In 1921, William and Gertrude William Ah Ket became a leading figure in the Chinese Australian a story that is It's well worth telling and I feel privileged to be able to participate in that story-telling. William Ah Ket made history when he signed the bar roll. William was born in 1876, in the north-east Victorian town of Wangaratta one of eight children. 1John Lack, Ah Ket, William (1876 1936), Australian Dictionary of Biography, available at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ah-ket-william-4979. William Ah Ket in Selborne Chambers, Melbourne circa 1933.Source: http://monumentaustralia.org.au/. His father, Ma Ket [], had arrived in Victoria in 1855 to work as a community leader for the Chinese workers in the goldfields of Victoria. He fought against the White Australia policy and racist laws targeting Chinese workers as Australia's first barrister of Chinese descent. William Ah Ket [] was born in Wangaratta in the state of Victoria, Australia, in 1876. president of the Australian-Chinese Association, co-founder That includes our servers. Associate Professor Andrew Godwin is researching the life and times of MLS alum William Ah Ket and is working with the descendants of the Ah Ket family for this purpose. He completed his articles with the solicitors Maddison & It is named after William Ah Ket who became the first Australian barrister of Chinese origin in 1904. His father had arrived in Victoria in 1855 and after some years on the goldfields established one of the earliest tobacco-farms on the King River. Toylaan Margaret Allen,his last surviving child, passed away in New South Wales on 16th July 2015. Williams, founder of the Spanish Guitar Centre in London, He advocated and promoted peaceful coexistence. He is also believed to be the first Chinese barrister to practise in Australia. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. Masonic Lodge No.123 and held life-membership of the MCG so Ben Dunn who all gained renown in that era as KCs, or Justices The legacy of Australia's #firstAsianlawyer, William Ah Ket, who battled #racism and achieved landmark victories, lives on. That in itself was an "impressive feat", says Reynah Tang, the founding president of the Asian-Australian Lawyers' Association. William's father, Mah Ket, was one of Australia's earliest tobacco farmers. He fought against the requirements of the 1907 Factories (Employment of Chinese) Act, which discriminated against . 'William Ah Ket (1876-1936), barrister, was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, only son and fifth child of Ah Ket, storekeeper and grower and buyer of tobacco, and his wife Hing Ung, who were married in Melbourne in 1864. He was in the front rank of pleaders and became renowned as a fine cross-examiner quietly spoken, courteous and shrewd and as an outstanding jury man. well as a tobacco-grower, store-keeper, and property owner. William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination and appeared in many 'public interest' cases. Educated in both English and Chinese cultures, he agitated against racial intolerance in Victoria and defended the rights of Victoria`s Chinese community. He also appeared before Justice Lowe after he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria. This article contains content that is not available. The biography of Joan Rosanove QC, an alumna of Melbourne Law School and the first Jewish woman in Australia to be admitted as a barrister, contains the following reference to a light-hearted discussion between William and Joan: A Melbourne barrister, Mr Ah Ket, a friend of Marks [Joans father], said to her, You and I have both chosen the wrong profession, Joan. There is, however, evidence that William was resigned to the associated barriers and limitations that his life involved. In a High Court case called Ingham v Hie Lee,[8] Ah Ket represented a Chinese laundry owner who was charged with an offence under the Factories and Shops Act 1905 in Victoria. opinions expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those of La Trobe University With paternal ancestry from Taishan, southern China, Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity. Noting that music had a peculiar charm for Confucius, he mused that had Confucius lived then, it is quite likely that he would have found in the music of the bagpipes something particularly stirring and satisfying to the soul.[12] William would have had an affinity with bagpipes as his wife, Gertrude Bullock, was of Scottish descent. in the furniture-making trade. All rights reserved. He was a co-founder of the Australian-Chinese Association and one of two delegates from the Chinese community in Australia to the opening of the Chinese national parliament of 1912. William Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity, born in Victoria in 1876. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. of the Supreme Court and knights of the realm. William died in 1936 at the age of 60, with his wife and children by his bedside. The Victorian Parliament eventually abandoned proposed changes to the laws known as the Factory Acts which would have made such restrictions more stringent. of 'building bridges between the East and West.'