Ng King Bros Market Garden: a family endeavour
From its earliest days as a family business and settlement, to its reinvention as a listed heritage site, public reserve and Tohu Whenua, whānau connections are central to the Ng King Bros Chinese Market Garden Settlement's history.
First beginnings
The 伍Ng brothers came to Aotearoa New Zealand from Toi Shan/Hoisan, one of four counties that make up the Seyip province of Guangdong for a better life and to escape civil unrest. To enter the country they paid the required £100 Poll Tax; an amount almost equivalent to an unskilled labourer’s annual wage at the time. They first settled in Gore but soon moved to Ashburton in 1921 where they rented five acres of land for market gardening.
The site on Allens Road in Ashburton became a settlement yard, home and hub for the Chinese community. Many of the key buildings remain intact today: the communal kitchen, a laundry from the 1950s, sleeping spaces, the old shop, shared living areas and stables. The self-reliant 伍Ng men had some of these buildings brought in as huts and placed on skids. Carpenters then constructed extra verandahs, doors and shelters to join them together as required.
An expanding clan
The 伍Ng men continued to bring out their Seyip Clan relatives to work in the family business. As the men saved money they returned to China and married. Once their wives and children were allowed to enter New Zealand (starting from 1939) the settlement grew; there were over 80 people onsite by the 1950s. As the families expanded, additional stand-alone homes were built around the settlement.
Community ties and celebrations
Food and community gatherings were a vital part of life at the site. On Sundays and special occasions, Chinese friends and relatives from Timaru, Ōamaru and Christchurch joined the settlement families for communal dinners.
Up to ten makeshift tables covered with newspaper tablecloths catered for the crowds. On weekend evenings the men played mahjong, Chinese dominoes and fantan, while enjoying a tipple of Chinese whiskey or brandy. The children kept busy playing marbles or table tennis in the shed. Sunday might feature a visiting minister’s sermon or a Chinese movie. A highlight of special occasions was a delicious entire roasted pig cooked in the onsite Chinese pig oven.
Sharing a family icon
In 2008, the Ng King families began the process of handing over stewardship of the site to the local council whilst retaining ownership. Yep Ng, son of one of the original King brothers, spent five years contacting descendants to get their approval for the Ashburton District Council to manage the site as a community reserve. The family also supported the site becoming a post-1900 archaeological site and category one entry on the Rārangi Kōrero New Zealand Heritage List.
No surprise then that in 2025 the Ng King descendants also supported the market garden settlement becoming a Tohu Whenua site and even volunteered to star in the photoshoots and videos. It’s all part of sharing their family’s important history in the Ashburton area with locals and visitors.
Learn more about the Ng King Bros Chinese Market Garden Settlement
