Family history research is a challenging and often fulfilling pastime.
Chinese Australian family history research can be difficult and has its own unique challenges.
This guide aims to identify those difficulties and provides you with the background information and knowledge necessary to begin your research.
Many of the resources are specific for the State of Victoria but the basic principles for research are the same.
Basic steps to getting started.
1. Learn family history research basics
Learning how to research your family history can be found in a number of good online guides such as the State Library of Victoria – Research your overseas ancestor guide [1]. There is no need to repeat the information here.
The key starting point is yourself. Document yourself and work backwards with your parents, grandparents and extended relatives.
You will need to be aware of how to use the suggested search tools and resources with a Chinese context/background.
Understanding Chinese names is one of the keys to your success.
Learn more:
- Read the key research steps – State Library of Victoria [2]
- Watch a short introduction – How to start your family history – National Library of Australia [20]
2. Learn how to manage and understand Chinese names
Searching for your Chinese ancestors in English based databases is often unsuccessful or difficult. This is due to the many variations of names your ancestor was recorded with. There can be errors in the romanization of the Chinese name into official records.
Understanding these errors and determining the possible variations will help with your search.
Document all possible variations for future searching.
Typically Chinese have three characters to their name, sometimes two, which translate to a three syllable name. Traditionally the first character is the ‘family name’ but overseas Chinese also swap their names around to suit western conventions.
Pauline Rule, Sophie Couchman. Chinese Museum
Chinese names can change over a person’s lifetime. It was common for babies to be given a ‘baby name’ which was used instead for their name for the first few years of their life. Some people also changed their names when they retired. Women do not traditionally take their husband’s name.
Often many Chinese names in English have the term ‘Ah’ or ‘A’ at the start such as ‘Ah Lee’. The ‘Ah’ does not have a meaning. It is simply a way of indicating that the next word is the person’s given name and was used as a way of addressing friends. These type of names were often mistakenly entered into documentation as people’s names and over time were joined as one word and eventually became the family surname. There are also a number of examples of families who became known by their business name rather than their actual name.
The only way to accurately know your ancestor’s Chinese name is to have the Chinese characters for it. As Chinese is a tonal language it is not possible to translate the Chinese name accurately into English unless a system such as pinyin is used. It is not possible to work backwards from English without guesswork. This is further complicated by the fact that names may sound different depending on the Chinese dialect used to pronounce them.
As is standard with genealogical research it is important to search as many variations of a person’s name as you can think of. This can include different spellings which might provide the same sound.
Read more
- (Personal Names) Finding your Chinese roots – Kate Bagnall
- Working with Chinese language when you don’t speak Chinese/ People’s names – Sophie Couchman. Journeys into Chinese Australian Family History.
3. Learn about Chinese immigration records
This background information will help you better utilise the search tools whilst looking for relatives in the NAA official records.
Colonial and then Commonwealth immigration restriction laws had a particular impact on people of Chinese and other Asian backgrounds. In particular, the Immigration Restriction Act, introduced in 1901, set out to limit the numbers of non-Europeans entering Australia. Its infamous Dictation Test could be applied to anyone entering the country, even if they were Australian-born or a naturalised British subject. Chinese who had a right of ‘domicile’ in Australia – such as Australian-born Chinese, naturalised British subjects, and those who met particular residency requirements – could apply before departure to be exempted from the Dictation Test…
K. Bagnall
If successful they were issued a Certificate of Domicile (1902–1905) or a Certificate Exempting from Dictation Test (CEDT).
These certificates are a rich source of information including names, dates, photographs, hand prints, shipping details and possibly names in Chinese characters.
Read more about these records and who they affected, where they exist and how to interpret your search results. – K. Bagnall
Search our Victorian CEDT Index for ancestors
4a. Collect family records
Speak to family members
It is essential that you make contact with any relative who may know the family stories. Your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends will be a valuable source for details about your ancestors. They will know information that is not documented anywhere else.
Too often family historians miss the opportunity to speak to elder relatives before they pass away. Start this research activity as soon as possible.
- Collect and document stories/events
- Record names and dates
- Document both English names and in Chinese characters if possible
- Audio record the story with your phone/device
- Collect photographs
- Identify the names of people, place and dates
- Ask your relative for these details and the associated stories and relationships
- Take a copy of the photograph
- Look at the back of the photograph for more details such as names, event and dates
- Collect documents
- Cards, letters, envelopes
- Any correspondence will have names and addresses of sender and recipient
- They might hold important clues to other relatives, clan members, place of origin
- Record any Chinese characters
Oral History Help
- Learn how to interview your family member – Chinese Canadian Genealogy. Vancouver Public Library.
