Photograph 1: Inder SINGH and Nuttah SINGH (brothers or ‘cousin brothers’ from Punjab, undivided India). Inder was the stepfather of Florence SINGH, whereas Nuttah SINGH was Florence’s biological father.
Photograph 2: Marriage certificate of Nutha (sic) SINGH and Emily Edith BELLINGHAM. Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Number: 1909/B/8008
Photograph 3: Dan CROUCHER and Florence CROUCHER (née SINGH) circa 1976.
Photograph 4: Map of South Asia (Source: Wikimedia Commons).
National Family History Month 2025:
Launch of The Indian and South Asian Special Interest Group at the Society of Australian Genealogists
National Family History Month in 2025 will mark the realisation of a long-held personal and professional dream. On Saturday, 23 August, I will be hosting the inaugural online event of the Indian and South Asian Special Interest Group at the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG).(1) I am unabashedly excited at the opportunity to assist other Australians of Indian and South Asian descent to come together and explore their heritage in such a practical and meaningful way. (A link to the event description and registration has been provided below.)
I was raised knowing I had Indian heritage and thinking it was cool but was still filled with questions about who these Indians were and why no one in my family seemed to know anything about them. How did I know the lyrics to all the rebel songs and poetry of my maternal Irish heritage, yet my knowledge of my paternal Indian heritage was almost non-existent despite my Nan’s turbaned Sikh stepfather Inder SINGH being within my father’s living memory? Why did my Australian-born Irish grandfather proudly play the fiddle and dance the jig at various Irish National Nights across inner-city Melbourne, but my Australian-born Indian grandmother powdered her face white with make-up and wore long sleeves in summer while pretending her surname was MASON and not SINGH like on her birth certificate?(2) My father and many older family members couldn’t seem to answer my questions about our Indian heritage because they did not know or did not remember, or did not want to remember, my family’s experience of being brown in white Australia.
Despite being enthralled by the intrigue of my South Asian heritage growing up, I had no idea about the truth of my family’s experience, or how it fit within the broader social and historical context of Australia’s colonial history, until I discovered genealogy. Then a new set of questions arrived: Why can’t I find my Indian ancestors on the electoral roll? Why can’t I find their immigration papers? Why was my Punjabi great-grandfather’s service to the British Indian Army not in the UK archives? Why did the clerk who registered my great-grandparents’ 1909 marriage pencil the words ‘Indian + White‘ into the margins of the certificate? What on earth is a certificate of exemption… From the dictation test? What even is a dictation test?(3)
These questions, complexities, and limitations mean that the life trajectory of my great-grandfather Nuttah SINGH, a Sikh hawker from Punjab who arrived in Australia around the turn of the 20th century, remains largely a mystery to me. I am not alone in the journey of struggling to piece together Indian and South Asian heritage in a Western country, and the SIG intends on helping to fill that knowledge gap.
The ultimate mission of the Indian and South Asian Special Interest Group at the Society of Australian Genealogists is to provide a space for Australians with South Asian heritage to explore their family history and break down brick walls together. The SIG welcomes Australians whose ancestors hail from every corner of the launch of South Asian SIG South Asian diaspora to share tips on research tools and methods to help trace roots across borders, religions, and generations. The group is designed for both those who are just starting out and those with years of experience. The SIG is more than just a research group; it is a community of friends. Our focus will be on practical help grounded in the genealogical method, with themed meetings, member presentations, and guest speakers planned for future events.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Please click on this link to be taken to the event description and registration on the Society of Australian Genealogists’ website: https://www.sag.org.au/event-6278520. Once you enter your name and email address, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link to join the meeting on the day. You will also receive a reminder email 72 and 24 hours before the start time that has the joining link in it.
ENDNOTES
(1) South Asia includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
(2) ‘Irish National Concert at the North Melbourne Town Hall’, Advocate (Melbourne, 23 March 1918) 11; ‘All-Irish Night’, Advocate (Melbourne, 27 July 1918, 24.
(3) The Real Face of White Australia: Living Under the White Australia Policy https://www.realfaceofwhiteaustralia.net/; Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria, Victorian CEDT [Certificate of Exemption from the Dictation Test] Index, https://www.cafhov.com/resources/vic-cedt-index/.
