Did your ancestors work or reside in the Far East? Discover more with this collection of directories and chronicles that cover the international community in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malaysia, Siam, Dutch East Indies, Borneo and The Philippines.
Did your ancestors work or reside in the Far East? Discover more with this collection of directories and chronicles that cover the international community in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malaysia, Siam, Dutch East Indies, Borneo and The Philippines.
These British books were published between 1833-1941, to give listings of active corporations, foreign residents and government agencies of all nationalities for each particular year, together with their addresses in countries including Borneo, China, Indo-China, Japan, Korea and The Philippines.
They were compiled annually from many different local sources, and include names and addresses of Western corporations, institutions, consulates and foreign residents. Details of the residents include addresses, occupations and employers.
Parts of these books can also contain details of treaties, conflicts, changes of jurisdiction, relevant law, currencies and taxes, public holidays, festivals and traditions.
Searching through a PDF (portable document format) is different from searching through fully transcribed record sets. Below are some tips to keep in mind while you search for your ancestors.
Direct Search
The search feature uses direct search. It will search for the exact word or phrase you type in the search field. The name variant option will not operate in this format.
All search results will bring you to the page on which your search word has been found and not to an individual transcript. You can then read through the page to find your result.
Name searches
A name search will return results which have the search terms on the same page within the document. This means that searching for John Smith will return pages where the names 'John' and 'Smith' occur. For this reason your search may return the name William Smith or John Brown. By inserting quotations around the full name, the search function will locate the terms together, for example, “John Smith.”
To search for your ancestor by their name, write it as it would appear on the document. For example, if your relative was known as ‘Will’ it is likely that the name used for official records was ‘William.’
If you are unable to find your relative on your first search, you can try different name variations. A number of register books only use abbreviations for first names. For example, if your search is unsuccessful for William Smith, try W Smith or Wm Smith.