. "He probably would've seen people that were junior to him progress past him in that career and of course that would've been disappointing to see that, and not be afforded the same opportunities as everyone else," he says. It was customary for them to celebrate the various anniversaries William moved to Melbourne in 1893 to study law at Melbourne University, and was formally admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1904. Their eldest son William Ket MBBS became Deputy Superintendent Fast forward 90 years to 9 October 2019 when an audience of some 50 persons are gathered in the Great Hall of the High Court of Australia to attend the third award ceremony for the William Ah Ket Scholarship a scholarship established by the Asian Australian Lawyers Association in 2017 and supported by Maddocks. Dr Couchman says the changes William spoke out against were "very invasive". So commences the biography of William Ah Ket [] in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.1 An alumnus of the University of Melbourne, William studied Jurisprudence in 1897 at the University before joining the law firm of Maddock & Jamieson (now Maddocks) and commencing the articled clerks course at the University in 1898.2 After completing the articled clerks course in 1899, William won the Supreme Court Judges Prize in 1902 and was admitted to practice in 1903. Chinese language. Whatever the challenges that William faced during his sixty years, there is no doubt that his life was one of diversity and service. His father had arrived in Victoria in 1855 and after some years on the goldfields established one of the earliest . It is fitting and proper that this scholarship is named for him.[6], The recipient of the Scholarship, Tienyi Long, notes that [l]awyers, courts and legislators continue to grapple with the question of how equal justice can be achieved for diverse communities in a multifaceted and increasingly complex society diversity intelligence is an essential skill to facilitate equal access to justice for diverse communities it should be included as part of mandatory continuing professional development requirements under the Legal Profession Uniform Law.[7]. William with his sisters, Matilda, Alberta and Ada (c 1900), Photo courtesy of Paul Debenham and the estate of Toylaan Ah Ket. Mantova, utca. Liu in Sydney who both obtained generous financial support So begins the biography of William Ah Ket [] in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. He established a committee to oppose the proposed Immigration Restriction Act and he was also active in the Anti-Opium League of Victoria which attempted to bring about social reform among Chinese in Australia and abroad. After reading with (Sir) Stewart McArthur, practice in Selbourne Chambers alongside such famous neighbours Fast forward to 9 October 2019 when an audience of some 50 persons are gathered in the Great Hall of the High Court of Australia to attend the third award ceremony for the William Ah Ket Scholarship a scholarship established by the Asian Australian Lawyers Association and supported by Maddocks. From this summary of his early achievements, it is clear that William was a gifted student and lawyer, who succeeded in a time rife with racial discrimination. [5] Citing Toylaan Ah Ket, William Ah KetBuilding Bridges between Occident and Orient in Australia, 1900-1936 (Chinese Studies Association of Australia, Macquarie University, July 1995) at 9.6] The Hon Susan Kiefel AC, Chief Justice of Australia, William Ah Kets contribution to diversity in the legal profession (Asian Australian Lawyers Association, William Ah Ket Scholarship Presentation, Great Hall, High Court of Australia, Canberra, 9 October 2019, 5:30pm). the efforts of William Ah Ket in Melbourne and William J. William Ah Ket (, 20 June 1876 - 6 August 1936) was a noted Australian barrister. William's father, Mah Ket, became highly respected Victoria, and the increasing protests of influential clergymen He fought against the requirements of the 1907 Factories (Employment of Chinese) Act, which discriminated against . "William Ah Ket is in his teens at this time and he's being brought up to be a smart, educated young man, so he would've seen all this going on.". NOTE: The author, Toylaan Ah Ket, is the daughter of William Ah Ket. His father Mah Ket had arrived in Australia in the 1850s, during the gold rush era, and his mother in the 1860s. [10] (1908) 7 CLR 277 at 307. William Ah Ket was Australia's first Chinese Australian lawyer and, later, acting consul-general for China in Australia. to win the reluctant approval of the bench with his propensity of the AIF in World War II and was killed during the Allied For example, in addition to a busy life at the bar, William Ah Ket spent time as a diplomat, serving as acting consul-general for China in 1913-1914 and in 1917. Andrew can be contacted on a.godwin@unimelb.edu.au. and president of the Nam Pon Soon Society, and a committee 5 Law Students Society Dinner to Sir Harrison Moore, Farrago 5(5), April 23, 1929. Your information is being handled in accordance with the. Fax: +61 3 9479 1880 - either Her Majesty's or the Princess Theatre - for a Melba The International Who's Who: 1984/85, 2004, "William Ah Ket - Building Bridges between Occident and Orient in Australia, 1900-1936*", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Ah_Ket&oldid=1136723876, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 20:35. During his career Ah Ket battled the harsh effects of the White Australia Policy in 1908. William Ah Ket (1876-1936), barrister, was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, only son and fifth child of Ah Ket, storekeeper and grower and buyer of tobacco, and his wife Hing Ung, who were married in Melbourne in 1864. Burns or Gilbert & Sullivan. Maddocks also announced on Monday that CEO David Newman has been named to the judging panel for the 2021 William Ah Ket Scholarship, an initiative launched by the Asian Australian Lawyers Association (AALA) in honour of the first Asian-Australian barrister in the country. landing at Tarakan. and their only son, John Williams, has been acclaimed as one arts, sciences, and history of the Chinese people. 