Crown Solicitor to Atlee Hunt, Secretary, Department of External Affairs, 8 February 1908
National Archives of Australia
Information for an Offence in the Court of Petty Sessions, Melbourne, 14 February 1908
National Archives of Australia
A10074, 1908/31, POTTER Lionel Frank versus MINAHAN James Francis Kitchen
National Archives of Australia
Lionel Potter
Detective constable with the Victoria Police. Arrested James Minahan at Melbourne after he returned from Sydney with his solicitor.
Isaac Isaacs
Justice of the High Court. Allowed High Court appeal to proceed. Ruled in Potter v. Minahan that James Minahan was an immigrant under the Immigration Restriction Act.
Edmund Barton
Justice of the High Court. Ruled in Potter v. Minahan that James Minahan was not an immigrant under the Immigration Restriction Act.
James Minahan meets with Solicitor Croft to review the evidence presented in the lower courts
1908-05
Chin Kay
Owner of Hang Yick, Little Bourke Street; later worked at Sun Nam Hie & Co., Melbourne. Gave evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.
Attorney-General for the Commonwealth v. Ah Sheung (1906) 4 CLR 949
Australasian Legal Information Institute
Captain Dawson is asked to show cause why a writ of habeas corpus should not be issued to him for holding James Minahan
6 February 1908
Richard O’Connor
Justice of the High Court. Allowed High Court appeal to proceed. Ruled in Potter v. Minahan that James Minahan was not an immigrant under the Immigration Restriction Act.
Letter from Charles Power, Crown Solicitor, to Robert Garran, Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department, 8 April 1908
Immigration Restriction Acts 1901-5 - Persons born in Australia’, Minute Paper by Littleton Groom, Attorney-General, 27 November 1906
National Archives of Australia
James Minahan gives evidence before Police Magistrate Cresswell in the Melbourne City Court
31 March 1908
Frank Gavan Duffy
One of the best trial lawyers of the time. Later Chief Justice of the High Court. Counsel for James Minahan during High Court appeal.
Affadavit of John Gardner Davies, 22 April 1908, Copy Documents (prepared by Charles Powers)
National Archives of Australia
D596, 1909/2128, Immigration Restriction - POTTER versus MINAHAN - judgement handed down by High Court re application of the dictation test
National Archives of Australia
Charles Cresswell
Police magistrate. Heard James Minahan’s case and gave decision in his favour in Court of Petty Sessions in Melbourne.
Crown Solicitor files affidavits regarding James Minahan’s case with the High Court registry
28 April 1908
Philip Whistler Street
Justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court. Ordered James Minahan’s release from the SS Taiyuan in Sydney under Habeas Corpus.
Ah Sheung - Immigration Restriction Act’, Minute Paper by Robert Garran, Secretary, Attorney-General’s Department, 28 November 1906
National Archives of Australia
William Ah Ket
First Chinese barrister in Australia. Counsel for James Minahan during High Court appeal.
Ernest Tipp
Chinese interpreter in Melbourne. Translated for James Minahan during High Court appeal.
Atlee Hunt replies by telegram to the Sydney Collector of Customs advising that James Minahan should be arrested as a prohibited immigrant
6 February 1908
Chan Num
Tobacco dealer of Lygon Street, Melbourne. James Minahan stayed at his house in Beechworth as a small boy. Gave evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.
James Minahan’s case in the Melbourne City Court is adjourned for several days until 31 March 1908
27 March 1908
Henry Higgins
Justice of the High Court. Allowed High Court appeal to proceed. Ruled in Potter v. Minahan that James Minahan was an immigrant under the Immigration Restriction Act.
Samuel Griffith
Chief Justice of the High Court. Ruled in Potter v. Minahan that James Minahan was not an immigrant under the Immigration Restriction Act.
Crown Solicitor sends copies of the City Court judgement to Robert Garran and Atlee Hunt
3 April 1908
Cheong Ming
Father of James Minahan. Ran a store at Indigo, Victoria. Returned to China and worked as schoolmaster.
J.G. Davies
Clerk with Commonwealth Crown Solicitor’s Office. Took notes of evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.
