Chinese Australians

[Henry]

This may be of interest:

Chinese Australians: A Guide to Holdings at the Mitchell Library
compiled and edited by Paul Jones & Terri McCormack

This 58 page bibliography (PDF) is available from:

www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/pdf/mitchell.pdf

"Preface and Acknowledgements

The Chinese characters in the box on the cover of this Guide
translate as, ‘Australia and China, an interchange of history’, while
the other characters read as ‘the contribution of Chinese to the
Australian Federation’.

These notions are central to the work of the ‘Chinese Heritage of
Australian Federation Project’, a collaborative project involving La
Trobe University and the Museum of Chinese Australian History,
Melbourne, and East China Normal University, Shanghai. Project
outcomes include the recovery and presentation of historical
materials and indexes concerning Chinese Australians; translation
of Chinese-language historical documents; a world-wide-web site;
travelling exhibitions; and publications. The Project is supported by
the National Council for the Centenary of Federation.

Further details on the project can be found at
www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au. This ‘Web Page’ houses
research materials and guides, as well as an index to the Tung Wah
Times newspaper.

The Project is grateful for the assistance of State Library of New
South Wales for its permission to reproduce the images used in the
Guide."

Enjoy !


Henry

[geoff]

At the Mitchell Library in Sydney, we found my great great grandfather's interview at the "1891 NSW Royal Commission on alleged chinese gambling and immorality & charges of bribery against members of the police force, Sydney".
The commission was really an inquiry into how the chinese lived & earned their income in 1890's Sydney. A 4 page question & * revealed my gggf's business locations & interests in market gardening & poulty farming. The report described the daily workings of a market garden, how much the farm workers were paid & that they worked 6 days from dawn to dusk, with only watering & harvesting on Sunday. My gggf had only been in Australia for 17 years but his interview at the Royal commission has generously added to the early stages of our family history in Australia. Many Chinese were interviewed in this 494 page report.

Geoff

[Deleted]

My father parents and mothers father come from a subset of Chinese Australians known as the Papua New Guinea Chinese (PNG-Chinese or New Guinea Chinese). These chinese generally came over to the Island of New Guinea during the last decade of the 19th century or during the pre WWII decades of the 20th century. During this time the northern half of New Guinea was first a German colony ("German New Guinea") from 1884-1914, thereafrer it became the Territory of New Guinea (as a League of Nations Mandate Territory) under Australian administration. The southern half of the Island of New Guinea was annexed as "British New Guinea" from 1884 until 1902, when it was transferred to direct Australian administration.

Almost no Chinese were known in the Papua region until after WWII. However there was a healthy population of Chinese (and a smaller contigent of Malays) that thrived in the New Guinea portion. They came either as:
1. Free settlers/immigrants
2. Indentured labourers (especially in the early years under German rule)

In the 19th century many Chinese served out their indenture under their German employers and then returned home. Some stayed. Two sets of my great grandparents came over as free immigrants and settled in Rabaul (New Britain district), whilst another set of my great grandparents arrived separately as indentured labourers, met and married, and decided to stay on in the Madang district of New Guinea.

During the Japanese occupation in WWII many chinese were evacuated to Australia in 1942-43, among them 3 of my grandparents and their families. After the war ended some decided to stay in Australia and were, in time, granted citizenship (until then they were classified as aliens and refugees of war). Many also returned to New Guinea to rebuild their former lives and businesses. Whatever happened, whether in Australia or New Guinea these Chinese always tended to maintain close ties, though some of their identity gradually merged with that of their Australian Chinese counterparts. When they had contact with them, the mainland chinese would frequent regard the New Guinea Chinese as "Bush Chinese" who spoke a a coarser lingo, and thus looked down on them

The 'old' New Guinea Chinese were quite a distinct and cohesive community. However since independence came to Papua New Guinea in 1975, many of these migrated to Australia when given the choice by the Australian government. They saw New Guinea as having it's heyday of opportunities past, and saw the future for their children in Australia. Many of the old chinese, their children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren lingered on into the 1980's and 1990's but with each passing year there are fewer and fewer. Cantonese is less heard now that a new wave of mandarin-speaking mainlander and chinese malay immigrants are increasingly supplanting the old New Guinea mob.

The old New Guinea Chinese mainly reside in Brisbane, Sydney, and to a lesser extent Melbourne and PNG now.

