Liberating lives: Invisible Australians and biographical networks

Liberating lives Invisible Australians and biographical networks Tim Sherratt @wragge www.invisibleaustralians.org

www.invisibleaustralians.org

Charlie Allen was born in Sydney in 1896. www.invisibleaustralians.org

His mother was Frances Allen (sometime sweet shop owner and brothel keeper), his father Charlie Gum (a buyer for Wing On company). www.invisibleaustralians.org

Charlie was raised by his mother, but in 1909, at the age of 13, he was taken to China by his father. www.invisibleaustralians.org

His father returned to Sydney, leaving Charlie in China. He lived with relatives in the town of Shekki (inland from Hong Kong) for 6 years. www.invisibleaustralians.org

Charlie was homesick, but had no means of getting back to Australia. His mother attempted to enlist government help but to no avail. Charlie finally returned in 1915. www.invisibleaustralians.org

The following year Charlie enlisted in First AIF (well actually he enlisted three times, and was discharged as medically unfit each time). www.invisibleaustralians.org

Charlie married in Sydney in 1917 and had two daughters soon after. He returned to China in 1922 for 7 months. www.invisibleaustralians.org

Charlie Allen died in 1938 as the result of an industrial accident. He was 41. www.invisibleaustralians.org

How do we know about Charlie Allen? www.invisibleaustralians.org

NAA: ST84/1, 1909/22/41-50 www.invisibleaustralians.org

NAA: A1, 1911/13854 www.invisibleaustralians.org

NAA: B2455, ALLEN C A www.invisibleaustralians.org

NAA: SP42/1, C1922/4449 www.invisibleaustralians.org

Between 1901 and 1911, 400 circulars were issued to port officers about immigration restriction. www.invisibleaustralians.org

The confidential manual on immigration restriction grew from one page in 1902 to more than 200 in 1912. www.invisibleaustralians.org

For the years between 1902 and 1948 there remain: ● More than 50,000 CEDTs ● 90 shelf metres of records ● 15,000 case files www.invisibleaustralians.org

What changes when we examine the world through the collected fragments of knowledge that we can recover about a single person, reorganised as a biographical narrative, rather than as part of an archival system? – Tim Hitchcock www.invisibleaustralians.org

http://www.invisibleaustralians.org www.invisibleaustralians.org

● Crowdsourced data extraction ● 50,000+ CEDTs ● Other files ● Match identities ● Eeek! http://www.invisibleaustralians.org www.invisibleaustralians.org

Pauline Ah Hee, 1906. NAA: ST84/1, 1906/111-120 www.invisibleaustralians.org

Choy Hing family including their adopted daughter, Pauline Ah Hee, 1906. NAA: SP244/2, N1950/2/4918 www.invisibleaustralians.org

Pauline Ah Hee, 1906. NAA: SP244/2, N1950/2/4918 www.invisibleaustralians.org

Pauline Ah Hee, c. 1950. NAA: A659, 1950/1/1954 www.invisibleaustralians.org

Pauline Ah Hee www.invisibleaustralians.org

Shadee Khan, 1916. NAA: E752, 1916/8 www.invisibleaustralians.org

Shadee Khan www.invisibleaustralians.org

Pauline Ah Hee Shadee Khan www.invisibleaustralians.org

History wall defining.net.au/wall www.invisibleaustralians.org

Use URLs to identify things in the real world www.invisibleaustralians.org

This is me: http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-479364#foaf:Person www.invisibleaustralians.org

Wragge’s identity browser wraggelabs.com/identities www.invisibleaustralians.org

The Flickr Machine Tag Challenge wraggelabs.com/fmtc/ www.invisibleaustralians.org

● Make links ● Give advice ● Create tools & examples ● Help! http://www.invisibleaustralians.org www.invisibleaustralians.org

Liberating lives: Invisible Australians and biographical networks

by Tim Sherratt

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Liberating lives: Invisible Australians and biographical networks Presentation Transcript