Coloured Colonials Genealogy: trace your Asian ancestors in Australia

31/10/2022

Is this our Wong Hoy?

21/09/2022

Luna Park, Sydney (undated) Edward Hopkins

20/05/2022

SS Changte made monthly sailings between Queensland and Hong Kong. (SLQ Negative no.: 178338) As they aged, many Chinese labourers faced a life of destitution once they became unable to perform har…

15/05/2022

Scrap of paper found on the body of an unknown Chinese man in February 1870. (QSA Item 348625 -138) In compiling the Queensland Chinese Death Index[1] I found the cause of death of 316 Chinese thro…

29/04/2022

Cleared scrub around the bed of the Cape River with views to Mount Davenport. (R. Daintree, 1868) SLQ Negative number: 63419 Queensland had numerous transient towns usually associated with mining o…

05/02/2022

""FAMILY BIOGRAPHY
BY HELEN ELLEMS (BING CHEW)
MY HALF FULL LATIONS
UNRAVELLING THE THREADS
Like many of the remnant families of
Croydon’s golden days the heritage of
the Bing Chew family exhibits rich
hybrid vigour. This project will follow
my family’s Chinese threads and in the
process will expose the alliances and
moral customs of earlier Croydon
times.
Rosie and Olfore, a couple from the
Clara River moved to Archer, just near
the Croydon airport, and had my great
grandmother Minnie who was a turning
point in the cultural structure of the
family. Minnie married Tommy Bing
Chew in 1909 and had an indefinite
number of kids with him including
Peter, Mary Susan (Sue Ping), Rosie,
Harry, Archie, Jack, Annie, Marjorie,
Edward and Norma Beatrice. Many
died young. They worked on Oakland
Park and Strathmore Stations where
Tommy was the cook.
Annie married Chin Foo Sue Ah Sam
linking us to other Chinese families.
When Chin Foo Sue died Annie had a
child called Walter Phillip Ah Sam with
Obadiah Phillip Lucas, also of mixed
Chinese heritage. Mary Sue Ing
married Vincent Dowling and Marjorie
married Ernie Diehm
It was always known that Tommy went
back to China when he was 70 and
that Minnie didn’t want to go. Some of
the later children may have been born
after Tommy’s departure because
Minnie then ‘married’ Albert Edward
(Boxer) Ah Foo, sixth child of Emily
Ann (Henley) and James Ah Foo,
consolidating the China connection
and revealing another extraordinary
dynasty.
Minnie had my grandmother Norma
Beatrice, and even though she was
named Bing Chew it was very possible
she was Boxer’s child. My
grandmother Norma had my dad
Wayne, who was also named Bing
Chew, and the story goes that my true
grandfather wanted to marry Norma
but his family wouldn’t allow it, so they
say.
It is the disclosure of this secret
fathering that has set me on the trail of
my family’s heritage through its
inscrutable Chinese connection.
This project will have several steps:
Family Tree – Helen is working with
the Heritage, Culture and Tourism Unit
of the Council, her family and
associated families to trace the family
ancestry through its Chinese threads.
1. Helen and Jana will present a
power point presentation at the
CHINA Inc conference of 11-12
February. They will network with
Chinese ancestry scholars,
experts and descendants for
further research direction.
2. They will organise Susan Gibson
of the Cairns Museum to provide
oral history training for Croydon
families – for Chinese and all
other cultural stories for the record
and to contribute to the research.
3. Helen will pursue the research
recommendations at the
conference – Dr Kevin Rains
(Chinese descendancy from
Croydon), Sandi Robb (finalising
Chinese in the North PhD thesis),
and other specialists.
4. The team will prepare a
photographic booklet with
information tracing the history of
the Bing Chew family and how it
interconnects with all of its threads
and provide a copy for all of the
families involved and the Croydon
Shire archives and library at a
presentation event.
If you have photographs or
information about the Bing Chew
family and relatives, please contact
Helen (07 47456169) or Jana (07
4748 7151). I will organise digitised
copies and return the originals to
you. At the end of the project I will
put a Photo Book together of the
family history and give associated
families a copy.""
Croydon Newsletter 2022

27/12/2021

Thanks to a dedicated group of family historians and volunteers, you can now access information about Victoria’s non-European residents during the White Australia policy – without leaving home.

