He added, "A certain prejudice among clients against having a Chinese barrister to an extent limited his practice, though instructing solicitors thought very well of him". His father had His father, Ah Ket, and mother, Hing Ung, had established one of the first tobacco farms on the King River. Despite the bamboo ceiling that William must have encountered during his life and career, it appears that his mission was to remove barriers and, as his daughter Toylaan Ah Ket wrote, to implement his personal philosophy of building bridges between the East and West. [7] William Ah Ket Scholarship 2019, Program (9 October 2019). could well be achieved if the Morrison Lectureship Foundation 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. "If you think about someone who's a first-generation Australian trying to break into a white, Anglo-Saxon dominated legal profession, it would've taken a fair bit of work to build up his reputation, get to be known and respected," he says. a story that is It's well worth telling and I feel privileged to be able to participate in that story-telling. [4] Citing Sir Robert Menzies, The Measure of the Years (Cassell Australia, 1970) at 249. 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. Last night, things came full circle when I attended the launch of the 2019 William Ah Ket Scholarship at the Chinese Museum in Melbourne. recital, a Gilbert & Sullivan production, a Franz Lehar specifically exclude the Chinese from gaining a livelihood There is, however, evidence that William was resigned to the associated barriers and limitations that his life involved. The Victorian Parliament eventually abandoned proposed changes to the laws known as the Factory Acts which would have made such restrictions more stringent. Special thanks to Jennifer Wood, Kate Bagnall, Pauline Rule and the National Library of Australia for helping with research. 16Isabel Carter, Woman in a Wig: Joan Rosanove, QC (Lansdowne Press, 1970), 13. 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. An alum of the University of Melbourne, William studied jurisprudence in 1897 before joining law firm Maddock & Jamieson (now Maddocks) and commencing the articled clerks course at the University in 1898. "Obviously there's not a White Australia policy as such against Chinese migrants," she says. James_Michael, Hm qua, lc 22:28. 4The Melbourne University Magazine, Volume 1, Number 1, 1907, 20. In addition, the gallery is currently hosting an exhibition of memorabilia about him. Once completed, the Eagle Mountain Data Center will be a nearly 2.4 million square foot campus. 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. they raised a family of two sons and two daughters. William Ah Ket was educated at Wangaratta High School and was also taught at home by a Chinese tutor. Sir Robert Menzies practised with William in Selbourne Chambers. Make a life-giving gesture practice in Selbourne Chambers alongside such famous neighbours In 191314 and 1917, he acted as Consul-General for China in Melbourne.[1][5]. 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. 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. I am proud to have been part of this fantastic initiative. "But we're living in days of the incarceration of refugees and asylum seekers. 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. During his career Ah Ket battled the harsh effects of the White Australia Policy in 1908. Gertrudewas born on July 11 1887, in Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia. 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He added, "A certain prejudice among clients against having a Chinese barrister to an extent limited his practice, though instructing solicitors thought very well of him".7, Despite, or perhaps because of, having himself been discriminated against, Mr Ah Ket devoted his life to fighting against unfair discrimination. member of Melbourne's See Yup Society. Mantova, utca. William was survived by his wife Gertrude Victoria (nee Bullock) and four children Dr. William, Stanley, Melaan and Toylaan. 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. With paternal ancestry from Taishan, southern China, Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity.He was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, the only son and fifth child of Mah Ket and Hing Ung.He was an alumnus of the University of Melbourne.On 16 November 1912 he married Gertrude Victoria Bullock at the . This article originally appeared on the Melbourne Law School website on May 20, 2020. Tune in as The History Listen explores his story. William Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity, born in Victoria in 1876. Following his youthful introduction to country horse-racing Chinese people. and friendship between the West and the East led him to accept His father had taken him to China when he was about five years old. Three years later, the untimely death of William Ah Ket brought It also discusses the importance of cultural diversity in the workplace and within the community, particularly during a time when racism has become more prominent since COVID-19. His father had arrived in Victoria in 1855 and after some years on the goldfields established one of the earliest . It was customary for them to celebrate the various anniversaries second Morrison Lecture was delivered by William Ah Ket on William Ah Ket [] was born in Wangaratta in the state of Victoria, Australia, in 1876. Despite the bamboo ceiling that William must have encountered during his life and career, it appears that his mission was to remove barriers and, as his daughter Toylaan Ah Ket wrote, to implement his personal philosophy of building bridges between the East and West. "In the mid-1880s the colonies decided they were no longer going to naturalise Chinese, and then in 1903 that was enshrined in federal legislation. William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination. We should have done Medicine.16, There are many more interesting stories and facts that one could relate about William and his legacy. Maddocks CEO named judge for 2021 William Ah Ket Scholarship. In a passage that is still recognised as current law in Australia, Justice OConnor stated as follows: It is improbable that the legislature would overthrow fundamental principles, infringe rights, or depart from the general system of law, without expressing its intention with irresistible clearness [10], Despite the bamboo ceiling that William must have encountered during his life and career, it appears that his mission was to remove barriers and, as his daughter Toylaan Ah Ket wrote, to implement his personal philosophy of building bridges between the East and West.'[11]. Andrew and MLS would be delighted if any readers have information about William that they would like to share. 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. It is named after William Ah Ket who became the first Australian barrister of Chinese origin in 1904. Chen, and in 1933 the the social, business and sporting circles of Melbourne in Sir Robert Menzies wrote that he and Mr Ah Ket "were great friends". It is fitting and proper that this scholarship is named for him.9, In the program notes, the recipient of the 2019 William Ah Ket Scholarship, Ms Tienyi Long, Legal and Governance Officer at Glen Eira City Council, Victoria writes 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 societydiversity intelligence is an essential skill to facilitate equal access to justice for diverse communitiesit should be included as part of mandatory continuing professional development requirements under the Legal Profession Uniform Law.10. 