FindmyPast adds Asia, Far East Directories & Chronicles 1833-1941

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added a series of directories this week which may be of interest if your ancestors lived in Asia and the Far East. From the site:

Asia, Far East Directories & Chronicles 1833-1941

If you have ancestors with roots in the Far East, this collection may just detail where they were and when. Within its pages are records that span through China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, The Philippines, Indo-China, Malaysia, Siam, Borneo and The Dutch East Indies. This resource explores the narrative of late-colonialism, documenting Western workers, migrants, corporations and agencies, residing in the Far East temporarily or otherwise.

This collection is as broad by nationality as it is by location - rather than focusing specifically on British residents and workers, its pages hold a much higher number of Americans, Canadians, Australians and other Westerners. The records were compiled annually from multiple sources, including government agencies and Western companies, so will be likely to contain your ancestors' name, occupation and employer, as well as the odd note detailing treaties, conflicts, changes of jurisdiction, and other public affairs. 

For details of the relevant link, and other releases this week, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/far-east-directories

COMMENT: Note that another great directories resource for China in particular can be found from the University of Bristol's China Families website at www.chinafamilies.net/directories/. The main project itself at www.chinafamilies.net has many other wonderful historic resources for the region!

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

China Families website

One of the benefits of teaching courses is that students occasionally provide you with updates about sources you have previously used! I've just been alerted to a project that I have previously used in the past, which is now on a new site.

The China Families website might be of interest if your family worked in China between 1850 and 1940 - www.chinafamilies.net. This includes records of over 60,000 men and women, including Customs Service staff.

From the site:

Welcome to China Families. On this site you can find a growing body of information about men and women of many different nationalities, professions and ages, who lived and worked in China between the 1850s and 1940s.

These records have been drawn from government department lists, legal and diplomatic records, cemetery lists, and during research undertaken for a number of projects on the history of modern China and of the foreign relations of China.

The resources on it were previously hosted on the University of Bristol's Chinese Maritime Customs Project. Particularly useful are the annual directories at https://www.chinafamilies.net/directories/.

For the university's Chines Maritime Project, visit http://www.bristol.ac.uk/history/customs/.

And for Hong Kong connections, check out https://gwulo.com/hong-kong-cemeteries

(With thanks to MelanieH!)

Chris

My next 5 week Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers course starts July 6th - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.