Chen Quin Jack
Chinese Australian family history
Chinese Australian family history research by Kira Brown, a fifth-generation descendant of Chinese migrants to Australia from the early gold rushes of the 1850s to 1880s.
The original progenitor — Chen Quin Jack 陳 觀 植
— his wife Mary Ann Fuller
THE collection
I have inherited a collection of Chinese family memorabilia (objects, photographs, documents, and ephemera) which I use in my research and to illustrate and highlight the known narrative of my four Chinese progenitors. Their lives and families interconnected and coalesced in the New England region (Rocky River, Uralla, Tingha, Inverell and Emmaville). All four married European or mixed-race women.
Of particular note is my well-known Great-great grandfather Chen Quin Jack. Quin Jack was a Ballarat mining pioneer, who besides being credited with building the main Chinese Temple (Joss House), also constructed the Wing Hing Long general store (now the museum) in Tingha.
A collection of Chinese family memorabilia
— objects, photographs, documents, and ephemera
I’m always interested to hear new stories
I’m also a member of of Our Chinese Past a not-for-profit organisation, which formed in 2020 and included Historians, genealogists and family researchers — Juanita Kwok, Paul Macgregor, Gill Oxley and Malcolm Oakes
Our Chinese Past Inc conducts projects to identify, document, preserve, research and promote the rich diversity of Chinese Australian history and heritage.
Chen Quin Jack 