Inner West Council endorses Quong Tart Plaza as a dual name of Hercules St Ashfield

As part of the Inner West’s commitment to honouring the contribution our immigrant communities have made to creating our diverse and vibrant villages, Inner West Council is endorsing the dual naming of Hercules Street Ashfield as Quong Tart Plaza.

Hercules Street already proudly displays a memorial bust of Quong Tart in honour of this celebrated philanthropist, businessman, keen cricketer, bag piper and Ashfield local.

The application for dual naming has been submitted to the geographic names board who will meet in March 2025 to decide on the application.

Inner West Mayor, Darcy Byrne said, “Quong Tart was an Ashfield local who worked tirelessly on behalf of Sydney’s Chinese community for decades.

“We are committed to honouring Quong Tart’s contribution and our Inner West Chinese community by dual naming Hercules Street in Ashfield as Quong Tart Plaza.

“We have carried out extensive engagement with Ashfield residents, the local Chinese community and Ashfield businesses and have received strong support to proceed with this dual naming.”

The dual naming of Hercules St as Quong Tart Plaza follows the official renaming of Little Greece in Marrickville Road, Marrickville, Little Vietnam in Illawarra Road, Marrickville, Little Italy in Leichhardt and Little Portugal in Petersham.

Moy Quong Tart, 梅光達 was only nine when he migrated to the Australian goldfields in 1859. From this humble beginning he grew to be one of Sydney’s leading businessmen and philanthropists.

He was also an excellent cricketer and athlete with a passion for Robbie Burns poetry and loved to play the bag pipes. He led the campaign to outlaw the opium trade while creating a successful tea and silk importation business and opening some of Sydney’s most popular restaurants and tea rooms, one of which was the meeting place for Sydney’s early suffragettes.

The mostly European staff at his restaurants benefitted from paid holiday, family and sick leave decades before this became common and he gave generously to various charities including feeding the poor of Sydney.

For his activities in promoting the well-being and acceptance of Sydney’s growing Chinese community, he was appointed a Mandarin of the Fifth Degree by the Chinese Government.

For most of his adult life, Quong tart lived in Arthur St Ashfield with his English wife Scarlett and their six children in their mansion, Gallop House.

Sadly, he died in 1903 following an assault during a robbery at his Elite Hall restaurant in the Queen Victoria Building.

For media enquiries please contact Jonny Browne 0466 712 719 or Jonny.Browne@innerwest.nsw.gov.au