The name Assange is thought to derive from Ah Sang, or Mr. Sang, a Chinese émigré who settled on Thursday Island, off the coast of Australia, in the early eighteen-hundreds, and whose descendants later moved to the continent. Assange’s maternal ancestors came to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, from Scotland and Ireland, in search of farmland, and Assange suspects, only half in jest, that his proclivity for wandering is genetic.

My Father’s surname is Assange. According to my father, on his side I am part chinese and part Thursday Island. My grandfathers surname was George Assange and his father before him was also George, surname Ah-Sang. According to my father, my grand father was a night club singer who changed his name to Assange because it sounded french and he would be more readily accepted among his peers. I believe my great(?) grand father travelled to Australia for the 1800′s gold rush.