Searching for 李 Lee Family roots in Shunde Guangdong

[jeffsallylee]

Hi everyone,

My name is 李 昭 德 from Malaysia. I am a Lee second generation in Malaysia. My father was first. He was less than a year old then and was brought over to Malaysia by his mother. He never knew his father ( my grandfather ) or knew his name. All I know about my grandfather is that he was from Shunde, Guangdong.

I will be travelling to China on the 24th April 2019 and hope to dig my roots there. Please help me where to start digging. Really appreciate. Thanks and God bless you.

Regards
Jeff Lee

[Henry]

Jeff,

Without a name for your grandfather - this is very difficult. Is there any Chinese or Malaysian immigration documents left in the family? If you know your grandmother's name - it may be on a ship's passenger list that came from China and it may list the village from where she came from.

Since you are from Malaysia, there is a Shunde Association in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia:

shuntakassociationoftaiping.blogspot.com/2016/04/attending-10th-world-conference-of.html

Your grandmother or your father may have been a member of this organization and there may be some records or membership lists which might include the names of your father.

I would check to see if there are any Lee clan members of this organization - especially those Lee members that were around at the time when your father was born. It is likely that some of these Lee clan members came from the same area or Lee village in Shunde, Guangdong, China.

If you know the approximate location of the Lee villages in Shunde, I suggest visiting the largest village or nearby Lee ancestral hall to see if you can buy a copy of the village genealogy book or a Lee clan genealogy bookset from the Lee ancestral hall. Then, later on in your research, if you somehow discover the name of your grandfather - you may be able to find it in one of these books - which would provide you with the village name and/or Lee family lineage.

Good Luck,

Henry

PS - Some additional information that you can followup on:

Message from the Association President.

"Soon Tak Wooi Koon" Taiping as it was known then, was formed around the year 1896. It's primary aim is to help immigrants from Shunde, Guangdung Province of China. It was formally registered in the Registrar of Society in 1954 under the name "Persatuan Shun Tak Taiping".

I am the President of the Association since 2000. The main reason we start this Blog is to let people know that there is a Shun Tak Association in Taiping, Perak. There are only 7 Shun Tak Associations in Malaysia. we are the second oldest Association.

We are indeed very proud to be associated with Shunde Worldwide Friendship Association. Guangdung China. We have attended three of its World Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Macau and Shunde.

My grandfather was born in Daliang, Shunde. My late father was the ex President Shun Tak Association Taiping. He went back to Daliang, Shunde in 1955 to register all his children's names into our Family Ancestral Book. These Family Ancestral Books were supposed to be kept in the Village family registrar building. That building, like many other government buildings, was demolished to make way for new buildings. I am indeed very sad to say that I had spent over 10 years looking for my Family Ancestral Book. Even with the help of certain Government officials from Shunde I have yet to set my eyes on it.

Our Taiping Association is very fortunate to own a three shop lots and a heritage building. It was built over a hundred years ago. Sad to say it is now in a very deplorable state. Our mission is to restore this heritage building back to its original stature. With the help of my very hard working and loyal committee members we hope to be able to do just that.

President
Persatuan Shun Tak Taiping
James Foo Ah Soo
35A, Jalan Pasar, Taiping,
Perak, Malaysia
H/p: [phone]
email address: <[e-mail]>

[jeffsallylee]

Hi Henry

Trust that this message finds you in good health and abundance joy. Sorry for the late reply.

Appreciate your kind effort. The lead provided by you is of my first ever hope in finding my roots.Now I really do know where to start digging. Thank you so much.

God bless you, Sir.

Regards
Jeff Lee