30/05/2021

12/04/2021

Most Americans are immigrants or descendants of immigrants with a rich cultural history. But what happens to one’s cultural identity when they are several ge...

12/11/2018

Tip #1 for Chinese Family History Research:

Try and locate the Chinese Characters of your Ancestor’s name. This will be the most definitive detail in your search for your ancestors.

Chinese names are generally made of three characters. The first is the family or clan name, the second is a generational name which is shared with siblings and cousins and the third is a given name. The order of these can get mixed up in English language records.

You need your ancestor’s full Chinese name in characters in order to do any Chinese language research on your ancestor.

12/11/2018

Tip #2 for Chinese Family History Research:

BDM Searches...

When researching births, deaths and marriages, remember to try alternative spellings and use wildcards. Be creative and don't discount records simply because the spelling is unexpected - if many details fit, the record could be worth a look.

For example, one CAFHOV member found the surname Mang Yee recorded on their daughter's birth record as Mongyel.

Make sure you make use of the extended search criteria on the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages website which can be really helpful when the spelling of names is so variable. Here, you can search for your ancestor using the option of adding their parent(s) or spouse. This is an extremely useful feature!

And when searching for marriages, don’t assume your ancestor’s marriages happened before they had children!

https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/indexsearch.doj

11/11/2018

Tip #3 for Chinese Family History Research:

Repeat your searches

Sometimes you think you have come to the end of the line and there’s nowhere else to go when you are researching your Chinese ancestors. So what’s next?

Go back to the beginning. Check your sources for clues you may have missed earlier. Go sideways - explore clues from siblings, marriage witnesses - anything you haven’t looked at before.

Go back and repeat your searches. Sometimes new information becomes indexed at places like PROV so a new search may yield new clues.

For one CAFHOV member, a new search at PROV brought up a previously undiscovered record (bill of sale) which yielded a signature in Chinese characters!

11/11/2018

Tip #4 for Chinese Family History Research

Understanding how Chinese Language functions

When you are researching your Chinese ancestors you don't need to know how to read Chinese, however you do need to understand about how Chinese languages functions:

- Chinese has two written forms: traditional (or complex, still used in HK, Taiwan, SE Asia, older generations in Australia) and simplified (post 1950s, official written language of mainland China).

- There are many dialects across China, so written characters will sound different depending on the dialect they are spoken in.

- Chinese languages are tonal and so can't be written in roman letters unless you use a romanisation system that provides a way to indicate tones. There is no set romanisation system for Cantonese.

- If you are researching pre-1950s Chinese arrivals to Australia then you are dealing with traditional characters and Cantonese or one of the many Cantonese dialects.

30/07/2018

01/06/2018

Guide to Chinese-Australian Family Research from Chinese Museum Melbourne Australia www.chinesemuseum.com.au