7Citing Sir Robert Menzies,The Measure of the Years (Cassell Australia, 1970) at 249. 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. Contact Andrew at a.godwin@unimelb.edu.au. William Ah Ket as a young man Source: by kind permission of the Ah Ket family, 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. The marginalised group has shifted but it's not that distant.". In a special series, RN examines Australia's relationship to China, and its rising prominence in global affairs. This included a number of cases, Bishop v Chung Brothers, Potter v Minahan and Ingham v Hie Lee, that involved challenges to legislation that discriminated against those of Chinese origin. The story of William Ah Ket is a significant one in the history of the Australian legal profession. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 8Citing 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. 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. Sir Robert Menzies practised with William in Selborne Chambers. He said that "William Ah Ket did not ever sit on the Bench, though he would have been a very competent judge. His great grand-daughter, Blossom Ah Ket, recalls a family story of a white Australian man taunting the barrister on a train on the way to court. joint Trusteeship with Sir Colin MacKenzie in the founding 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. William Ah Ket became a leading figure in the Chinese Australian community during the early years of Federation. 6Citing Karin Derkley, William Ah Ket Legacy Recognised (2018) 92(3) Law Institute Journal 83 at 83, 84. Life. He said that "William Ah Ket did not ever sit on the Bench, though he would have been a very competent judge. or the editors of the website. The Asian Australian Lawyers He became the leading Chinese in the district and a respected member of the Wangaratta community. 820 Drummond Street Carlton North VIC 3054. Australias first Chinese barrister William Ah Ket was born in the Victorian country town of Wangaratta. William specialised in civil cases, including lawsuits over divorce petitions, wills and contracts. in the furniture-making trade. Toylaan remembered his final words: "Unity is strength.". Ah Kets legal team successfully proved that the Chinese man was not an employee of the laundry but instead a boarder at the laundry who had simply been ironing his own shirt! On 16 November 1912 he married Gertrude Victoria Bullock at the Kew Methodist Church. Neither of us will ever be made a judge, you because you are a woman. "They were about making sure Chinese were on view, they were really pretty abhorrent," she says. Less is known about another person - Wu Ting Fang. William Ah Ket was born on month day 1876, at birth place, to Mah Ah Ket and Hing Ah Ket (born Ung). [8] (1912) 15 CLR 267. William stayed involved with the University and was elected the President of the Law Students Society on 19 April 1907.4 Some 20 years later, in 1929, William supported a toast in favour of Sir Harrison Moore, the third Dean of Melbourne Law School, at a dinner hosted by the Law Students Society to mark Sir Harrisons retirement in 1927. William Ah Ket fought social prejudice in and out of court. William moved to Melbourne in 1893 to study law at Melbourne University, and was formally admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1904. New and compelling histories from Australia and around the world. 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. William Ah Ket became a leading figure in the Chinese Australian Ah Kets legal team successfully proved that he was not a prohibited immigrant. of 'building bridges between the East and West.'. Ah Kets legal team successfully proved that he was not a prohibited immigrant. Sir Robert Menzies wrote that he and Mr Ah Ket "were great friends". 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. In the 1900s William Ah Ket along with other leaders of the In 1921, William and Gertrude That includes our servers. 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. of growing up in a traditional Chinese household where his 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. William was previously mentioned in an article discussing Chinese legal pioneers (see China Business Law Journal volume 11, issue 1: Chinese legal pioneers). 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. William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination. Crossing Time: Australia's transgender historypart 1. He was a sound lawyer and a good advocate". Educated in both English and Chinese cultures, he agitated against racial intolerance in Victoria and defended the rights of Victoria`s Chinese community. father employed a resident tutor for his 'seven little Australians' For the next twenty years he worked tirelessly for the In the lecture, William reflected on whether there was a real difference between the culture of the East and that of the West and drew parallels between Western culture and Confucianism. 14See Toylaan Ah Ket, William Ah Ket - Building Bridges between Occident and Orient in Australia, 1900-1936 (paper delivered at the Conference of the Chinese Studies Association in Australia held at Macquarie University on 5 July 1995), available at https://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/1/public/stories/wahket.htm. He was a sound lawyer and a good advocate". 3See 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 athttps://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dd81c6e4b074b4a339bb2e/t/5a1409caf9619a97a1396f77/1511262667464/WILLIAM+AH+KET+launch.pdf. "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.". Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. William stayed involved with the University and was elected the President of the Law Students Society on 19 April 1907.4 Some 20 years later, in 1929, William supported a toast in favour of Sir Harrison Moore, the third Dean of Melbourne Law School, at a dinner hosted by the Law Students Society to mark Sir Harrisons retirement in 1927. 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. William had 4 sisters: Alberta Young (born Ah Ket) and 3 other siblings. family. In addition, William Ah Ket possessed a deep knowledge of the Western classics and modern languages and was wont to include quotes from Shakespeare, the Scottish poet Robert Burns or a Gilbert & Sullivan opera during his appearances in court.[14]. Williams, founder of the Spanish Guitar Centre in London, Australia's first Asian lawyer, William Ah Ket, who battled racism and achieved landmark victories, and how his legacy lives on Chinese-Australian barrister and lawyer William Ah Ket was known. Sure Chinese were on view, they were about making sure Chinese were view. His wife Gertrude Victoria ( nee Bullock ) and 3 other siblings district and good. 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