Last night, I had the privilege of attending the launch of the 2019 William Ah Ket Scholarship at the Chinese Museum in Melbourne. Blossom Ah Ket is the great grand-daughter of Australia's first Chinese-Australian barrister. He was an alumnus of the University of Melbourne. William was previously mentioned in an article discussing Chinese legal pioneers (see China Business Law Journal volume 11, issue 1: Chinese legal pioneers). I will ask his daughter, Toylaan, if she knows of WAK’s involvement with JM. The move by Chinese immigrants into furniture-making had its beginnings in the gold rush days when Chinese miners made wooden boxes to transport gold back to China. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Portrait of William Ah Ket. He died on 6 August 1936 of arteriosclerosis and renal failure at Malvern, Victoria. William Ah Ket was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria G. From The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania) Mon 14 Jan 1889, p3: ALBURY, January 10 1889. William Ah Ket (1905), Petition to the Legislative Council of Victoria, 363 The Factories and Shops Act Amendment Bill – Draft legislation Copy of Bill Presented to the Legislative Assembly of Victoria Relating to the Employment of Chinese in Factories and Workrooms, 1906 367 Appendix 7 Cheok Hong Cheong. He was a sound lawyer and a good advocate. Stub This article has been rated as Stub-Class on the project's quality scale. His mother, Hing Ung, had bound feet and spoke no English. information about his home life but Toylaan Ah Ket, daughter of William Ah Ket, recalls spending holidays at the Cheong home in Croydon and there are some passing references in his letterbooks that suggest he was equally hospitable to Europeans, provided they met his social standards. William Ah Ket was chosen as delegate by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to represent Victoria at the Conference of Overseas Chinese called by Dr. Sun Yat Sen to attend the first National Parliament for the new Republic in 1912. Popular among the press reporters and … The scholarship, an initiative of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association (AALA), is named after William Ah Ket who was born in the Victorian town of Wangaratta in 1876. The Chinese furniture trade. … Counsel for James Minahan during High Court appeal. John Williams was born on 24 April 1941 in Melbourne, Australia to an English father, Len Williams, who was later the founder of the London Guitar School and Malaan (née Ah Ket), an Australian-Chinese mother (a daughter of Melbourne barrister William Ah Ket). His … References: Jupp, James, Ed., (2001). Coldham; HTML JSON-LD Turtle. William Ah Ket who was born in the Victorian town of Wangaratta in 1876. Date and place of birth and death – including a map 3. [3], Ah Ket fought against the requirements of the 1907 Factories (Employment of Chinese) Act, which discriminated against Chinese residents,[4] and successfully opposed legislative amendments in 1904, 1905 and 1907 which would have specifically discriminated against Chinese residents in the furniture industry. William (Bill) Ah Ket (20 June 1876 – 6 August 1936) was a noted Australian barrister.. Commemorating William Ah Ket 22 February 2021 This article commemorates the life of William Ah Ket, Australia’s first barrister of Chinese descent. The scholarship asks participants to write an essay on a topic relating to equality, diversity and the law. Their furniture, often made from rattan and Australian … In 1952, the family relocated to England. William Ah Ket soon made a name for himself for his clever and witty takedowns of hostile witnesses. I haven’t yet established who exactly it was that organised James Minahan’s legal representation; the Chinese consulate began its operations the following year. 1He was born in … The plaque commemorates William Ah Ket (1876–1936), lawyer and campaigner for Chinese rights who was born in Wangaratta. William was born in 1876, in the north-east Victorian town of Wangaratta — one of eight children. Maddocks sponsors the William Ah Ket Scholarship, an initiative fostered by the Asian Australian Lawyers Association. William Ah Ket Edward Hargreaves Caroline Chisholm Daisy May Bates Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly Charles Sturt William Liu John Stuart Charles Todd Peter Lalor In your research you will need to locate and include the following biographical information and supports: 1. Two decades later, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of New South Wales did the same in A Chinese Appeal, arguing against new discriminatory amendments to the NSW Factories and Shops Act in 1926. William; Knows. Contact Us. Fulfilling his father’s wishes, William studied law at the University of Melbourne. He was born in Wangaratta, Victoria.He is noted for fighting against the requirements of the 1907 Factories (Employment of Chinese) Act, which discriminated against Australian-born Chinese. The Australian People, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne. ‘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. William Ah Ket was my great uncle as he married my mother’s youngest maternal aunt, Gertrude Victoria Bullock. His parents, father Mah Ket and mother Hing Ung, emigrated to Australia from China. Follow. The story of William Ah Ket is a significant one in the history of the Australian legal profession. Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. He successfully opposed proposed legislative amendments in 1904, 1905 and 1907 which would have specifically discriminated against … I am grateful for the opportunity of coming to know more about William Ah Ket. He has the lucky number of 88 on the Victorian Bar roll. the first Australian Chinese Club. William joined the Victorian Bar in 1904, becoming the first … William Ah Ket was Australia’s first Chinese Australian lawyer and, later, acting consul-general for China in Australia. To the Chinese Ambassador, London 369 Appendix 8 Missionary Links between British Christian … He is believed to be one of the first people of Chinese heritage to practise as a lawyer in Australia. Williams was taught initially by his father and educated at the Friern Barnet Grammar School, London. "William Ah Ket’s contribution to diversity in the legal profession" The Hon Susan Kiefel AC Chief Justice of Australia I am pleased to speak this evening and honoured to present the William Ah Ket Scholarship for 2019. The Chinese furniture trade. The annual $6,000 scholarship … In 1912 he visited China on the St Albans with William Ah Ket. 