Historical information

Sikh hawkers were a regular sight throughout the Wodonga and Upper Murray district in the early 20th century. The regular visitors to the area included Pola Singh and Gambil (Gamble) Singh.

Gamble Singh often camped on McKoy’s Moorefield property in West Wodonga and several other places around the district. Gamble was also a horse breeder and had several draught horses to pull his wagon. Like many of the hawkers he worked hard to send money back to support family in India. He apparently returned to India about 1950, but left some money in the Bank of NSW in Wodonga in case he returned. He allegedly died soon after and the money was eventually able to be claimed by his nephews in India.
A small overlooked park in Wodonga is named the “Gamble Singh Park” in his memory.

J. Flanagan who operated the Halfway Hotel commented on having as many as seven or eight bullock teams “yoked” overnight to the fence outside the hotel as well as 100 or more Indian hawkers – led by the fondly known Pola (Pollah) Singh. The hawkers returned to Wodonga annually to renew their hawkers’ license and camped on the flats, or also came to Wodonga to collect orders at the railway station to stock up their supplies.

Pola Singh was often based at the Colac Colac reserve near Corryong and had on board his compatriot Isar Singh. He often acted as an intermediary between the individual hawkers and the authorities. Unfortunately, it was Pola’s habit to walk in front of his wagon at the start of each day. On the morning of 23 June 1923 his horses were restive and hard to control. They took flight and ran Pola down on the road near Cudgewa. He was rushed to the Corryong Hospital but died there a few days later, aged 65. Pola was cremated, with some of his ashes scattered in the Murray River and some returned to his homeland to be scattered in the Ganges River. His cremation was listed in the Obituary page of the Weekly Times, Melbourne on Saturday 14 July 1923.
A small memorial to Pola Singh is located in the Corryong Cemetery.

Significance

These images are significant because they help to document the history of the Sikh Hawkers who plied their services to Wodonga and throughout rural Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Physical description

A collection of black and white images featuring Sikh Hawkers Gamble Singh and Pola Singh take in the Wodonga area.