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Post by kimmalloy on Jan 26, 2021 17:50:52 GMT -5
Hello! I am doing some research on my family history and was hoping that I could get some leads. I only know a few things about my father's family. My father, Jack Gar Tom was born in China on July 7th, 1937. He was born in Turtle Hill Village, Kwong Hoi City, Toi Sand County in Kwong Dong Province. His dad's name was Mow Doo Tom and his mother's name was Hong Guen Tom. He had 5 brothers (Hing, San, The, Tommy and Lin) and 3 sisters (Kim, May and Diane). I also know that his father worked in Regina when he first came to Canada and then took several trips back to China to bring some of his children to Canada. He died in Hong Kong I believe in the early 1990s. That is all I know about his family. He immigrated to Canada I believe in the late 1940's or early 1950's and has been in the Toronto area since then. Any help with new information would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by Henry on Jan 26, 2021 20:18:16 GMT -5
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Post by kimmalloy on Jan 26, 2021 21:37:47 GMT -5
Thank you for the information Henry! I think that I have found his father's immigration record and my dad's naturalization records for Canada but still doing more research.   |
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andytan
Member
If you'd like to reach me, please feel free to send me an email via tomguojie@gmail.com
Posts: 85
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Post by andytan on Jan 27, 2021 6:25:08 GMT -5
Hello. I was wondering if you could with me the source of your Canadian Gazette source?
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Post by kimmalloy on Jan 27, 2021 8:22:24 GMT -5
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Post by Henry on Jan 27, 2021 10:00:53 GMT -5
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andytan
Member
If you'd like to reach me, please feel free to send me an email via tomguojie@gmail.com
Posts: 85
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Post by andytan on Jan 27, 2021 10:22:23 GMT -5
Would you by any chance have the specific link / search form that document? I use the same link from the Canadian Government to search for my great grandfather's documents, but I never encountered any document like that before.
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Post by kimmalloy on Jan 27, 2021 17:04:24 GMT -5
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Post by kimmalloy on Jan 27, 2021 17:15:02 GMT -5
THANK YOU HENRY. I WILL SEE WHAT I CAN FIND ON THERE TOO. TO BE HONEST I REALLY DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT MY FATHER'S HISTORY. HE HAD TOLD ME SEVERAL STORIES OF LIFE GROWING UP, BUT WITHOUT SPECIFIC DATES AND ANY CERTIFICATES, I REALLY DONT KNOW HOW MUCH I CAN FIND OUT ABOUT HIS HISTORY. HE MARRIED MY MOM BUT WE NEVER KNEW ANY OF HIS FAMILY THAT WAS LIVING IN CANADA BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T APPROVE OF MY MOM. TWO YEARS AGO I MOVED TO THE Middle East WITH MY HUSBAND AND I LOST TOUCH WITH MY DAD. THE PHONE NUMBERS AND ADDRESS WE HAD IN TORONTO FOR HIM HAVE BEEN DISCONNECTED AND HIS CONDO IS SOLD. I DONT EVEN KNOW IF HE IS STILL ALIVE. I AM HOPING THAT SOMETHING IN THIS SEARCH WILL BRING ME SOME INFORMATION TO LOCATE HIM. I KNOW IT IS A LONG SHOT TO SEARCH BUT I AM TRYING TO SEE WHAT I CAN FIND OUT. STORIES HE TOLD ME OF HIS LIFE IN CHINA ARE LIMITED. I KNOW THAT THEY WERE NOT POOR AND THAT THEY OWNED A BUNCH OF JUNK SHIPS THAT THEY RENTED OUT TO FISHERMEN. HE TOLD ME THAT HE HAD SERVANTS AND THAT WHEN COMMUNIST CHINA COME IN THEY HUNG HIS MOTHER UP BY HER THUMBS UNTIL THE FAMILY TOLD THEM WHERE ALL THE GOLD/MONEY WAS HIDDEN. THEY ENDED UP MOVING TO CANADA ONE BY ONE WITH HIS DAD COMING FIRST AND GOING TO REGINA TO WORK AS A COOK FOR THE GOVERNOR. HE WENT BACK AND FORTH TO CHINA TO BRING SOME OF THE CHILDREN TO CANADA. MY DAD AND HIS BROTHER SETTLED IN THE TORONTO AREA, BUT A FEW OF HIS SIBLINGS ENDED UP IN REGINA AND IN ALBERTA. HIS FATHER EVENTUALLY WENT BACK TO CHINA AROUND THE TIME THAT HIS WIFE DIED AND SETTLED IN Hong Kong. THEY OWNED A FEW HIGH RISE APARTMENT BUILDINGS THERE. I KNOW THAT MY DAD HAD ANOTHER FAMILY IN CHINA...WITH A WIFE AND A DAUGHTER THAT WAS EDUCATED IN ENGLAND AND BECAME A DENTIST. THAT IS THE EXTENT OF MY KNOWLEDGE OTHER THAN THE LIST OF IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS THAT I LISTED IN AN EARLIER POST. ANY MORE INFORMATION THAT YOU COULD GIVE ME TO SHED ANY LIGHT ON HIS FAMILY WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
