My hope is that this thread has been covered on more than one occasion before, but if not, it is high time it was. I am speaking to the matter of extending to you, David, my heartfelt thanks for the bottomless time and effort you put into operating this website. I cannot imagine how much of your life over what, 20+ years, you have committed to bringing people together to celebrate their ancestors and the unique and remarkable society that is Hong Kong.
There must be many thousands of people around the world who feel the debt of gratitude I do to you and gwulo.com for revealing family history otherwise lost and forgotten, or connecting the living who shared precious moments in Hong Kong in years gone by.
Years ago I posted a request for information about my Caldwell family. That request precipitated these replies among others:
- From a woman in England, that I was missing my great great grandfather, a controversial and colourful figure whose name is Daniel R.F. Caldwell (1816-1875)
- From a woman in south England who stated she had a robe belonging to Daniel RF Caldwell and sent a picture in a locket of what might be the only existing image of Daniel Caldwell. Months later, a box appeared at my door. It was the robe.
- From a man in Vancouver, BC (near my home), who met with me and shared valuable information on Daniel's life AND advised that he was descended from an adopted child of Daniel and his wife Mary Ayow Chan
- From England, a young descendant of Daniel's grandson visited us in Victoria, BC.
- More of my Chinese-Canadian family have appeared in Vancouver thanks to the gwulo bulletin board and we are working together on filling in the enormous Chinese side of the Daniel RF Caldwell family. Daniel and Mary Ayow Chan had 12 biological children plus (reportedly) 20 or more adopted children.
- So the Caldwell story goes on, none of which would have occurred were it not for you David and your Gwulo.com. I am eternally grateful.
Others of you out there have no doubt had similar gwulo experiences. Here's an opportunity to say thanks and to share with us how David and gwulo made a difference in your life. Peter Caldwell Bruce pkbruce@gmail.com
Thank you
Hi Peter,
Apologies for the slow response, I'm still catching up on all the new posts while I was away.
That's great to see all the people who have been in contact with you. I enjoy seeing people working together to answer questions on Gwulo, and it's definitely a bonus when it involves friends and families getting (back) in touch.
If you can add pages (https://gwulo.com/node/add/person) for any of the Caldwells' children, that'll be good to see, and might bring in some new contacts for you. Kwan Yuen Cheong would be a good place to start, as that will let us link the DRF Caldwell page to his grandchild.
Many thanks for your generous message,
David