The remains of Chinese headstones at the Narrandera cemetery, NSW. Barry McGowan
Leader correspondent visited the cemetery, and confirmed Wendy’s observations. There were about 37 graves in the Chinese section, and only a few of them had their headstones intact. At least 18 graves had no markings except for the concrete blocks that once held the headstones, several of which were scattered through the area and many of which were shattered into jigsaw puzzle pieces. The burning tower and offertory table had also been vandalised. Council had cleared the area of litter and weeds and the headstones had been gathered together and grouped around the graves until possible identification could be made. It was agreed to redevelop the cemetery and Wendy was invited to organise a committee to inform the Council on historical matters.193 As a result the cemetery was further tidied up, the burning tower and offertory tables restored, and the border lined with the headstones behind a fence. Further damage occurred in the first weekend in October 1994 when the remaining 23 headstones were damaged in a frenzied and ‘unexplainable’ act of vandalism. Two of them were smashed beyond repair.194 With the permission of the Wagga City Council, stonemasons J. Shephard and Son restored the Chinese headstones as a community service project. The work was completed in 1998.195 More recently, Wagga Council has renovated the lettering on the headstone belonging to Charlie Wong Hing, to help maintain a significant site belonging to one of Wagga’s last remaining Chinese market gardeners.196 A similar process of degradation and restoration has taken place elsewhere. At Narrandera the Chinese cemetery was located within the main cemetery grounds and would have had a burning tower and offertory table. However, they have long since been removed, and many of the remaining graves vandalised or otherwise fallen into a state of disrepair. In recognition of the importance of the Chinese 193
Leader, 2 November 1983.
194
Daily Advertiser, 4 October 1994.
195
Daily Advertiser, 27 August 1998.
196
Information, Genevieve Mott, Museum of the Riverina, October 2014.
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