This guide describes resources of particular interest to those researching their ChineseAustralian ancestry. It should be used to supplement standard family research at libraries, historical societies and genealogical societies.
The following three steps are a good way to start your general family research:
1. Gather as much information as possible from family members and family stories.
2. Obtain Australian birth, death and marriages certificates which provide
information about the family’s original Chinese Australian ancestor. An Australian
marriage certificate should provide information about an ancestor‘s birthplace and
parents. Sometimes a Chinese groom will have signed his name in Chinese
characters, which is valuable information and occasionally the birthplace named
is more specific than the normal ‘Canton’ or ‘China’. Birth registrations may also
provide tiny but useful pieces of information
3. Visit the genealogical section of your state or territory library and your local
genealogical society
Chinese Names
Typically Chinese have three characters to their name, sometimes two, which translate to a
three syllable name. Traditionally the first character is the ‘family name’ but overseas
Chinese also swap their names around to suit western conventions.
Chinese names can change over a person’s lifetime. It was common for babies to be given a
‘baby name’ which was used instead for their name for the first few years of their life. Some
people also changed their names when they retired. Women do not traditionally take their
husband’s name.
Often many Chinese names in English have the term ‘Ah’ or ‘A’ at the start such as ‘Ah Lee’.
The ‘Ah’ does not have a meaning. It is simply a way of indicating that the next word is the
person’s given name and was used as a way of addressing friends. These type of names
were often mistakenly entered into documentation as people’s names and over time were
joined as one word and eventually become the family surname. There are also a number of
examples of families who became known by their business name rather than their actual
name.
The only way to accurately know your ancestor’s Chinese name is to have the Chinese
characters for it. As Chinese is a tonal language it is not possible to translate the Chinese
name accurately into English unless a system such as pinyin is used. It is not possible to
work backwards from English without guesswork. This is further complicated by the fact that
names may sound different depending on the Chinese dialect used to pronounce them.
As is standard with genealogical research it is important to search as many variations of a
person’s name as you can think of. This can include different spellings which might provide
the same sound.
For further information about the Chinese naming practices and how they work in both
Australia and China see some of the items below:
• Bai Jia Xing = 100 most common Chinese surnames edited by Cynthia Wang
(Melbourne, Vic: Word Connection, 1997)
• Chung, Yoon-Ngan, The origin of Chinese surnames (Nedlands, W.A., Yoon-Ngan
Chung through Rio Bay Publishing, 2000)
• Jones, Russell, Chinese names: the traditions surrounding the use of Chinese
surnames and personal names (Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia: Pelanduk
Publications, c1997)
• Kehrer Jon, ‘The Bai Jia Xing or Book of Hundred Surnames’, in The Ancestral
Searcher, Vol 24, No 2, June 2001, pp.60-73
• Kehrer, Jon, ‘Who Was “John Chinaman”’, in The Ancestral Searcher, Vol 24, No 4,
December 2001, pp201-205
• Kehrer, Jon, ‘Honourable Ancestors: My Search for the Chinese Connection’, in The
Ancestral Searcher, Vol 27, No 4 December 2004, pp.328-333 is a discussion of how
the author gradually found his ancestor’s name, its Chinese characters and
eventually the location of his ancestral village and relatives.
• Presland, G., ‘Some difficulties in researching Chinese ancestry’ in From gold to
federation: papers from the Fourth Victoria Family State Conference, ed. Noelle Oke
(Melbourne, Vic, Penfolk Publishing, 2001)
Chinese family trees: Jiapu and zupu
Traditionally Chinese have kept family genealogical records, jiapu, and clan or lineage
records, zupu. These records normally are patrilineal. The Family History Library of the
Mormon Church in Salt Lake City has a large collection of these Chinese genealogical
records. A visit to your local Family History library to consult their catalogues may help to
ascertain whether there is anything in these records which may be of use. The actual
microfilms would then need to be ordered from the head library in Salt Lake City. As the
records are in Chinese any initial inquiry and consultation of the records would need to be
undertaken with the assistance of a person familiar with the Chinese language.
Arriving and Leaving
Chinese immigrants and their descendants not only travelled to Australia but they also made
repeated visits back to China and Hong Kong for business and family reasons. Many also
tried to return home before they died and if this was not possible some families organised for
their bodies to be exhumed and the bones returned to China. Shipping lists documented the
