RESEARCHING CHEUNG ANCESTRY

[cheunglab]

Hello all,
I am researching my family ancestry on my father's side. My grandfather's name was Hing Woon Cheung, b. July 4, sometime between 1900 and 1905 in perhaps Shiquli (石渠里) and died on June 28, 1998 in San Francisco. Having married more than once, he was a father of 11 children: 3 sons and 8 daughters; my father being the oldest son and the 5th child. As I understand it, my grandfather was a carpenter and furniture maker. He also built coffins.

When I was growing up, I heard my family mentioning their hometown of Shek Kay, which is probably Shiquli (石渠里) as described in one of the earlier threads:

siyigenealogy.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=maps&action=display&thread=727

Any helpful information is greatly appreciated.

Attachments:

[douglaslam]

Hi Cheunglab

石岐 Shiqi ( in pinyin) or Shekki Cantonese) may have been the township your family had been referring to. It is a major township on the Pearl River Delta, and ancestral home to many overseas Chinese. I was born there, so I was told, but my home village is a few miles away. The town is now the hub of Zhongshan City, a recent name change to embrace the greater Zhongshan ( Chungshan) County. For we the native sons of Chungshan, it is always Shekki.

I am sure our expert panel can extend further help if you could supply more clues.

Douglas

[Henry]

Hi Cheunglab,

Welcome to the Forum.

It will not be necessary to find your ancestral village, as you have already identified the location of your ancestral villge from the maps I posted on a previous thread:

siyigenealogy.proboards.com/index....play&thread=727

I am wondering if your grandfather, "Hing Woon Cheung" was in fact a "paper son" and your true surname is Chen/Chan/Chin 陳

According to the Village Database, your ancestral village [ 石渠里 ] is located in Sunwui/Xinhui county and the dominant surname of the village is Chen/Chan/Chin. This is not to say that there were no members of the Cheung clan living in the village.

Can you find your grandfather's Chinese name or take a digital photo of his gravestone, if it has Chinese characters inscribed on it - and post it on the Forum to confirm your true Chinese surname.

After you are able to find the Chinese name of your grandfather and if you would like to my Taishan nephew travel to the village to confirm that it is your ancestral village, identify any village relative, and find/copy your family genealogy book - if it still exists; please contact me at: [e-mail]

Henry