Paper Trails: Travels with Anglo-Chinese Australians, 1900–1939
I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve been awarded the National Archives of Australia’s Ian Maclean Award for 2012. My project is called Paper Trails: Travels with Anglo-Chinese Australians, 1900–1939. I’m looking to start the project towards the end of…
‘Paper trails’: my presentation at the 5th WCILCOS conference
I’m still digesting all that I heard at the 5th WCILCOS conference and cogitating about the exciting possibilities for international collaborative work that have emerged from it. I’m hoping to pull together some more thoughts about my discussions with folk…
Two Lower George Street babies, 1861
Early Christmas presents in the Chen Ateak and Leau Appa families in 1861. I wonder if Mrs Chen Ateak and Mrs Leau Appa were friends? From the Sydney Morning Herald, 24 December 1861. [Actually, there’s an interesting story to tell…
Chinese New Year in Sydney – 150 years of history
Chinese New Year has been celebrated in Australia for over 150 years—since the first festivities were held in the late 1850s. The first newspaper reference I can find about Chinese New Year being celebrated in Sydney is from 1862, when…
William Chie, fruitgrower, of Carlingford
This guest post by Carlene Bagnall tells the story of William Chie, an Anglo-Chinese fruitgrower and poultry farmer from the Carlingford–Epping area in Sydney. Carlene came upon William Chie’s story while researching the history of the Epping Seventh-day Adventist Church….
NSW History Week 2011: EAT (Chinese Australian) History
The theme for this year’s NSW History Week is EAT History – the edible, appetising and tasty history of food. Not surprisingly there are a number of events highlighting the connection between Chinese Australian history and food. It may not…
LJ Hooker’s Chinese roots
His name is known across the country, but until recently the true story of LJ Hooker’s early life was unknown, even to his own family. Now, after five years of research, writing and production, Natalia Hooker has published a lavish…
Going against the grain
I’ve just begun writing a book chapter about the travels of white wives of Chinese men from Australia/NZ to China in the period 1880 to 1930. It’s a topic that I’ve been gathering material on for years and years, but…
Birth certificate registers
In October 1913 Secretary of the Department of External Affairs, Atlee Hunt, sent a circular to the state Customs departments asking if they kept records of Chinese Australians who used their birth certificates as identity papers when travelling overseas. Queensland…
Form 21(i): Certificate of Domicile, 1902
This is the first in a series of five posts that looks at the different iterations of Form 21 over the first decade of the 20th century. Form 21 is better known as a Certificate of Domicile or Certificate Exempting…