Guide to the Papers of the Kwong family, 1891-2001

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 9059
Creator:
Kwong family
Extent:
2.55 metres and (1 small phase box + 1 ms box + 1 large folio box + 1 map folio)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of the Kwong family, National Library of Australia, MS 9059, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Restricted.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers of Kwong Sue Duk and his descendants include a diary, in Chinese, written by Kwong Sue Duk at the end of the 19th century; genealogical histories of his 2nd, 3rd and 4th wives; letters (some in Chinese), written between 1930 and 1954 by a son, Kwong Kong Lim, at one time Chinese Consul-General of the Philippine Islands and containing family news and a large group of photographs, one album of which is arranged in sections for descendants of each wife.

Also included is the 1901 christening jacket of May (Mui Ying) Kwong, daughter of Kwong Sue Duk's 4th wife, a family tree of the descendants of Kwong Sue Duk, a video of the life of Kwong Sue Duk entitled Kwong Sue Duk: a man of family and interview transcripts for interviews held in April 1997 with Hamilton and Dorothy Chan. Dorothy Chan was the granddaughter of Kwong Sue Duk. The interviews were undertaken for the Australia-China Oral History Project by Ms Rosalie Hiah.

Biographical Note:

Kwong Sue Duk was a Chinese herbalist and entrepreneur. He was born in Guangdong Province, Southern China in 1853. As a young man, he spent several years in the Californian gold fields, returning to China to study traditional Chinese medicine. Kwong Sue Duk migrated to Australia with his first wife in 1875 and established a general store in Darwin, trading under the name of Sun Mow Loong. He went on to establish extensive business interests in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Victoria, and his reputation as a healer became known throughout Australia, particularly on the gold fields. Kwong Sue Duk played a major role in establishing a place and acceptance for the Chinese in Australia.

Kwong Sue Duk's family was eventually to include four wives and 24 children and his over 800 descendants are to be found today in eleven countries. Kwong Sue Duk died in Townsville on 17 February 1929.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the National Library in several instalments by descendants of Kwong Sue Duk, during the period November 1996 to February 2002.

Arrangement:

The material in this collection is listed and described by folder or item number.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn3006822).
Conditions Governing Use:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of the Kwong family, National Library of Australia, MS 9059, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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