Following the founding of the colony of Australia, individuals born in the British Empire were considered British subjects, irrespective of the nationality of their parents. Residents of Australia whose native place was outside of the British Empire were not afforded the same rights and privileges as British subjects. These rights, in particular the right to buy land and vote, could be conferred to an individual by a process known as naturalisation. This bureaucratic process generated multiple sets of records that contain a wealth of genealogical information. This talk will outline the complex history of naturalisation in Australia, the changing terminology used, how, when and why naturalisation records were created, and discuss the likely availability of records and for whom they may have been created.
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Thank you everyone for your kind comments and for your patience while I worked through my first-time nerves!
I also need to include an attribution for a quote I used in the talk, as I did not give it at the time. The quote “Women feature among those of Chinese nationality who were granted naturalisation from the 1930s, when an amendment to the Act allowed women whose nationality had changed to that of their husband at the time of their marriage to apply to reclaim their British nationality” is from Paul Jones (2005). ‘Chinese–Australian Journeys: Records on Travel, Migration, and Settlement, 1860–1975’, Canberra: National Archives of Australia, p. 119.
It is an excellent resource for those with Chinese Australian ancestry and is freely available online at: http://www.naa.gov.au/naaresources/publications/research_guides/pdf/Chinese_guide_21.pdf
Very good information, and helpful. Thanks.
Great exploration of the records, timeframes and the laws that surrounded them, as well as the various repositories (have colony and states and federations changes this over time where they are available AND some tricks about spelling etc. Some nerves as it was her first talk here – but Kristy got in the flow and it came over well.
A wonderful set of resources presented. Thank you
Great information from Kristy!!
Very informative – I now have clear direction on where and how to search for Naturalisation records in Australia.
I have a Chinese ancestor who came to Australia so was very interested to hear all the aspects covered. Thanks Kristy!!!
Lots of relevant information and sources