This informative guide suggests interview techniques and interview questions. - Sharing Family Stories (video) – Janis Wilton
Key things to consider when conducting an oral history interview.
4b. Collect official records – National Archives of Australia
The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 created a wealth of information on Chinese travellers. Learn about these files and what information they contain.
Immigration records can be searched at National Archives of Australia (NAA). You will need to know the name of your ancestor as recorded in official records. Try all the variations as determined by your understanding of Chinese names discussed earlier.
Learn how to:
Read more extensive background information:
- Chinese Australians and the Immigration Restriction Act in New South Wales: A guide to finding records by Kate Bagnall, 2017
- Chinese–Australian journeys: records on travel, migration, and settlement, 1860–1975, by Paul Jones, 2005
- Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Australians in NSW, by Julie Stacker and Peri Stewart, revised 2003
4b. Collect official records – Births, Deaths & Marriages
If your ancestor was born, died or married in Victoria, you may find their records at Births, Deaths & Marriages Victoria (BDM).
Using your knowledge of Chinese name variations you can search their databases.
These records can provide
- Family name
- Given names
- Event
- Parent 1’s family name at birth / Spouse’s family name
- Parent 2’s given name / Spouse’s given name
- Reg. year
- Reg. no
4b. Collect official records – Public Records Office of Victoria
Search the Public Records Office of Victoria for useful records about people including:
Learn
4b. Collect official records – Cemeteries
Headstones of Chinese graves can hold a wealth of undocumented information, such as:
- Name in Chinese characters
- Location of ancestral village, county, province in China (in Chinese characters)
- Birth and death dates
This website records the graves of Chinese interred at the Melbourne General Cemetery from 1945 to 2013 and is continuously being updated.
Use it to search for ancestors who died in Melbourne.
Chinese graves in Melbourne General cemetery. Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria.
You will find details about each grave including
- Photographs of the grave that may include the headstone, a view of the plot and other possible photos such as facial portrait.
- Location of the grave plot within the cemetery
- A transcription of the headstone inscription – Details may include Names(English and Chinese), Dates, Locations of origin in China
The Melbourne General Cemetery was opened in 1853 and designed as a public park with curved pathways and rest pavilions. There are about 300,000 burials in the cemetery which include notable people such as prime ministers and premiers.
Many of the graves are already documented and discoverable via dedicated English based websites. The Chinese are documented but important detail written in Chinese is unavailable to the public to read or discover.
Hence this website endeavours to make this important information available for researchers and genealogists to discover about the Chinese buried here. Chinese names and village names in Chinese characters are critically important for family researchers.
Learn how to search the website
Other useful resources:
- Chinese Cemeteries in Australia (transcriptions) – Kok Hui Jin, FamilySearch
- How read a Chinese Headstone. CAFHOV 2023
- Cemetery Trust records. PROV
- A Guide to Reading Old Chinese Gravestones: the Sexagenary Cycle – Ely Finch
5. Document your findings
A successful research journey is supported by a useful documentation process. This will ensure your research is recorded and the jigsaw of records and information will eventually make sense to tell a story of your family.
Family history charts and worksheets can help you plan and organise your research process, and record and visualise the information you uncover about your ancestors. They can be used instead of, or alongside, genealogy software or websites to document your research. Charts and worksheets are particularly useful to use as a ‘working copy’, where you add information as you go along.
Kate Bagnall
The following documents have generously been created and shared by Kate Bagnall. They are provided with a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence.
To record information about your ancestors
- Ancestor chart – for recording your direct ancestors
- Family group record – for recording information about a couple and their children
- Biographical outline (or timeline) – for recording events in an ancestor’s life
- Family member information sheet – for recording research on living relatives or 20th-century ancestors
To plan and keep track of your research
- Family history research plan – for working our what you want to know and how you’re going to find it
- Note-taking form – for taking notes from archives, books and other sources
- Research log – for keeping track of sources you look at
- Correspondence log – for keeping track of research requests and people you contact
- Research repository checklist – for recording information about an archive, library or museum you plan to visit
Publish
Considering publishing your family history and research. Otherwise, your important research may be lost to history (again).
Read Publish your family history. State Library of Victoria
Search for Chinese characters
Despite the variations described above, if you can discover the name of your ancestor in Chinese characters, your confidence determining the accuracy of the records will be confirmed with this important information.
Chinese characters of names and place names will be useful for research in China.
Look for this critical detail in documents, photographs or ask your relatives.
Learn how to transcribe and document these Chinese characters for future reference.
6. Research in China
Finding your ancestor in Southern China
Almost all Chinese who came to Victoria prior to the 1960s were from southern China. To research your family history in China you will need:
- Full name of your ancestor in Chinese characters
- Village/town name (not just district) in Chinese characters. NB: ‘Canton’ (commonly listed as birthplace) can refer to present-day Guangzhou city or Guangzhou province.
The sad reality for many is that this information has been lost. Check original documents and gravestones for Chinese characters. Purchase original birth and marriage certificates. Think laterally. Might you have more information about a sibling, uncle or cousin who came from the same place?
What you might find:
– Ancestral village where you might find distant relatives and the location of surviving graves, family homes and ancestral halls
– Family genealogies, Jiapu, or clan Zupu. These provide the patrilineal lineage of the family often dating back many generations and are increasingly being collected, digitised and published online.Without Cantonese you will need assistance with your research. Commercial enterprises such as My China Roots and Dr Selia Tan and her team at the Cangdong Village Project can help but can’t work miracles. These services can be expensive so gather as much information beforehand as you can.
Sophie Couchman
Search for a village based on surname – Roots Village Database
7. Search for your Jiapu (family tree)
English based genealogy records are often documented in a “Family tree” which records the hierarchy of ancestors and descendants. Traditional Chinese also record the family in a similar way in a book called a “Jiapu” but only the patrilineal line is documented. Chinese genealogists who are fortunate enough to find their family tree are rewarded with family records dating back hundreds of years and many multiple generations. These records are often held and treasured in the ancestral villages in China. Many have been lost over time.
If you manage to discover your ancestral village in China, this would be a key document to ask about.
Alternatively some Family Jiapu have been digitized and are available online.
- Search for your family’s Jiapu on FamilySearch (free)
- Search for your family’s Zupu on MyChinaRoots (paid subscription)
Learn more about Jiapus
- Zupu – MyChinaRoots
- Chinese Genealogy Research: Reading and Understanding Jiapu, Part 1. FamilySearch Video
- Chinese Genealogy Research: Reading and Understanding Jiapu, Part 2. FamilySearch Video
- Help to read a Chinese Genealogy. Tony King, FamilySearch
Help & Support
Your research journey can be an arduous task with numerous challenges.
Seeking help from like-minded family historians can provide the support you need when you hit a roadblock. Sharing your successes with a community can be very valuable. Learning about other’s research and family histories can enable a better understanding of your own.
Read these family stories to gain more insight.
- Journeys into Chinese Australian Family History – CAFHOV 2019
- Secrets, Silences and Sources: Five Chinese-Australian Family Histories – CAFHOV 2019
Visit the support groups suggested below.
Chinese Family History Groups
There are many institutions and organisations that might be able to assist you with your family research. Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria is the most active support group if you reside in Victoria.
Victoria
Chinese Australian Cultural Society Ballarat – http://www.chineseballarat.org.au
Golden Dragon Museum (Bendigo) – http://www.goldendragonmuseum.org
Museum of Chinese Australian History (Melbourne) – http://www.chinesemuseum.com.au
Gum San Chinese Cultural Centre (Ararat) – http://www.gumsan.com.au
Chinese Heritage Interest Network – http://chinese-heritage.tripod.com
New South Wales
Chinese Australian Historical Society, Inc. (Sydney) – https://chineseaustralianhistory.org
Chinese Heritage Association of Australia Inc (Sydney) – http://www.chineseheritage.org.au
Queensland
Chinese Heritage in Northern Australia Inc. (CHINA Inc.) – http://chinainc.yolasite.com
Northern Territory
Chung Wah Society, Darwin – http://www.chungwahnt.asn.au
Western Australia
Chung Wah Association, Perth – http://www.chungwah.org.au
Overseas
The Chinese Historical Society of America – http://www.chsa.org
Chinese Canadian Historical Society BC – http://www.cchsbc.ca
Online Chinese Family History Support
- Siyi Chinese Genealogy – Discussion board
- Chinese Australian Family History – Facebook Group
- Chinese Australian History – Facebook Group
Resources
Explore these useful online resources listed below.