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. A Paper on the Chinese and the … He was a phenomenon at the Victorian Bar, a full-blooded Chinese born in the north-east of Victoria. The story of William Ah Ket is a significant one in the history of the Australian legal … The move by Chinese immigrants into furniture-making had its beginnings in the gold rush days when Chinese miners made wooden boxes to transport gold back to China. Newspaper reports of his cases are interspersed with references to “laughter”, as he skewered his opponents with quotes from Shakespeare, the Scottish poet Robert Burns or a Gilbert & Sullivan opera. 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. 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=990147700, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 November 2020, at 02:05. This Australian law-related biographical article is a stub. C. F. Yong, The Chinese in New South Wales and Victoria, 1901-1921 (Ph.D. thesis, Australian National University, 1966). The Chamber sent William Ah Ket to represent Australian Chinese at the opening of the first Chinese parliament in Beijing (Peking) in 1912. But he … Four intelligent and respectable native born Chinese children, the eldest being a girl of 14, were stopped on the arrival of the afternoon train from Melbourne by Mr. Joyce, the sub-collector, for entering the colony without naturalisation papers. Family information - parents, siblings, … William Ah Ket, a Melbourne-based lawyer who defended the rights of Chinese workers and factory owners against unfair legislation, appears on the left. People; Organisations; Places; … (ABC RN: Fiona Pepper) William was born in 1876, in the north-east Victorian town of Wangaratta — one of eight children. He was also twice Consul-General The Melbourne and Sydney Chamber of Commerce maintained close relations with the republican government of China until China declined into civil war in the 1920s. Fulfilling his father’s wishes, William studied law at the University of Melbourne. 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. First Chinese barrister in Australia. William (Bill) Ah Ket (20 June 1876 – 6 August 1936) was a noted Australian barrister. In 1913–14 and 1917, he acted as Consul-General for China in Melbourne.[1][5]. William Ah Ket Scholarship. Maddocks is the sponsor of the William Ah Ket Scholarship. John Minahan’s Homecoming By Kate Bagnall Contents. 1876 Family name. … The story of William Ah Ket is a significant one in the history of the Australian legal profession. A famous cartoon of the time portrayed Ah Ket as the “Chinese Court-Jester of the Victorian Bar”. The first barrister of Chinese descent practising at the Victorian Bar was William Ah Ket. After his return to Australia, William Ah Ket was appointed as Acting Consul-General for China in Melbourne in 1913-14 and again in 1917. James Minahan; W.T. William Ah Ket, a Melbourne-based lawyer who defended the rights of Chinese workers and factory owners against unfair legislation, appears on the left. The William Ah Ket Scholarship is open to all qualified lawyers in Australia with no more than five years post admission experience. His father Mah Ket had arrived in Australia in the 1850s, during the gold rush era, and his mother in the 1860s. [1][2] His daughter Melaan was the mother of the guitarist John Williams. After Federation, Australia’s first Chinese barrister, Victorian-born William Ah Ket (麥錫祥), took up the fight of Chinese manufacturers in his A Paper on the Chinese and the Factories Acts, published in 1906. At an early age, he was sent to Hong Kong where he learnt to read and write English.. Wu later studied law in the … Mee How was working as an architect in Arlington Chambers, 229-231 Collins St, Melbourne in 1924. On 16 November 1912 he had married Gertrude Victoria Bullock at the Kew Methodist Church. He does not seem to have had much to do with the run of the mill Chinese labourers who made up most of the Chinese … Wu was born in the Straits Settlement in 1842. William Ah Ket – A Life of Diversity and Service 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 the son of Chinese-born parents, … William Ah Ket. Born. They had two sons (William and Stanley) and two daughters (Melaan and Toylaan). Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity. William Ah Ket was appointed by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to represent Victoria's Chinese at the Conference of overseas Chinese as delegate to attend the first meeting of the National Parliament of Sun Yat Sen's Republic in 1912. Home; Chapter 1: An unexpected welcome; Collections. His father Mah Ket had arrived in Australia in the 1850s, during the gold rush era, and his mother in the 1860s. Though she was born in about 1920 she has researched her father and is writing a book on him. William completed his articled clerkship at Maddocks (then called Maddock, Johnson & Jamieson) in 1903, before joining the Bar in 1904. William was born in the Victorian country town of Wangaratta in 1876, the son of Mah Ket, who arrived from Canton during the gold rush, and his wife Hing Ung. He was a brilliant barrister. Ah Ket was born in Wangaratta in 1876 and died in 1936. Name of the significant person – including a picture 2. I do know WAK was active in getting the government to assist aged Chinese men in … Mee How Ah Mouy (1887 - 1977), architect and foundation president of the Young Chinese League was born on 26 April 1887 in Middle Park, Melbourne. William was born in the Victorian country town of Wangaratta in 1876, the son of Mah Ket, who arrived from Canton during the gold rush, and his wife Hing Ung. Less is known about another person - Wu Ting Fang. ‘William Ah Ket did not ever sit on the Bench, though he would have been a very competent judge. Ah Ket; Given names. [Prepared by Paul Macgregor] Details. William (Bill) Ah Ket (20 June 1876 – 6 August 1936) was a noted Australian barrister. ’ – Sir Robert Menzies, barrister and Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister. William studied at the University of Melbourne and then did his articles at the firm of Maddock & Jamieson (now Maddocks) in 1903. 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, by all accounts, a man of considerable achievement with a strong sense of public duty. William Ah Ket is within the scope of WikiProject Australia, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Australia and Australia-related topics.If you would like to participate, visit the project page. Their furniture, often made from rattan and Australian … He was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, the only son and fifth child of Mah Ket and Hing Ung. Sense of public duty the 1860s on the Bench, though he would have been very... She has researched her father and is writing a book on him good.... By the Asian Australian Lawyers Association as Consul-General for China in Melbourne. 1... 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