arrivals and departures of individuals to colonies in Australia.
Shipping lists for Victoria (http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au) are held at Victorian Public
Records Office has digitised indexes for inward unassisted shipping from 1852-1923 and
outward passengers currently up to 1852-1901. Not all shipping passenger lists have
survived and some lists for ships with Chinese passengers merely state there were a certain
number of Chinese passengers in steerage. If a possible name and ship is found on the
online index it is important to check the microfiche of the inward passenger lists from foreign
ports. The microfiche show the actual passenger lists and may provide more detail, such as
whether someone travelled in steerage or as a cabin or saloon passenger, their gender, their
birthplace and their occupation. Two places where the microfiche are available are the
Victorian Public Records Office and at the Genealogical Society of Victoria.
Shipping lists for New South Wales (http://mariners.records.nsw.gov.au). Mariners and
ships in Australian waters 1845 to 1922 is an ongoing project to scan and index the
passenger lists for ships visiting Sydney. The lists provide the names of people who were
passengers for Sydney and the ships’ crew. Chinese people who landed in Sydney may
have later travelled to Victoria. A large number of the crewmen on the ships especially those
coming from Hong Kong and Singapore were Chinese. Their names are also listed on this
site. This is not the case for the Victorian shipping lists.
Restrictions on Chinese immigration meant that Chinese who had been living in Australia
and were exempt from these restrictions needed travel documents in order to freely return
to Australia after travelling overseas. They might travel on a range of different kinds of
documents – birth certificates, naturalisation certificates or exemption certificates (see Dr
Kate Bagnall’s discussion of this documentation - http://chineseaustralia.org/?p=838). Much
is this documentation is held by the National Archives of Australia and can be accessed
through RecordSearch (http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/recordsearch/index.aspx). Some
material can also be found in State government archive collections.
Naturalisation and Citizenship
Prior to Australia’s federation in 1901 naturalisation was legislated independently by each
Colony and those naturalised became British subjects. From the 1880s restrictions were
placed on Chinese wanting to naturalise. These took different forms in different colonies. In
1903 Chinese were prevented legislatively from being naturalised across Australia. Before
restrictions were enforced Chinese did become naturalised. Applications for naturalisation,
rejected applications and cancelled and confiscated naturalisation certificates can be found
in State government archives and the National Archives of Australia.
Research Guides and Support
The Chinese Australia website (previously Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation,
CHAF) contains a ‘Resources’ page (http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/resources.htm)
which acts as a portal to the wide range of Chinese Australian historical resources published
on the web. Links to the digital material listed in this guide can also be found on this page.
The ‘Chinese Australian History Resources’ database
(http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/history.htm) on the same website lists over 2,500
published and unpublished materials related to the history of Chinese in Australia including
newspaper articles, theses, monographs, books and journal articles and oral histories in both
English and Chinese language.
A number of published guides have been produced to guide researchers to ChineseAustralian
materials. Trove, a search facility run by the National Library of Australia, can be
used to locate the following printed material in Australian libraries.
• Boey, Danny, Basic guide to Chinese genealogy (Singapore, Chinese Roots, 2002)
• Chao, Sheau-ueh J, In search of your Asian roots: genealogical research on Chinese
surnames (Baltimore, Md., Clearfield, 2000)
• Chinn, A.R. You are royalty: a guide to your Chinese ancestor (Toronto, A.R. Chinn,
2002)
• Jones, Paul, Chinese-Australians journeys: records on travel, migration and
settlement, 1860-1975 (Canberra, National Archives of Australia, 2005)
• Stacker, Julie & Stewart, Peter, Chinese Immigrants and Chinese-Australians in
NSW (Canberra, National Archives of Australia, 1998). Also available in modified
web format (http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/naa.htm)
• Young, Faye & van Barneveld, Nicole, Sources for Chinese local history and heritage
in New South Wales (Kareela, N.S.W., F. Young: Alexandria, N.S.W., N. van
Barneveld, 1997)
• Paul Jones & Terri McCormack, ‘Chinese Australians: A guide to holdings in the
Mitchell Library’ (http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/mitchell.htm)
An increasing number of people are creating blogs and websites that document their