Charles Powers, Crown Solictor, to Atlee Hunt, Secretary of the Department of External Affairs, 30 April 1908
National Archives of Australia
Application of Immigration Restriction Act 1901-1905 to Australian-born Chinese’, Minute Paper by Atlee Hunt, Secretary, Department of External Affairs, 6 October 1906
National Archives of Australia
Dern Hoy
French polisher of Little Collins Street, Melbourne. Gave evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.
Customs Department issues a circular advising officers note the High Court’s findings in Potter v. Minahan regarding the Dictation Test
8 April 1909
James Minahan’s case in the Melbourne City Court is adjourned for one week until 27 March 1908
20 March 1908
Memorandum from Atlee Hunt, Secretary, Department of External Affairs, to Crown Solicitor, 11 February 1908
National Archives of Australia
Telegram from Atlee Hunt, Secretary, Department of External Affairs to the Collector of Customs, Sydney, 6 February 1908
National Archives of Australia
Evidence of Ching Kay, 28 February 1908, Copy Documents (prepared by Charles Powers)
National Archives of Australia
Catherine Minahan
Younger sister of Winifred Minahan and aunt of James Minahan. Worked for Chan Num at Beechworth.
A5522, Correspondence files, single number series with ‘M’ (matters) prefix
National Archives of Australia
P.J. Dwyer
Police magistrate. James Minahan’s case initially came before him in Court of Petty Sessions in Melbourne.
A10074, Full Court case records (Victoria) and from 1973, Court and Cause case records, annual single number series
National Archives of Australia
Deung Garng
French polisher in Melbourne. James Minahan and Cheong Ming stayed with him in Kongmoon. Gave evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.
The Constitution of a Federal Commonwealth: The Making and Meaning of the Australian Constitution by Nicholas Aroney
Solicitor Croft requests and is granted a two-week adjournment from the Melbourne City Court
14 February 1908
A1, 1906/8578, Immigration Restriction Acts 1901-1905. Persons born in Australia
National Archives of Australia
John Starling
Public servant with the Department of External Affairs. Took shorthand notes of magistrate’s decision at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.
Justice Isaacs of the High Court hears an application for review presented by the Commonwealth
29 April 1908
Aliens in Their Own Land: ‘Alien’ and the Rule of Law in Colonial and Post-Federation Australia by Peter Prince
Australian National University
James Minahan appears before Police Magistrate Cresswell in the Melbourne City Court
28 February 1908
Anglo-Chinese and the Politics of Overseas Travel from New South Wales, 1898 to 1925 by Kate Bagnall
Handwritten Letter from E.A. Fortescue Croft, Solicitor, to Atlee Hunt, Secretary, Department of External Affairs, 6 February 1908
National Archives of Australia
J.T.T. Donohoe
Detective inspector with the Department of Trade and Customs in Sydney. Inspected James Minahan on his arrival in Sydney and applied the Dictation Test.
Passenger List for the Taiyuan, Sydney, 23 January 1908
Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007
Hugh Mercer
Officer with Department of Trade and Customs in Melbourne. Inspected James Minahan on his arrival in Melbourne and applied the Dictation Test.
Ah Chew
Cabinetmaker of Lygon Street, Melbourne. Went to same school as James Minahan in China. Gave evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.
Ah Doe
Uncle of James Minahan. Owner of Sun Nam Hie & Co., Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. Gave evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.
Circular by the Collector of Customs, Customs and Excise Office, Port Adelaide, 8 April 1909
National Archives of Australia
New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922 [online database]
Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007
Report of Passengers for the Taiyuan from Hong Kong, Sydney, 23 January 1908
National Archives of Australia
James Minahan’s case in the Melbourne City Court is part heard and adjourned for three weeks until 20 March 1908
28 February 1908
Police Magistrate Creswell finds in James Minahan’s favour, dismisses the case and awards costs to the defendant
2 April 1908
Non-Immigrants, Non-Aliens and People of the Commonwealth: Australian Constitutional Citizenship Revisited by Sangeetha Pillai
Sydney Collector of Customs sends a telegram to the Department of External Affairs for advice
6 February 1908
James Minahan is given the Dictation Test by Customs Officer Mercer on boards the SS Wollowra
27 January 1908
Chin Shing
Business partner of Cheong Ming. Ran Shing Kee store at Indigo, Victoria. Gave evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.