James Pon Hap was granted naturalisation in Victoria in 1883. His naturalisation certificate was used as a de facto passport when he travelled between Australia and China in the following two decades. Naturalisation meant that James Pon Hap was exempted from the restrictions of colonial Victoria's anti-Chinese legislation.
James Pon Hap's photograph was attached to the back of the certificate, and annotations made in both English and Chinese documenting his various travels. His handprint was taken in 1905, after which time his certificate was 'cancelled', collected and placed on file.
Page 1 | 2
More information about this record is available in the National Archives RecordSearch database. The link below takes you into the database.
Where you see this symbol in RecordSearch, a digital copy of the item can be viewed online. Simply click on the 'View digital copy' link.