research successes and findings. The following might be of interest:
• The tiger’s mouth: thoughts on the history and heritage of Chinese Australia
(http://chineseaustralia.org). This is a monthly blog maintained by Kate Bagnall. It
contains interesting and useful material about Chinese Australians with special
reference to the documents held by the National Archives of Australia and
undertaking Chinese-Australian family history.
• Chinese Rural Victoria (http://chineseruralvictoria.wordpress.com/). This is a blog
maintained by Carol Holsworth. It has interesting material on Chinese herbalists but
also refers to other aspects of Chinese Australian life in rural Victoria.
• Taishan Genealogy: A Sze Yup County in Guangdong Province China
(http://www.apex.net.au/~jgk/taishan/menu.html). Many of the Chinese who came to
Victoria came from Taishan district in Guangdong (Canton until 1922) Province. This
excellent website is especially designed for people interested in Taishan ancestry but
is useful for anyone familiarising themselves with their Chinese background.
• Journal of Chinese Australia (JCA) (http://www.purl.org/jca). JCA is a free, online
journal dedicated to providing access to research and resources on the history and
culture of Chinese people in Australia. It is a place for family and community
researchers, historians and students to share their ideas and questions.
Aside from local historical societies and museums, which specialise in the places where your
ancestor may have lived and worked, there are a range of organisations which specialise in
Chinese-Australian history. These include:
• Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria Inc (CAFHOV)
(http://purl.com/cafhov) are a group of people researching in the area of Chinese
Australian family history. Their website contains information on how to contact them.
It also contains links to other institutions and organisations in Australia which may be
able to assist with Australian Chinese family research.
• Chinese-Australian Historical Association Inc is based in Brisbane, Queensland.
Queries about Chinese Queensland family research should be directed to the
President, Ray P**n at rnp@smartchat.net.au.
• Chinese Australian Historical Society Inc (http://cahs.wordpress.com) is based in
Sydney, New South Wales. Enquiries by email.
• Chinese Heritage Association of Australia Inc (http://www.chineseheritage.org.au)
is based in Sydney, New South Wales and is a community organisation set up to
promote the study and discussion of the history of the Chinese community in
Australia.
• Chinese Heritage in Northern Australia (CHINA Inc) (http://chinainc.yolasite.com)
is based in Cairns, Queensland and is committed to promoting research and study
into the Chinese Australian experience in northern Australia. Requests by email
through their website.
• Chinese Heritage Interest Network (http://www.chinese-heritage.tripod.com) is a
not-for-profit research group with an interest in the Chinese heritage of regional
Victoria.
• Chung Wah Association (http://www.chungwah.org.au/) was established in Perth,
Western Australia in 1909 to meet the social, cultural and political needs of Chinese
in Western Australia and has become the representative body for the Chinese
community in Western Australia.
• Golden Dragon Museum (http://www.goldendragonmuseum.org/library.html)
displays the living history of the Chinese people of Bendigo, from the 1850's gold
rush to the present day. Ming Yeung Library and Joan Jack OAM Research Centre
can be accessed by appointment (http://www.goldendragonmuseum.org/library.html).
An index of Chinese Family names which are associated with objects and
photographs in their collection can be found on their website.
• Migration Museum (http://www.history.sa.gov.au/migration/migration.htm) has
exhibitions and material related to the history of Chinese in South Australia in its
collection.
• Museum of Chinese Australian History (http://www.chinesemuseum.com.au) is a
national museum that explores and preserves the history and heritage of Chinese in
Australia. Information about the Museum’s collection is available by email. The
Museum has a Research Library catalogue can be accessed at
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/MCAH.
• Northern Territory Chinese Museum (http://www.chungwahnt.asn.au/) is part of the
Chung Wah Society and based in Darwin. It aims to encourage greater awareness
and understanding of the history of the Chinese in the Territory.
Digitised historical resources
Australia
Chinese Australian Historic images in Australia (CHIA)
(http://www.chia.chinesemuseum.com.au) website is a catalogue of historical images of
Chinese, Chinese immigrants and their descendants held in Australia. It draws on the
photographic holdings of the Museum of Chinese Australian History but also includes
photographs from other online archives, publications and private family collections.
Chinese Australian History Collections Online
(http://www.kuomintang.org.au/en/en_index.aspx) contains an inventory of material from the
Chinese Consulate-General which had an office in Melbourne from 1908 to 1929 and then in
