Dear Tricia, You MUST first get the characters for his Chinese name and his village of origin, as well as the county in which the village is situated. If you can't, then your search is basically impossible. The most common sources in Australia for the former information are: * Naturalisation certificates. * Personal papers - especially letters, solicitor's papers and clan-awarded honours. * Chinese language associations - such as the Minutes of the Committee of Management of the Carlton Chinese Church of Christ and the ancestral tablets in the See Yap temple in Raglan Street South Melbourne. * Official Chinese Government correspondence - such as the "blackmail letters" sent in the early 1950s to overseas Chinese who had relatives in the PRC who could be arrested and/or executed if money wasn't forthcoming. Check the Commonwealth Police and ASIO files in the Australian Archives, as well as the Commonwealth Police and ASIO themselves. If you find any other sources, I'd be most pleased to hear about them. Jon Kehrer ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tricia Norrish" <angenup@bigpond.com> To: <CHINA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, 25 April 2000 16:24 Subject: [CHINA] Cheong SHIN HUN > Posted on: General China Query Forum > Board URL: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/China/General?read=168 > > Surname: Cheong SHIN HUN > ------------------------- > > My gggrandfather was cheong Shin Hun born c1834 in or near Canton, China. > He arrived in Australia in approx 1859. I am trying to research his life > in China, but am not sure how to or where to go for info. If anyone is > able to assist - I'd truly appreciate it!! >