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Post by Henry on Jan 27, 2021 19:42:42 GMT -5
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Post by kimmalloy on Jan 27, 2021 20:01:29 GMT -5
Henry,
It is quite the confusing and difficult history. I am just starting this whole investigation but hopefully I will learn some more about our family history.
The mistake I made was not getting any of the history while I had my dad around in my daily life. However, marriage and raising small children has a
way of getting in the way. Once my mom died, my dad moved back to Toronto and we didn't speak as often as we could/should have. Which brings us
to where we are now, very little information to do research. So, we will see what I can find. I will watch your video and hopefully that will help me learn
how to start the search given lack of knowledge of reading, speaking and writing in Cantonese or Mandarin. Thank you for sending me the link.
Kim
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Post by kimmalloy on Feb 20, 2021 17:01:55 GMT -5
 Is there anyone that can translate this headstone for me? I would appreciate any help that could be provided as I am trying to trace my ancestry. |
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Post by gckimm on Feb 21, 2021 18:56:20 GMT -5
Hi kimmalloy:
The bottom part of the headstone is cut off in the photo, so some of the Chinese characters are not visible. However, the names and dates appear to be the same as what you see there in English. I will translate what does not appear in English in the hope that some of the information may be helpful to you.
The surname of your grandmother Hong Quen is Leung 梁 (also spelled Leong) in Cantonese.
Your grandfather's formal name was Kow Yip 球業.
The most interesting thing that I see on the headstone is the name of your grandfather's native place. It does not appear to match the information you have given previously about the birth place of your father. There could be at least a couple of reasons for the discrepancy, including the possibility that 1) your grandfather moved before the birth of your father or 2) the Turtle Hill Village location is false. Again, some of the characters are not visible, including the name of your grandfather's village. But what is visible is that the village (which begins with the character Loong 龍--"dragon") is in the township of Sing Sai 城西鄉. This location is near the capital of what used to be Toishan (Mandarin Taishan) County--and is a distance from Kwong Hoi.
It would be helpful to get another shot of that headstone.
Greg
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Post by kimmalloy on Feb 21, 2021 22:37:17 GMT -5
Greg,
Thank you so much for your translation. Once the virus lockdown is lifted in Toronto my brother will go and take another photo of the headstone so that we can see the whole thing. Once I do that, I will repost it and hopefully that will shed some more light on his history. I just know what my dad wrote down on a paper for him about where he was born. I do know that he left China in his early teens, so maybe he was mistaken on what he wrote down. Do you think it would be out of the ordinary for my grandfather to have moved villages? I have just learned that he passed away while I was in the Middle East, so we are also waiting to get a picture of his headstone so that we can get more information. I appreciate you taking the time to help me!!!
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andytan
Member
If you'd like to reach me, please feel free to send me an email via tomguojie@gmail.com
Posts: 85
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Post by andytan on Feb 21, 2021 22:53:45 GMT -5
If you can provide me with the Chinese characters of your father's and paternal grandfather's names I could search up your lineage and post it below.
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