Sydney from 1929 to 1951 and also material from the Kuo Min Tang (KMT) societies in
Melbourne and Sydney. Members of these societies are mentioned in their records.
Chinese people living in Australia at times used the Chinese Consulate-General to help them
negotiate with the Australian Government over immigration and trade matters.
Christianity and the Chinese 1800s-1900s
(http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/welch/index.htm) developed by Ian Welch contains
information about Chinese missions, Christian births, marriages, burials and a bibliography
of material related to the study of the Chinese in the West Pacific-Oceania region together
with other references to Chinese history and culture and the nineteenth century evangelical
missionary movement.
Kok, Hu Jin, Chinese cemeteries in Australia, (Bendigo, Vic., Golden Dragon Museum,
c2002). Many volumes listing the inscriptions on Chinese grave stones and their location in
the Chinese sections of cemeteries in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, Western
Australia and the Northern Territory.
Victoria
Melbourne Chinatown Streets Database, 1900-1920, 1930 & 1940
(http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/chinatown.htm) is a database of information drawn from
the Melbourne Sands & McDougall Street directories for Little Bourke Street, between
Swanston and Spring Street and the lanes coming off the street.
Published on the Chinese Australia website, Fading links to China
(http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/brumley/brumley.htm) includes the following databases of
information:
• Chinese-Australian Inquests for Victoria, 1840 -1880
• Listing of Chinese Burial Records - Ballarat Old Cemetery
• Listing of Chinese Burial Records – Ballarat New Cemetery
• Chinese Admissions Ballarat Hospital 1858 – 1880
Published on the Chinese Heritage Interest Network website is:
• Register of Chinese Patients – Ballarat Asylum, 1893 -1907
• Register of Chinese Patients – Ballarat Asylum, 1877 – 1884
• Register of Chinese Patients – Collingwood, 1864 - 1871
• Register of Chinese Patients – Beechworth Asylum, 1867 – 1884
• Register of Chinese Patients – Yarra Bend Asylum, 1848 – 1912
• Register of Chinese Patients – Ararat Asylum, 1867 - 1884
• Register of Chinese Patients – Kew, 1871 - 884
• Register of Chinese Patients – Sunbury Asylum, 1879 -1912
• Index of some Chinese Exhumation Requests (Victoria)
• Index of Male Prisoners with Chinese Surnames (Victoria)
• Index of Female Prisoners with Chinese Surnames (Victoria)
• Chinese Deaths in the Melbourne Hospital copied from the Argus 1868 -1880
Chinese memorials & memories: the White Hills Cemetery, (Bendigo, Vic., Golden
Dragon Museum)
New South Wales
Golden Threads (http://www.archive.amol.org.au/goldenthreads/collections) website
contains a database of people with Chinese ancestry, their objects and the places lived and
worked in rural NSW along with an online exhibition and stories.
Jones, Doris Yau-Chong, Remembering the forgotten: Chinese gravestones in
Rookwood Cemetery 1917-1949, (Pymble, NSW, 2003).
Chinese-language Newspapers
The Chinese Times (1902-1922) was published in Melbourne and was a Chinese-language
newspaper with some English-language advertisements. A microfilm copy of this newspaper
is available in the Newspaper Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria.
Tung Wah newspaper (1898-1936) was published in Chinese but there is an Englishlanguage
index (http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/tungwah.htm). The name of the
newspaper changed its name from the Tung Wah News to Tung Wah Times in 1902.
Some other Chinese newspapers were the Chinese Australian Herald (1894-c1920s), the
Chinese World’s News or Gong Bao (or The Bulletin). More information about these and
other Chinese newspapers is available on the CHAF site at
http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/resources.htm.
Some other things to try…
Newspapers in Australian Libraries (http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper) is a growing digital
archive of newspapers (currently only English) in Australia.
Government Gazettes, Police Gazettes and Street Directories contain hundreds of
thousands of names and have been digitised by Archives Digital Books Australia. The
search facility for the digitised versions is very user friendly. Hard copies of the gazettes and
microfiche copies of directories are available in State Libraries.
The Genealogical Society of Victoria (GSV) library has developed an electronic index of
approximately 4 million names mostly relating to Victoria known as LINX
(http://www.gsv.org.au). It contains a large number of Chinese names. The GSV offers a
Free Trial Name Search.
Oral history collections of the Northern Territory Archive Service, National Library of
Australia, Museum of Chinese Australian History, Golden Dragon Museum and State Library
of Victoria.
This guide was compiled by Pauline Rule and Sophie Couchman for the Chinese Museum, June
2011. Any corrections or additions should be emailed to curator@chinesemuseum.com.au.