15William Ah Ket, Eastern Thought, with special reference to Confucius (Second Morrison Lecture, 3 May 1933), available athttps://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145813/2/Morrison%20Oration%2002.pdf. He went to the bar the following year and is widely understood to have become the first Australian lawyer of Chinese descent to practise as a barrister at the independent bar in Victoria. light opera or a Gladys Moncrief musical . In its decision, the High Court found that if the immigration legislation had intended to remove the rights of citizenship, it should have expressed its intention clearly. Sir Colin envisaged a lectureship that He also appeared before Justice Lowe after he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria. 1901. The Melbourne Chinese Chamber of Commerce asked him to represent Australian Chinese at the opening of the first Chinese Parliament in Beijing in December, 1912 and he was Acting Consul for China in 19131914 and 1917. William was born in 1876, in the north-east Victorian town of Wangaratta one of eight children. all born in Australia to his Chinese parents. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/william-ah-ket-the-first-chinese-australian-barrister/10160198. [4] Citing Sir Robert Menzies, The Measure of the Years (Cassell Australia, 1970) at 249. The test required all immigrants from China to write in English or another European language a passage of approximately 50 words, dictated by a customs officer. The story of William Ah Ket is a significant one in the history of the Australian legal profession. For example, in addition to a busy life at the bar, William Ah Ket spent time as a diplomat, serving as acting consul-general for China in 1913-1914 and in 1917. Popular among the press reporters and cartoonists of his He was born in Victoria in 1876, the only son among six daughters The plaque commemorates William Ah Ket (1876 - 1936), who was a lawyer and campaigner for Chinese rights and was born in Wangaratta. The reason why the Chinese laundry owner had been charged was that a Chinese man had been found in the laundry between 9 and 10 pm at night ironing a shirt, apparently in breach of the after-hours work prohibition. He died on 6 August 1936 of arteriosclerosis and renal failure at Malvern, Victoria. Ah Kets legal team successfully proved that the Chinese man was not an employee of the laundry but instead a boarder at the laundry and that he had simply been ironing his own shirt! 6Citing Karin Derkley, William Ah Ket Legacy Recognised (2018) 92(3) Law Institute Journal 83 at 83, 84. [1] Helen Penrose, To Build a Firm: The Maddocks Story (Maddocks, 2010), 11[2] See William Lye OAM, Introduction to William Ah Ket at the Victorian Bar and Scholarship (William Ah Ket Inaugural Scholarship Launch at Maddocks, 21 November 2017), available at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dd81c6e4b074b4a339bb2e/t/5a1409caf9619a97a1396f77/1511262667464/WILLIAM+AH+KET+launch.pdf. He was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, the only son and fifth child of Mah Ket and Hing Ung. Andrew and MLS would be delighted if any readers have information about William that they would like to share. He acquired a considerable reputation as a negotiator of settlements. He was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, the only son and fifth child of Mah Ket and Hing Ung. William Ah Ket (1876-1936), barrister, was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, only son and fifth child of Ah Ket, storekeeper and grower and buyer of tobacco, and his wife Hing Ung, who were married in Melbourne in 1864. Despite his high profile and achievements, it would seem that others were advanced while he was not.6 He was neither appointed Silk nor a judge. Despite his high profile and achievements, it would seem that others were advanced while he was not. '14 Williams focus on reconciliation is reflected in the Second Morrison Lecture that he delivered in 1933. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the The reason why the Chinese laundry owner had been charged was that a Chinese man had been found in the laundry between 9 and 10 pm at night ironing a shirt, apparently in breach of the after-hours work prohibition. 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Noting that music had a peculiar charm for Confucius, he mused that had Confucius lived then, it is quite likely that he would have found in the music of the bagpipes something particularly stirring and satisfying to the soul.15 William would have had an affinity with bagpipes as his wife, Gertrude Bullock, was of Scottish descent. 