Chinese Community

750 Name Partial Extract of Chinese Names Associated with Creswick and Surrounding Satellite Communities. The parent database has been compiled from research conducted by the Chinese Heritage Interest Network into the social history of the 19^th Century Chinese community of Creswick, Victoria.

Note that none of the names on the list is anglicised or changed in any way from the form in which they appear in the original records. In our organisations's Master Database the name is linked to the event/context in which it arose. In our research, we have found that the recording of names is rarely consistent even in the same records or even when the name is recorded within a 24 hour period. This means that concrete identification of an individual is very challenging and the serious researcher needs multiple sources to convince oneself that one has nailed down the searched name. If one has access to the name written in Chinese, then the process of narrowing the search is easier, and perhaps much more precise. For example, our research organisation was able to use this method to co-relate the name of a person who made a significant contribution to the building of the See Yup Temple (Sic) in South Melbourne and the name on a headstone found in the Creswick Cemetery.

When sufficient detail of the name has survived, and we decide we have a person of interest, we do undertake separate analysis based on possible transliteration errors and also likely dialect spoken (e.g. Hoisan) and its corresponding accent - as this also influences what the recorder has "heard" as distinct from what the individual said his name was. Also many of the names are aliases used while in Australia, most can be correlated to naturalisation records only with a great amount of effort, and a healthy serving of luck. Sadly the naturalisation papers rarely provide more than a likely birth date and the ship the person arrived on, it does not include the name of the village from which they originated - just records either the province (if you are lucky) or the point at which the individual boarded the ship ie. Hong Kong.

Note that names with an "Ah" prefix are effectively nicknames, significantly they effectively conceal clan associations and other family linkages.

If readers are interested to hear more about fun with Chinese names in records etc, our research organisation would be happy to discuss this matter with further.