SLV – State Library of Victoria
[1] ‘Researching your overseas ancestors‘, Caitlyn Grant, State Library of Victoria
[2] ‘Research Steps‘, State Library of Victoria
[3] ‘Researching births, deaths and marriages in Victoria‘, Caitlyn Grant, State Library of Victoria
[4] ‘Researching your Chinese Victorian ancestors‘, Melanie Ngo, State Library of Victoria
NAA – National Archives of Australia
[5] Getting started with your research, National Archives of Australia
[6] Search NAA records, National Archives of Australia
[7] How to use RecordSearch, National Archives of Australia
[8] Chinese–Australian journeys: records on travel, migration, and settlement, 1860–1975, by Paul Jones, 2005, National Archives of Australia
[9] Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Australians in NSW, by Julie Stacker and Peri Stewart, revised 2003, National Archives of Australia
[10] Chinese Australians and the Immigration Restriction Act in New South Wales: A guide to finding records by Kate Bagnall, 2017
[11] Searching for CEDTs by town (website) – Hilda McLean
PROV – Public Records Office of Victoria
BDM – Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria
[16] Search your Family History, Births, Deaths & Marriages Victoria website
https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/research-and-family-history/search-your-family-history
Trove
Using the name of your ancestor, search across newspapers, journals, books, pictures, maps from collections around Australia.
[17] Introduction to TROVE searching (video) – TROVE
Family History for Beginners (Website) – TROVE
NLA – National Library of Australia
[18] Chinese-Australian Family History – NLA
[19] How-to l Chinese-Australian Family History (webinar) – NLA
[20] How-to l Starting your family history research (webinar) – NLA
Publications
[21] Journeys into Chinese Australian Family History – CAFHOV 2019
[22] Secrets, Silences and Sources: Five Chinese-Australian Family Histories – CAFHOV 2019
[23] Mavis Gock Yen, South Flows the Pearl: Chinese Australian Voices, UNSW Press: Sydney, 2022
[24] Nikki Loong (ed), From Great Grandmothers to Great Granddaughters: The stories of six Chinese Australian women, Echo Point Press: NSW;
[24] Arthur B.W. Yong (ed) Chinese Settlement in Darebin, North East Melbourne Chinese Association Inc: Melbourne, 2003;
[25] Stanley Hunt, From Shekki to Sydney: An Autobiography, Wild Peony: Sydney
Research Guides/Presentations
- How-to l Chinese-Australian Family History (video) – National Library of Australia 2022
- Chinese Australian Family History (website) – National Library of Australia 2022
- [?] ‘Guide to Chinese-Australian Family Research‘, Pauline Rule, Sophie Couchman. Chinese Museum. 2018
- ‘Finding your Chinese roots‘ (website) – Kate Bagnall
- ‘Researching your Chinese ancestry‘, Ancestor: Quarterly Journal of The Genealogical Society of Victoria, vol.35, no.3, Sept 2020, pp.32-36, Sophie Couchman
- ‘Working with Chinese language when you don’t speak Chinese’ – Sophie Couchman, Journeys into Chinese Australian Family History, CAFHOV, 2019.
- Researching your Chinese Victorian ancestors (website) – State Library of Victoria
- Researching Your Chinese Australian Family History (video) – Kerry Choy, Inner West Council 2021
- Chinese Canadian Genealogy (website) – Vancouver Public Library
- Chinese Genealogy Research w/o Having to Know Chinese (video) – Henry Tom, AAARICUNY 2019
- Chinese American Genealogy Toolkit (pdf) – Christine Devillier 2013-2017
- Genealogical Research Techniques for the Overseas Chinese (pdf) – Tony King, FamilySearch 2017
- Chinese in Australia (website) – FamilySearch
- My China Roots Research Wiki (website) – My China Roots (Subscription required for search tools)
- Tracing your Chinese ancestors in the administrative files of the Commonwealth Immigration Restriction Act (pdf) – Michael Williams/Janis Wilton, Golden Threads Project
Other Resources
- Search for a village based on surname – Roots Village Database, Friends of Roots
- Using DNA in your search for Chinese ancestors – Sally Keam
Journeys into Chinese Australian Family History, CAFHOV, 2019. - Sharing Family Stories (video) – Janis Wilton
Key things to consider when conducting an oral history interview. - A Guide to Reading Old Chinese Gravestones: the Sexagenary Cycle – Ely Finch
- My China Roots (Website) – Optional subscription