There will be two presentations at the October meeting:

Richard Horsburgh, who with his wife Siaoman Yen published South Flows the Pearl (Sydney University Press, 2022), an oral history book about 12 Chinese Australian families researched by Siaoman’s mother Mavis Yen, will speak on the topic “Down the Rabbit Hole: Research tips for writing your family history”. People with Chinese ancestors arriving in Australia prior to WWII may know very little about them beyond their Anglicised names. Richard will show that by making creative use of family photographs and documents, archival material, libraries and museums, and the work of other researchers you can build up a greater picture of the day-to-day life of your Chinese Australian ancestors.

Brad Powe, an enthusiastic family and local historian, is Vice-President of the Chinese Heritage Association of Australia (CHAA), and has curated CHAA's Facebook page since 2013. The topic of his talk is “What’s This One Called? Excursions in Orthography and Transliteration”.  In researching Chinese Australian family histories it's important to understand the way people’s names have been written down, and the way in which vowel sounds have shifted over the years; recognising these shifts can help build connections and identify ancestral villages. Using examples from his family history back to the 1860s and archives, Brad shows how Chinese names have been written down and changed over time.

Skill level:  All, beginners welcome    

Leads: Kam Louie

Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash