Crown Solicitor to Atlee Hunt, Secretary, Department of External Affairs, 8 February 1908

National Archives of Australia

South Melbourne

Melbourne

Information for an Offence in the Court of Petty Sessions, Melbourne, 14 February 1908

National Archives of Australia

James Minahan is released on bail of £100

14 February 1908

Crown Solicitor’s Office

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A10074, 1908/31, POTTER Lionel Frank versus MINAHAN James Francis Kitchen

National Archives of Australia

Quong Hing Yeong

James Minahan lives at Sun Nam Hie & Co. in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

14 January 1908

Robert Garran, Opinion No. 1279

Australian Government Solicitor

Emerald Hill

Melbourne

Winefred Managyan (birth)

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Lionel Potter

Detective constable with the Victoria Police. Arrested James Minahan at Melbourne after he returned from Sydney with his solicitor.

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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.

Jessie Shing

Anglo-Chinese wife of Chin Shing. Ran Shing Kee store at Indigo, Victoria.

Deane and Deane Solicitors

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Sun Nam Hie & Co. advertisement

National Library of Australia

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Edmund Barton

Justice of the High Court. Ruled in Potter v. Minahan that James Minahan was not an immigrant under the Immigration Restriction Act.

Death of Mr. W.T. Coldham

National Library of Australia

Fiji

Mount Pleasant

Victoria

James Minahan arrives in Sydney on board the SS Wollowra

30 January 1908

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Portrait of Harry Hoyling

Australian War Memorial

Winifred Cheong Ming is born

13 June 1881

Beechworth

Victoria

James Minahan meets with Solicitor Croft to review the evidence presented in the lower courts

1908-05

Immigration Restriction Acts 1901-1905

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Water Police Court, Sydney

Immigration Restriction in Australia by Everard Digby

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

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No. 4 Police Station

Sydney

James Minahan is charged with being a prohibited immigrant

7 February 1908

Law as Politics: Chinese Litigants in Australian Colonial Courts by Mark Finnane

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Sir Phillip Street, Chief Justice of New South Wales

National Library of Australia

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Portrait of Sir Samuel Griffith

State Library of Queensland

Cheong Ming arrives in Australia

1857

Collector of Customs, Melbourne

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

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Caricature portrait of J.T.T. Donohoe

National Library of Australia

Hong Kong

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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.

Richard Monaghan and Mary Mangan (marriage)

Winifred Cheong Meng (birth)

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Lying-in Hospital, Melbourne

One Month’s Grace

National Library of Australia

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

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Imprint of the left hand of James Frances Kitchen, 28 January 1908

National Archives of Australia

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Chiltern Gold Mine

State Library of Victoria

English or Chinese?

National Library of Australia

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Police station, George St North, Sydney

State Library of New South Wales

Winifred Minahan

Mother of James Minahan.

Citzenship and the Centenary by Kim Rubenstein

James Minahan gives evidence before Police Magistrate Cresswell in the Melbourne City Court

31 March 1908

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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.

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Portrait of W.T. Coldham

National Library of Australia

Affadavit of John Gardner Davies, 22 April 1908, Copy Documents (prepared by Charles Powers)

National Archives of Australia

Chan Num arrives in Australia

1857

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Lying-in Hospital, corner Cardigan and Grattan Streets, Carlton, c1868

State Library of Victoria

High Court rules in Chia Gee v. Martin

1905

Winifred Cheong Ming

Younger sister of James Minahan. Died as an infant.

Winifred Cheong Ming dies

25 September 1881

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.

Winifred Cheong Meng (death)

James Minahan arrives in Sydney on board the SS Taiyuan

23 January 1908

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Robert Garran

Lawyer and Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department.

James Minahan is interviewed by Customs Officer Mercer on board the SS Wollowra

27 January 1908

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Statement by J.T.T. Donohoe, 10 February 1908

National Archives of Australia

Sunwui

Kwungtung

The Legal Interpretation of the Constitution of the Commonwealth by a. Berriedale Keith

Crown Solicitor files affidavits regarding James Minahan’s case with the High Court registry

28 April 1908

Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

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Portrait of Sir Frank Gavan Duffy

National Library of Australia

Jessie Shing dies

1949

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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.

James Minahan attends the Shek Quey Lee village school

1883

Indigo

Victoria

Death of Mr. Bryant, K.C.

National Library of Australia

Singh v. Commonwealth of Australia (2004) 222 CLR 322

Australasian Legal Information Institute

James Minahan and Solicitor Croft arrive in Melbourne by train

13 February 1908

Melbourne

Victoria

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Chiltern

Victoria

Department of Trade and Customs

Ah Yuey

Uncle of James Minahan. Owner Sun Nam Hie & Co., Little Bourke Street, Melbourne.

