Cream Bux

Cream Bux (likely Kareem Bux) was born in Punjab, India, in 1883, his parents were Jabo and Barney Khar Bux. Bux arrived in the Angledool district by the mid-1890s. He later moved to Cumborah, where he appears in records from around 1904.

By 1907, Cream Bux had established a store in Lightning Ridge’s Old Town, recorded on the survey map of that year under the name Cream Bux & Co. He later ran a store in Cumborah, serving the community of miners on the opal fields.

In 1908, Cream married Annie Robertson in Moree. The couple had four children: Jane (1910–1975), Sarah (1911–1998), Roger (1913–1987), and Mero (1916–2014).

Bux’s extended family included Mandy Khan, Bux’s nephew, who was also a shopkeeper in the early days.

In early 1922, Cream Bux travelled to Sydney seeking medical treatment. He died later that year and was buried in Walgett.

His obituary, published in the Walgett Spectator on 28 September 1922, stated “although Cream Bux had a dark skin he was a white man at heart” an uncomfortable reflection of the social attitudes of the time, but also recognising the esteem in which he was held.

• Cream Bux @ Find a Grave.

Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Walgett Spectator, 11 August 1906, 19 January 1922, 28 September 1922; Lightning Flash Newspaper, 19 May 1979.