Australian Newspapers Online Resource

WOW!

Last night i found a whole lot of amazing information on the Gee, Chee & Fong family on the National Library of Australia's 'Australian Newspapers' Website (Its an online database of Historic Australian Newspapers, 1803 to 1954).

Go there now!... http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

Well worth poking around... It seems to yields results on broad searches (Gee, Chee, Fong), but putting specific names helps narrow results.

The picture is an Advertisement (c1925) of Gee Hong Yet's fathers store (It seems Chee Poon was spelt Chee Pon... and his other names are Chee Kee Kan and/or Gee Kee Gan... which is info found on that site!). That tailors eventually become Gee Hong Yet's (... again new info found on that site!). .

Here's some more juicy tidbits on there...

• Li Kim (Gee Yet) is mentioned in an article because she introduced Pneumonic Influenza to the town!
• Gee Hong Yet's brother, Gee Kwong Yet, was arrested for having 100x illegal birds (finches!?)!.
• There's lots of probable/possible stuff on Fong How's other moniker, Wah Wing Loong, which was the name of his store. But i have some confusion on that.

Check it out!!!

Fong side of the family

Hi All,

It's Jason Gee here... My mother (Cecilia) was recently visiting in Darwin and made some contact with the Fong side of the family. A subsequent email followed which I have posted below.

I think this project needs to cover the matriarchal side of our family as well?


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From: barbara.fong@
To: ccha3534@
Subject: hullo Cecelia
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:44:27 +1000


Tim has sent me your email message to find all about Gee Hong Yet aka Chee Hong Yat

His father was Chee Poon according to history from Rev Lo Shui Kwong who was Chinese minister in Darwin after the war 1946 and died in Darwin

Rev Lo had written records of Darwin families history in an autobiography left with DArwin's State Archives and Aust archives in Darwin so you can read all about it in his biography history.He did write about Gee Hong Yet and his other son Gee Kwong Yet and Chee Poon comes from Taishan where most of the early Chinese migrants come from but I have no idea where about the village is but I believe the family home in Taishan is all locked up since the parents passed away many many years ago and the 2 sons Hung Yet and Kwong Yet were living in Darwin-I wonder if they were born in Taishan or in Broome where their father 1st migrated to.

I have visit Taishan in 2000 and find it a big country where many Chinese lived early 1880's so the family homes are now ghost homes -all locked up never to see family return to visit but someday some of the Gee's may want to tour Taishan one day-one needs to have a Chinese interpreter living here in Aust and that would be Chin Kwong who is now in charge of the Glebe Joss house and he takes people on tour to China but he had already been this year with my sister Lyn Fong and a group of Fong's in May this yr.

Regards Barb- I have email Karen Seibert and she will be able to help with all family problems with Robbie Lowe's help.