George Taro Furuya

One of the clever functions in the Vic CEDT Search tool is the ability to search for applicants by Nationality. A search for Japanese nationals will return these eight results.

https://www.cafhov.com/vic-cedt-index/?type=advanced&search=Japanese&criteria-terms=all&criteria-field=nationality&sort-field=&sort-direction=&criteria-year=any

Untitled Showa by Mayu Kanamori is an arts project that explores the relationship between found photographs and the process of reconnecting to the people in the photographs. The project includes fascinating articles published online by descendants of George Taro Furuya. He is listed in the CEDT search results and was a laundryman based in Geelong in 1937. 

“Ada May was the eldest stepdaughter of George Taro Furuya who was the son of an American seaman and Japanese woman. He was adopted and brought up by the Furuyas in Japan and later still quite young was employed by the Mitsui Company as a shipping clerk. He left Japan at the age of 17 and eventually made his way to the USA where he worked for some years. He arrived in Australia in 1901 and married Ada May’s mother and settled down in Geelong. He ran a laundry shop as well as a ship supply business.”

After The Article in The Sunday Herald Sun by Iwane Shibuya – Untitled Showa

Dianne in Geelong ジーロングでダイアンと – by Andrew Hasegawa- Untitled Showa

The Vic CEDT Index can potentially help researchers discover more information about descendants by identifying other applicants. In this case Henry Tuckathima Nitobe was another laundryman living in Geelong around a similar time as George.

Victorian Community History Award 2021

2021 Winner, Victorian Community History Award

The project team have great pleasure to announce the “Victorian CEDT Index” is the proud recipient of the Local History Project – Victorian Community History Award 2021.

Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria (CAFHOV) is very happy to receive this award as it recognises the high value of this resource for the wider history community. It is the culmination of work from a community of passionate and dedicated people who collaborated together to create this project.
The Victorian Community History Awards are held in celebration of activities undertaken to explore and preserve the State’s history. The range of award categories acknowledge that history can be told in many and varied formats with the aim of reaching and enriching all Victorians. The Victorian Community History Awards are presented by Public Record Office Victoria in partnership with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, and supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund.


Local History Project Award
This award recognises activities that enhance access and awareness of records of significance to local communities.

Judges’ Citation
“This outstanding project digitises and transcribes records, complemented by adept search functions. The project adds value by linking the data to stories from historians, artists and community members. These additions bring the data to life, making it more engaging for audiences. This is an exciting new approach to digitisation projects. People of Chinese Australian backgrounds can be placed in their local histories now that the records are accessible.”

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