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Portrait of Lancelot Dawson

National Library of Australia

Ah Sheung - Immigration Restriction Act’, Minute Paper by Robert Garran, Secretary, Attorney-General’s Department, 28 November 1906

National Archives of Australia

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William Ah Ket

First Chinese barrister in Australia. Counsel for James Minahan during High Court appeal.

James Minahan is held in the Melbourne watch house

13 February 1908

Hang Yick

Arai Arai

Japanese husband of Winifred Minahan.

James Minahan and Solicitor Croft leave Sydney by train for Melbourne

11 February 1908

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Photograph of SS Wollowra

Australian National Maritime Museum

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H.W. Bryant

Counsel for the Commonwealth in Potter v. Minahan.

Australian or Asiatic?

National Library of Australia

Catherine Minahan is born

4 February 1865

Alien or Native?

National Library of Australia

Cornishtown and Prentice Freehold Reunion 1873–1998 edited by Nell Begley and Rex Fuge

A Chinese Barrister

National Library of Australia

New South Wales

Australia

Ernest Tipp

Chinese interpreter in Melbourne. Translated for James Minahan during High Court appeal.

Chinese or Australian?

National Library of Australia

James Minahan meets with Solicitor Croft to give his instructions on the case

1908-05

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Portrait of P.J. Dwyer

National Library of Australia

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

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Old Supreme Court

State Library of Victoria

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Circular Quay

Sydney

Still Call Australia Home: The Constitution and the Citizen’s Right of Abode by Helen Irving

James Minahan is remanded in custody in Darlinghurst Gaol

7 February 1908

Kong Chew Society

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Portrait of H.W. Bryant

National Library of Australia

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.

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View of Circular Quay

State Library of Victoria

E.A. Fortescue Croft

James Minahan’s solicitor. From Croft and Rhoden Solicitors, Melbourne.

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Copy of Dictation Test from 16 to 31 January 1908

National Archives of Australia

Sydney

New South Wales

James Minahan’s case in the Melbourne City Court is adjourned for several days until 31 March 1908

27 March 1908

Died at His Post

National Library of Australia

The Administration of the White Australia Policy by A.C. Palfreeman

Willie Lee Hook

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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.

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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.

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Littleton Groom

Attorney-General.

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.

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Sydney Harbour

Sydney

Landscapes of Memory and Forgetting: Indigo and Shek Quey Lee by Kate Bagnall

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

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Memorandum from Atlee Hunt, Secretary, Department of External Affairs, to Crown Solicitor, 11 February 1908

National Archives of Australia

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View of Chiltern, looking east

State Library of Victoria

Supreme Court of Victoria

Police Magistrate Cresswell reserves his decision for several days until 2 April 1908

31 March 1908

Richard Minahan and Mary Manning marry

30 October 1856

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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

James Minahan leaves Melbourne on board the SS Wollowra

28 January 1908

Justice Street hears writ of habeas corpus against Captain Dawson

7 February 1908

Catherine Minahan

Younger sister of Winifred Minahan and aunt of James Minahan. Worked for Chan Num at Beechworth.

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SS Taiyuan

James Minahan appears before the Sydney Water Police Court

7 February 1908

Ah Ket, William (1876–1936)

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W.T. Coldham

Counsel for James Minahan during Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.

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SS Wollowra

James Minahan’s case, Potter v. Minahan, is before the High Court of Australia

16 September 1908

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Harry Hoyling

Chinese interpreter in Melbourne. Worked for the Commonwealth.

State Library of NSW

Chin Shing and Jessie Ah Coon marry

24 May 1893

Richard Minahan

Maternal grandfather of James Minahan.

Albert Dryer

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Photograph of SS Taiyuan

State Library of New South Wales

A5522, Correspondence files, single number series with ‘M’ (matters) prefix

National Archives of Australia

Asian Migration to Australia by A.T. Yarwood

James Minahan leaves Sydney on board the SS Wollowra

24 January 1908

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Empty thoroughfare at Darlinghurst Gaol

National Library of Australia

Attorney-General’s Department

See Yup Society

Collector of Customs, Sydney

Australian Citizenship Law in Context by Kim Rubenstein

National Archives of Australia

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Department of External Affairs, 1904

National Library of Australia

See Yup

Kwungtung

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P.J. Dwyer

Police magistrate. James Minahan’s case initially came before him in Court of Petty Sessions in Melbourne.

Australia

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.

Potter v. Minahan heard in the High Court of Australia

16 September 1908

James Minahan appears before the Melbourne City Court

28 February 1908

Carlton

Melbourne

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Little Bourke Street

Melbourne

Tahiti

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

Mary Manning

Maternal grandmother of James Minahan.

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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

National Library of Australia

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Aliens in Their Own Land: ‘Alien’ and the Rule of Law in Colonial and Post-Federation Australia by Peter Prince

Australian National University

Victoria

Australia

James Minahan is arrested by Constable Potter in Melbourne

13 February 1908

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Department of External Affairs

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Portrait of William Ah Ket

National Library of Australia

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Lancelot Dawson

Captain of the SS Taiyuan.

