Author Archives: Brian Beesley

Back in 2016 I was scanning Find-a-grave and came upon some photos that pertained to some of my family in Happy Valley Cemetery, Hong Kong. A I’d managed to locate my Anne Hunter/Kot Choy and had an actua grave plot … Continue reading →

  How to get to the Cemetery List on Family Search.org   Note: You need to be a member but you can join for free. https://familysearch.org   At the main page on the right side you see: Browse all published … Continue reading →

The picture on my header was one I found in a box of old photos. I originally thought it was two pictures as it had been folded many times and had separated along the fold line. The original measures 2 … Continue reading →

This picture is of my family at an unknown location in China. They moved from Hong Kong to Shanghai about 1919, so my mother would have been about 8 years old. Looking at my mother, she could be 8 or … Continue reading →

While scanning through old newspapers on-line and searching “Tobias Hunter” I came across dozens of ads for rentals and real estate for sale. My grandfather had left Jardine Matheson and gone out on his own in Kowloon as an estate … Continue reading →

Just to recap my family connections to China. My mother Iris Hunter and her sister Nora Hunter were both born in Kowloon. My mother in 1911 and her sister in 1912. Both are supported by birth records from the Colony … Continue reading →

British men who had elected to make their living in China signed on with an agreement that they would stay for at least 5 years and often 10. As a matter of interest, there were but a handful of Caucasian … Continue reading →

On April 15, 1865 the famous American president died. He’d been shot the previous night at the Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC. I came across this date while researching sailing ships of that era and looking at routes my great … Continue reading →

Back in about 2000 when I first began to delve into my family’s past, I had a phone conversation with my aunt in Laguna Beach, California. She was 87 at the time. Out of nowhere she mentioned that their grandfather … Continue reading →

William Leyland Hunter was born June 3rd, 1844 at St Anne’s Square, Manchester. His father was John Hunter and his mother Alice Southam. John Hunter was in the tea business with “Binyon’s” at St Anne’s Square in Manchester. John Hunter … Continue reading →