leaving a crater. The damaged areas had to be refilled and new lettering cut with a dental drill. Finally, a matching imitation filler is inserted. Sadly, some headstones cannot be restored.

It is always easy to take a backward glance at what may have been our heritage, but when time has taken its toll, we realise that it is there no more. Through our hands we must preserve what is precious, to pass down through the generations for all time to come.

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View of some retored Headstones June 1998

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Intial Trial Clearing 1996

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Same Site Retored AUGUST 1998
http://www.stevenyoung.co.nz/The-Chinese-in-New-Zealand/Chinese-in-Australasia-and-the-Pacific/Graves.html#4.4%20Restoring%20Old%20Chinese%20Headstones%20in%20the%20Andersons%20Bay%20Cemetery,%20Dunedin.