•  Specific date information (month and day of birth or death) is not included. If known, it appears elsewhere in the profile.
• Sometimes a birth or death year is unknown but can be estimated based on various sources. For example, someone who reported as being 10 years old in the 1901 Canadian census could have been born in 1890 or 1891, depending on whether the census took place before or after his or her birthday. In a case like this, use c to indicate the estimated year, e.g. c1890
• Sometimes a year of birth or death cannot be reasonably estimated within a year or two, but can be said to have definitely occurred before or after a specific date. For example, if a person registered under the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, then they definitely must have been alive at the end of 1922. In this case, if their exact or estimated year of death is not known, the earliest or latest possible year of their birth or date can be indicated using the abbreviation Aft., e.g. Aft. 1922.  Use Bef. for births, marriages or deaths that occurred at an undetermined date before a particular year.
  
• If a birth or death year is unknown, indicate this by ?
• The following examples show how content  for Name and Lifespan is formulated, depending on the information available:
Kum Jow Lee Dye (1869 - Aft. 1922) - primary sources indicate year of birth known but year of death is unknown.
William Henry Chow (? - 1935) - primary sources provide no indication of the year of birth but clearly indicate year of death.
Won Alexander Cumyow (1861-1955) - primary sources indicate specific years of birth and death
Won Ling Ling (c1824 - Bef. 1909) - primary sources allow a reasonably precise estimate of the year of birth and indicate that the death clearly occurred before a certain date, although the exact date could fall  within a large range of years.

The following  example shows the format and style preferred for Name and Lifespan:

Won Alexander Cumyow (1861-1955)

• Alternate forms may (and should) be cited.  Cross-reference pages are created for each of these alternate forms and  are linked back to the main profile.
• The area appears on all profiles, even if no alternate forms and spellings have yet been identified.
• The list of alternate forms and spellings in an individual profile is alphabetized.
• The list is introduced by the phrase Alternate forms and spellings of name.
• Only forms and spellings actually observed in documentary sources and indexes are used.  An exception occurs if a Western or European name forms part of the moniker. In this case, name order is inverted according to western custom, although an entry is also created for the original form as seen inthe documentary record(s).
• Examples:

   Chan Ah Moi (Ruth Chan) (in Chinese Immigration List)

  •  Chan Ah Moi is used for the Name and Lifespan. Alternate forms and spellings include Chan, Ruth and Ruth Chan.
    

  Won Sing (Frank Sing) (in Chinese Immigration List)

  • Won Sing is used for the Name and Lifespan.  Alternate forms and spellings include Frank Sing and Sing, Frank.

  Seto More (Seto Moo Lau) (in Chinese Immigration List)

  • Seto More is used for the Name and Lifespan.  Seto Moo Lau is cited as an alternate form.

 The following example shows the format and style preferred for Alternate forms and spelling of name:

• Alternate forms and spellings of name:  Chan, Ruth, Ruth Chan

 A separate wiki page is created for each variant  in the Alternate forms and spellings of name list.   References back to the main wiki profile for the individual are provided.  Thus, in the case of Ruth Chan, whose Chinese Immigration List entry is Chan Ah Moi (Ruth Chan). the main wiki profile is Chan Ah Moi and secondary pages are created for Chan, Ruth and Ruth Chan.  These pages link back to Chan Ah Moi.  

The appearance of the page is similar to the Name and Lifespan display title seen  at the head of the main wiki profile  for the individual but omits the lifespan information.

Example:

Ruth Chan

 The Table of Contents is preferrably identical in all wiki profiles, and does not depend on information having (yet)  been located for every possible content area. 

Table of Contents

• The Biography describes important events in the individual's life and may summarize occupations, accomplishments, legacy, etc. 
• Ideally, it is written in a flowing, engaging style. 
• In general, the Biography does not explore conflicting and incomplete evidence in detail.   If there is doubt, phrases such as "There is evidence that . . . " or "[Name] appears to have . . ." or "It seems possible/likely that . . ." may be used.   (The place for detailed attention to  questions about evidence, quality of sources etc. is the Comments and Queries section of the profile). 
• The Biography may include links to other wiki pages or to external websites. 
• If desired, the Biography may be divided into sub-sections.
• See the following profiles for examples of biographical narrative. Look at both the Biography and Comments and Queries sections to compare the preferred scope of each.
  
  Ah Lun
  Won Alexander Cumyow
  Yip Wah

Later Years

Won Alexander Cumyow was to remain in Vancouver for the rest of his long life, residing first on Carrall Street and later moving to Main Street and eventually East 1st Avenue.

Won Alexander Cumyow died peacefully in hospital on October 6, 1955 at the age of 94. His funeral was at the Mount Pleasant Chapel on October 11 and he was interred at Ocean View Burial Park in Burnaby, B.C.

• Gender
• Date of birth includes the exact day, month, and year (if known). 
• Place of birth includes the name of the city, town or village, and province (if known).
• Spouse includes the full name of the spouse (if known) and his or her lifespan.  Lifespan follows the pattern used for Name and Lifespan in the main page heading.  If the spouse has his or her own entry in the wiki, a link is included to the profile page for that person.  Otherwise, additional details related to the spouse (such as alternate forms and spellings of the spouse's name) are included in the Biography and/or Comments and Queries sections.
• Date of marriage includes the exact day, month, and year (if known).
• Place of marriage includes the name of the city, town or village, and province (if known).
• Date of death includes the exact day, month, and year (if known).
• Place of death includes the name of the city, town or village, and province (if known).
• Date of burial includes the exact day, month, and year (if known).
• Place of burial includes the name of the cemetery, city, town or village, and province (if known).