I have found records for the early years to be very sparse indeed, however I have by no means searched all the available resources yet. If you search the National Archives of Australia you will find some individual files of Chinese who migrated to the Territory of the New Guinea in the pre-war period, as well as much general information on the chinese. From WWII onward the information becomes much more substantial with quite extensive files and lists being kept on the Chinese who were evacuated down to Australia, and for years afterward their movements/activities were monitored. The Australian authorities wanted to keep a close eye on these aliens who were only suppose to stay for the duration of the war. A few of whom were suspected of being Japanese sympathizers (my maternal granfather among them - he wasn't as it turned out). Eventually almost all were granted citizenship some years after the war. Again, these files are all in scattered in the National Archives of Australia, mainly in the NSW branch, but also in Queensland, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.

There are a couple of useful books when have some information on the New Guinea Chinese, and I can give their references if required. I certainly haven't covered all the material that is available on New Guinea Chinese, and I'm certain there exists more information which I haven't discovered yet. The research is slow and sporadic, but if anyone is interested in the New Guinea Chinese, I'd be happy to help out or offer advice.

Cheers
Adam

[geoff]

Thank you Adam for your info on ex New Guinea Chinese at the National Archives of Australia, Chester Hill NSW. I'll pass this info onto a lady who arrived in Sydney as a child from NG during WW2. I was planning to enquire on my next visit to Chester Hill.

I've been discovering Certificates of Domicile & Certificates of Exempting from Dictation Test from 1902 to 1939 at Chester Hill. These documents have "locked in" family info & photos of those who were fortunate enough to afford a trip to China.

Regards,
Geoff

[geoff]

The New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages.........a great site for those looking for NSW registered births, marriages & deaths, with limited info & it's FREE. Can buy copy of certificate from Registry or transcription agent.

NSW births to 1907, marriages to 1957 & deaths to 1977 are available online at www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/, Family History, Search Historical Indexes..........

[kerry]

Caveats for using the indexes of the all the BDM registeries and the Australian National Archive RecordSearch (hey, I was at Chester Hill yesterday too!) Even if you think you know the name that a Chinese used to fill in forms, be ready to try variations in spelling. I've also hit a few records where the index entry is wrong.

I'm currently trawling the CEDT's looking for my ggfather. Unfortunately, he ended up using Ah Young to fill in forms. Bit common.

[geoff]

I usually visit Chester Hill on the only Saturday morning of the month that they are open.

I've found many Certificates of Domicile (COD) & Certificates of Exempting from Dictation Test (CEDT) at Chester Hill over the past 2-3 years. They are a great source of info especially the attached photos. I've found CODs & CEDT's starting with gggfather's July 1902 COD & photos. The personal references are also interesting. CODs & CEDTs were issued to those born overseas.

World war 2 service records & naturalisation can also be digitised at Australian National Archives Canberra.


Kerry,
Have you found travel info on those born in Aust at Chester Hill?

[geoff]

Kerry,

Can you imagine how many "Wong" files I've viewed at NAA Chester Hill? When I completed my search of the "Wongs", I spent many Saturdays trawling thru files straight from archive boxes. A couple of years ago, all files hadn't been barcoded yet.

I'm also interested in Wong files in NAA Canberra & Melbourne.

[geoff]

Kerry,

I've also searched "Ah Young" files at the NAA Chester Hill. It was one of gggf's "also known as" names in Sydney in early 1900's.

[helen]

Hi Kerry - any idea what villages the Wongs that you were searching, came from. Are you people Zeng Cheng people (Jungseng) or are your people from Si Yip? My husband is a Zeng Cheng Wong - his village is along the railway line between Canton and HK.

[kerry]

Nope - Geoff's looking for Wong's, not I. At least not yet. ;-)

[geoff]

Hello Kerry,

I've sent you a "message" on this site.

[geoff]

Hello Kerry,

Up until a couple of years ago, files located NAA Sydney (Chester Hill - CH) couldn't be digitised online. So one would view the NAA database online, submit a written request to view & travel half way across town to visit CH. Over a couple of years, I viewed hundreds of files & only photocopied a few.

Now, files can be digitised online by paying $16.50 per file & never leave home. It's a bit expensive if you pay for too many "unwanted files" or the file only contains a couple of pages, such as COD or CEDT. It's a great service if one isn't able to visit Chester Hill or lives interstate.

I'm in the process of compiling a list of files that I'll be taking digit images of on future visits. To my surprise & delight I've found some of those files have been digitised online. Revisit the site & see if you have the same.

Geoff

[kerry]

Which may indicate that there's someone looking for the same person - this is friendlier than the UK archive - they let "you" look at something for a few days, then they delete it.

As an aside, there was a programme announced last year to begin digitizing all immigration records. Haven't seen any announcements of progress though - maybe, like everyone else, they ran out of money :-(

[June]

If Adam is still a member of the list I would be interested in hearing what books are available on the Chinese in Rabaul. My husbands family went there in 1939 and I have been able to find little information on why they went, how they got there etc.

Thank you