Crown Solicitor files an Order Nisi to Review with the High Court registry

2 May 1908

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F.S. Boyce

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The New Gold Mountain: The Chinese in Australia 1901-1921 by C.F. Yong

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High Court of Australia

Vessels Advertised as Landing

Hong Kong Public Libraries

Alien Acts: The White Australia Policy, 1901 to 1939

University of Melbourne

A1, 1908/1498, Ah Sheung

National Archives of Australia

Starling, John Henry (1883-1966) by David I. Smith

Defining Strangers: Human Rights, Immigration and the Foundations of a Just Society by Mary Crock

State Library of Victoria

Victoria Police

James Minahan appears before Police Magistrate Cresswell in the Melbourne City Court

28 February 1908

High Court rules in Attorney-General for the Commonwealth v. Ah Sheung

1907

“Habeas Corpus Mongols” – Chinese Litigants and the Politics of Immigration in 1888 by Mark Finnane

Anglo-Chinese and the Politics of Overseas Travel from New South Wales, 1898 to 1925 by Kate Bagnall

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Handwritten Letter from E.A. Fortescue Croft, Solicitor, to Atlee Hunt, Secretary, Department of External Affairs, 6 February 1908

National Archives of Australia

James Minahan is born

4 October 1876

James Minahan appears before the Melbourne City Court

14 February 1908

The Chinese Exclusion Law

National Library of Australia

James Minahan arrives in Melbourne on board the SS Wollowra

26 January 1908

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Potter v. Minahan (1908) 7 CLR 277

Australasian Legal Information Institute

Shing Kee

A5522, M47, Habeas Proceedings re WILLIE LEE HOOK

National Archives of Australia

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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.

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Portrait of Sir Littleton Groom

National Library of Australia

Shek Quey Lee

Sunwui

James Minahan is arrested by Customs Inspector Donohoe in Sydney

7 February 1908

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View of Sydney Harbour from Dawes Point

State Library of Victoria

History of the Shire of Chiltern by Robert Ashley

Passenger List for the Taiyuan, Sydney, 23 January 1908

Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007

Prohibited Immigrant

National Library of Australia

Chia Gee v. Martin (1905) 3 CLR 649

Australasian Legal Information Institute

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Portrait of Edmund Barton

National Library of Australia

Tung Wah Times publishes second article about Potter v. Minahan

17 October 1908

James Francis Kitchen Minahan (bIrth)

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Portrait of Robert Garran

National Library of Australia

Kwungtung

China

Croft and Rhoden Solicitors

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.

High Court hands down decision in Potter v. Minahan

8 October 1908

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Portrait of John Starling

National Library of Australia

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Portrait of Henry Bournes Higgins

National Library of Australia

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Donohoe v. Wong Sau (1925) 36 CLR 404

Australasian Legal Information Institute

Charles Powers

Crown Solicitor. Managed the Commonwealth’s legal case against James Minahan.

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

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Report of Passengers for the Taiyuan from Hong Kong, Sydney, 23 January 1908

National Archives of Australia

A1, Correspondence files, annual single number series

National Archives of Australia

Cheong Ming dies

1896

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Darlinghurst Gaol

Sydney

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Atlee Hunt

Secretary of the Department of External Affairs.

James Minahan and Cheong Ming leave Melbourne for China

1882

Harold Cazneaux

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James Minahan

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Judges of the Federal High Count, 1903

National Library of Australia

Australian Wharf

Melbourne

Citizen or Alien?

National Library of Australia

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Portrait of Isaac Isaacs

National Library 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

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Portrait of Atlee Hunt

National Library of Australia

Winifred Minahan born

1 February 1858

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Portrait of F.S. Boyce

National Library of Australia

Solicitor Croft writes privately to Atlee Hunt about James Minahan’s case

6 February 1908

China

Tung Wah Times publishes article about Potter v. Minahan

10 October 1908

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View of Water Police Court, Sydney

State Library of New South Wales

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Sun Nam Hie & Co.

James Minahan’s case in the Melbourne City Court continues

31 March 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

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Portrait of Richard O’Connor

National Library of Australia

Annotated Minute Paper from the Attorney-General’s Department, 8 April 1908

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Portrait of Lionel Potter

National Library of Australia

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Eastern end of Little Bourke Street, 1908

National Library of Australia

Kongmoon

Sunwui

James Minahan is given the Dictation Test by Customs Officer Mercer on boards the SS Wollowra

27 January 1908

New Zealand

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Court of Petty Sessions, Melbourne

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A1, 1908/12936, ‘Kitchen’. Prohibited immigrant, 1908

National Archives of Australia

Chin Shing

Business partner of Cheong Ming. Ran Shing Kee store at Indigo, Victoria. Gave evidence at Court of Petty Sessions hearing in Melbourne.

Winifred Minahan and Arai Arai marry

20 October 1886

Is He an Australian?

National Library of Australia