Vital details are presented in table form, as seen in this example:

•  The name of each parent is included (if known). 
• If there is more than one variant, only one is used.  The contributor decides which name variant is used.  Parents' names are not the subjects of additional wiki profiles unless they have their own entry in the Chinese Immigration List.
• Each parents' lifespan is also shown (if known).  To indicate lifespan, follow the directions under Name and Lifespan.

Parents

• Children are listed in chronological order of birth.  If the year of birth is not known, the child's name appears at the end of the list of children.  If none of the children's years of birth are known, names are listed in alphabetical order.
• The gender and name of each child is included (if known). 
• His or her lifespan is also shown (if known). To indicate lifespan, follow the directions under Name and Lifespan.
• If there is more than one name variant, only one is used.  The name used is the decision of the contributor.
• Children's names are not the subjects of additional wiki profiles unless they have their own entry in the Chinese Immigration List.

Children

•  Known addresses are listed in chronological order.
• Addresses are presumed to be residential, although sources (such as directories) do not always indicate whether or not this is the case.   Sometimes, a single address is both residential and employment-related.  If the address is a residence that is clearly established to have been a work or business address associated with the individual, separate from his or her residential address,  a parenthetical "W" follows the address information.  Otherwise, no qualifier appears.
• Each specific address appears only once in the list of residence.  Thus, if city directories show that Won Alexander Cumyow resided at 1440 East First Avenue in 1936 and also was living there in 1955, the fact that he lived there is only shown once.  The earliest known date at which an individual resided at a specific address is the one that should be shown.  Thus, Won Alexander Cumyow's residence at 1440 East First Avenue appears in his list of residences list only in relation to 1936.  If it is later discovered that he was also living there in 1928, the 1936 entry is removed (or changed) to 1928.
• Entries in this section include year, street number, city and province.
• Individual entries are inked to footnotes, but any source used to establish an address of residence (or employment) should appear in the list of Sources.

Residences

Directories and other primary sources indicate the following residential addresses for Won Alexander Cumyow:

•  Each fact should be labelled. 
• Select from the following standard labels:
  • Adoption [date and by whom].  
  • Baptism [date, name of church, location]
  • Occupation[s]
  • Education [institution, date(s)]
  • Military service
• Labels may be created for facts not covered by the above list.
• Facts should be specific and concise.  If desired, information may be expanded in the Biography or Comments and Queries sections of the profile.
• It is not necessary to provide footnotes for individual facts, but any source from which a fact has been derived should appear in the list of Sources.

Other Facts

 Comments and Queries appear as a bulleted list.

Entries may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Discussion of quality of evidence.
• Discussion of conflicting or confusing evidence.
• Descriptions of failed or successful search strategies using specific sources.
• Suggestions for "next steps".

Comments and Queries

• While the Chinese Immigration List gives a birth date of 14 February 1861 for Won Alexander Cumyow, other sources cite his date of birth as 17 March 1861, just over a month later.
• The family in which Won Alexander Cumyow grew up is difficult to reconstruct.   An entry in the 1881 Canadian census appears almost certainly to relate to him, and is corroborated in other sources.   However, five apparent siblings in the same 1881 household census record ("apparent" because the 1881 census does not indicate relationships between members of a household) are not readily identified in other sources, although three entries in the Chinese Immigration List are very probably associated with these siblings.  These are Won Joe Quoy, Won Shee (Mrs. Chang Suey), and Mrs. Nellie Chow (Nellie Won).
• According to the 1901 census (see Sources), a 38-year old brother named Won Stephen Cumyow,  born on November 14, 1862, was living with Won Alexander Cumyow.  This could be the 18-year old brother seen in the 1881 census record, whose name is hard to decipher.  As well, Won Alexander Cumyow's 1955 obituary mentions a brother named Frank , who is also named as the informant on Won Joe Quoy's death certificate.  Finally, B.C. Vital Events records include a marriage registration for an individual named Won Edward Yuen. The names of his parents are not shown on the marriage certificate, but it seems possible that he and a clerk named "Cumyow W.E.", listed on page 130 of Henderson's Vancouver City Directory for 1890 are one and the same and that he could be a brother of Won Alexander Cumyow.
• The Chinese Immigration List does not  appear to include entries for a Won Stephen Cumyow, Frank Cumyow, or W.E. Cumyow.
• Although it seems likely that Won Alexander Cumyow was a Methodist (this religion is recorded on his marriage certificate), the 1881 census record states that he belonged to the Church of England.
• The very long gap - 14 years - between the birth of the youngest of Won Alexander's youngest child, Clifton Cumyow (b. 1917), and the birth of the previous child, May Cumyow (b. 1903) is curious. It is interesting to speculate as to whether or not Clifton might have been an adopted or "paper" son.

• All sources from which material has been derived for the profile should be cited. 
• If a source was consulted but did not yield any appropriate information, it is not included in the list of sources.  The search may be described in the Comments and Queries section.
• Sources are listed in alphabetical order. 

•  In general, links posted here should provide substantial narrative information about the individual or  the time and place in which he or she lived. 
• but  may appear in the Sources list.

External Links

Canadian First: The Life of Won Alexander Cumyow, 1861-1955  

This PDF article posted by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C.  is a detailed and engaging biographical narrative of this pioneering Chinese-Canadian.

Won Alexander Cumyow Fonds
A description of the Won Alexander Cumyow fonds at the University of British Columbia Archives. The fonds comprise 14 cm of textual records and 74 photographs and include biographical information, correspondence, journals, documents, scrapbooks, photographs and printed material.

Won Alexander Cumyow: An Inventory of His Fonds in Rare Books and Special Collections, The Library of the University of British Columbia
In addition to describing the fonds, this document provides an item-by-item listing of each item in the collection.