David Kennedy

Charles Washing and Racist Furniture David Kennedy

This is a fascinating history of Charles Washing, his family and furniture business. It's fiction based on fact. It traces the plight of his parents, a full blood Chinaman and English Jewess mother in the 1850's, escaping their respective homelands and settling in Ararat, Victoria. They raised 10 kids against the odds, moving to Creswick and Melbourne before settling in Perth and establishing Washing Brothers Furniture Factory. The Factories Act was a desperate attempt by the Government to eradicate Asiatic businesses pressured by Unions and European businessmen. Being part Chinese and successful at their trade they were a prime target. To survive meant risking everything, by breaking the law, dodging government inspectors and even beating the Supreme Court. It was the birth of Racist Furniture.