Immigration from China to Australia

Family7659

My question is regarding my relative, William George See (MWMN-PF4). Marriage and death records indicate he was born in Canton (Guangdong) China to Don Ett See and Edith Yong. He married Minnie Sophia Guy in Brisbane in the year1900, sometime after immigrating to Australia. It seems he immigrated at or around the year 1884, at the approximate age of 14, based on his death record. Besides that, I cannot find any record of his immigration or naturalization. Given his age at immigration, he could've moved to Australia alone or with his parents. Any info on tracking down their immigration records, and/or their original Chinese names, would be super useful! Thanks everyone in advance.

Paul W

No direct help, I'm afraid but there are some interesting articles online that mention Chinese immigration to Brisbane from Canton. I read through one at https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_189802/THE19019.pdf?Expires=1760121605&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJKNBJ4MJBJNC6NLQ&Signature=LWNHXUI5JZGj8xFrDw2o-GqfyUEuzDFXD-Sntb4qeWe52riqdcgGDSgv4BKYrWu~IFMtB54MzjVqliriUlV345~SeDaUG37BEdwlPzrXf-qzxr5vGdT3Iw4Qbkz2baMoTRqo0p28J941mLY-gKRdoT0OkYP27ElwXnGE55yN-ineDXar0cnS9NqT1EWYslm9xlzmMtrvbiomtpEf8dfWtBX5Q2go8rCNw1IrkvUnin6l1CdtGu0m1eLbZJsyhV5nsPcVVx51exapPTTH0gXctMSzN9HlL4j2M5C9QtsqUgHc8iFzL5jhrUxOEQB-qRufdZshDu2lveFLMRIDmaz~RQ__

which I downloaded and did a search on "See". The main name that appeared here (and in another document) was a See Man War, a merchant in Brisbane. He is said (in the other article) to have been born in 1861 at Zhongshan, Guangdong Province and emigrated to Australia in 1879.

The problem with Chinese names, as you know, is how they are anglicised. So that See could be represented as either Szi or Shi in other records. (Another Chinese - who settled in north Queensland was a Tom See Poy, who was aka Szi Pui Taam.) Obviously, the English forenames you mention (George, Don and Edith) would have been adopted after arriving in Australia.

I would not be too optimistic about tracing the family's Chinese roots: (1) Because of the different variants of their names and (2) Due to a lack of records relating to arrivals from Canton (Guangzhou) in the late 19th century.

Find My Past has an "Australia, Inward, Outward & Coastal Passenger Lists 1826-1972" collection on its website, but I could find no relevant results from a search there.

Hopefully, another user might be able to offer more helpful advice.

RaniM

I can speak to this. It's a bit of a good news/bad news situation, @Family7659.

Australian shipping and immigration records are held by State and National Archives (dependant on time frame). Some state libraries also have copies. Some collections have been digitised, some have been indexed, and are freely available to search through those channels.

In the case of Queensland records, unfortunately many immigration records were destroyed in the 1893 Brisbane floods. Some damaged records were later rewritten but these may contain errors. The collections mainly cover immigrants from Europe, other origins may not be recorded and, additionally, if an individual paid their own way, there may be no record. Particularly if they traveled steerage.

You can explore the Queensland immigration records here but, unfortunately, I don't like your chances.

As an aside, @Paul W my understanding is that the "Australia, Inward, Outward & Coastal Passenger Lists 1826-1972" collection covers domestic travel by sea.

Naturalisation however, is another story. These are held by the National Archives of Australia. Many have been digitised and are freely available to view.

In this particular case, William See did apply for Naturalisation, on the 19th of September 1912. Unfairly, due to the White Australia Policy, his application was denied, as were appeals made on his behalf in 1913 and 1929. As he died before that policy was overturned, he wouldn't have been naturalised at a later date.

The dossier does contain a lot of useful information, however. In the original application, in addition to giving his name as "William See", he also gives "Mah See" in brackets, which I presume is likely his birth name.

Paul was correct in his assumption that the name William was adopted after immigration. In the letter written for Mr See by B.R Bird in 1929 he actually states that William was baptised into the CoE by Rev William Wilson, which is where the name "William" originated.

B.R Bird was also wrote a letter submitted with the original application for Mr See in 1912, and explicitly mentions having tried to obtain the details of the steamer William See arrived on. He recounts that the records were lost in the flood. He also mentions William See trades as "Sam Hop Hoy" providing provisions to steamers. The application says his occupation is a Gardener.

You can review the full dossier for yourself here.

You can also view the catalogue entry of his Alien Registration Certificate here. That one isn't digitised but is available to order for a fee.

I would also posit the possibility that (unless you know definitively otherwise) William See did not have the middle name of George. The only time that middle name appears is in the FindAGrave entry and, tellingly, it is not on the headstone itself. Nor does it appear in his entries in the State Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes, the application for naturalisation, not the newspaper notices of his marriage and funeral. As George was the name of William's father-in-law, and one of his sons was named William George Donnett See, it is possible that someone somewhere got their wires crossed at some point. I point this out only because if you are searching for records for "William George See" and hitting a brick wall, that may be why.

I hope this helps in continuing your search. Best of luck.