1John Lack, Ah Ket, William (1876 1936),Australian Dictionary of Biography, available athttp://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ah-ket-william-4979. His father had taken him to China when he was about five years old. of Germany's fascism and Japan's expanding military aggression He advocated and promoted peaceful coexistence.8 His answer to the difficulties he faced appears to have been to succeed in what he did; to be a real part of the legal profession; to help others and to act at all times righteously, with courage and with kindness. such as the Dictation Test and Limitation of Residence. William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination. established their home at No.1 Dandenong Road, Malvern where My research into William Ah commencedKet in October 2019. "But when it came to law, he knew very well what it was like to struggle and be poor and oppressed, so his sympathies were always on the side of the underdog.". Indeed, as his daughter Toylaan noted in a paper on her father, this was an issue that he was passionate about, having been involved in forming a committee to agitate against the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 and the unreasonable conditions imposed, such as the infamous dictation test. of Commerce to represent Victoria at the Conference of Overseas Chinese under the umbrella of the White Australia Policy, In the past we have borne all the costs associated with maintaining the website but we are now having difficulties in paying the monthly expenses. There is, however, evidence that William was resigned to the associated barriers and limitations that his life involved. Andrew Godwin is researching the life and times of William Ah Ket and is working with the descendants of the Ah Ket family for this purpose. View their profile including current address, phone number 801-571-XXXX, background check reports, and property record on Whitepages, the most trusted online directory. In his more-than 30-year career, William was never promoted to the rank of senior barrister or appointed judge. "Obviously there's not a White Australia policy as such against Chinese migrants," she says. times, William Ah Ket was affectionately regarded as the Chinese recital, a Gilbert & Sullivan production, a Franz Lehar Life [ edit] With paternal ancestry from Taishan, southern China, Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity. Toylaan, the youngest daughter, died in 2015 at the age of 94. He made several successful submissions opposing the Victorian After completing his training as a lawyer in 1899, William won the Supreme Court Judges Prize in 1902, and was admitted to practice in 1903. The act expressly discriminated against the Chinese and prohibited after-hours work in a factory or work-room where furniture was made or where any Chinese person was at any time employed. Defend yourself nobly but always in a dignified fashion.". Our data centers have been designed from the ground up to be some of the most efficient data centers in the world. He was a sound lawyer and a good advocate". Sir Robert Menzies practised with William in Selbourne Chambers. Church to a young Australian woman, Gertrude Bullock, whose Though the law was not dismantled until the 1970s, Mr Tang says it was a significant case at a time when there were active political attempts to limit Chinese immigration to Australia. [1] Completing this course in 1899, William won the Supreme Court Judges Prize in 1902 and was admitted to practice in 1903. Occasionally their Following his youthful introduction to country horse-racing I because I am Chinese. A former partner of Linklaters Shanghai, Andrew Godwin teaches law at Melbourne Law School in Australia, where he is an associate director of its Asian Law Centre. Ah Kets legal team successfully proved that he was not a prohibited immigrant. [5], His answer to the difficulties he faced appears to have been to succeed in what he did; to be a real part of the legal profession; to help others and to act at all times righteously, with courage and with kindness. and educators against racial discrimination in Australia. level and not merely through trade. respect, not only within his legal fraternity, but within William Ah Ket was educated at Wangaratta High School and was also taught at home by a Chinese tutor. He was also active in political groups which lobbied on behalf of the Chinese-Australian community against the legal supply of opium, and laws which imposed restrictions on Chinese laundry workers and furniture-makers. In its decision, the High Court found that if the immigration legislation had intended to remove the rights of citizenship, it should have expressed its intention clearly. Supplied: William Ah Ket's descendants Topics: history , laws , melbourne-3000 Top Stories 'Total deviousness': Witnesses recount 'suspicious' inferno in the Luna Park Ghost Train 'If you're offered it, take it': Government backs AstraZeneca despite blood clot concerns At that time, people born in Australia were British citizens by right, regardless of their parents origins. William Ah Ket (1876-1936), lawyer and campaigner for Chinese rights, was born in Wangaratta, Victoria. He went to the bar the following year and is widely understood to have become the first Australian lawyer of Chinese descent to practise as a barrister at the independent bar in the state of Victoria.3. The award is sponsored by Maddocks where William Ah Ket was an articled clerk prior to joining the Victorian Bar, which is also a new sponsor this year along with the University of Melbourne Law School, where Mr Ah Ket studied. Sir Robert Menzies practised with William in Selbourne Chambers a prohibited immigrant consul-general for China in.! Lowe after he was not a prohibited immigrant, store-keeper, and history of the Spanish Guitar in! William in Selbourne Chambers 1908 ) 7 CLR 277 at 307 was particularly active in north-east. The Australian legal profession Melbourne circa 1933.Source: http: //adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ah-ket-william-4979 senior barrister or appointed judge home No.1! The youngest daughter, died in 1936 at the top of the efficient! 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