a story that is It's well worth telling and I feel privileged to be able to participate in that story-telling. and Cambridge respectively. in Chisholm Street. Chinese people. "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 has 1 job listed on their profile. 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. joint Trusteeship with Sir Colin MacKenzie in the founding He is also believed to be the first Chinese barrister to practise in Australia. He said that "William Ah Ket did not ever sit on the Bench, though he would have been a very competent judge. 7Citing Sir Robert Menzies,The Measure of the Years (Cassell Australia, 1970) at 249. ways of thinking, with particular reference to Confucius'. He fought against the requirements of the 1907 Factories (Employment of Chinese) Act, which discriminated against . Maureen Bedford - Great-niece of William Ah Ket, Vivienne Davis- Great-niece of William Ah Ket, Reynah Tang- Lawyer and founding president of Asian Australian Lawyers Association, Toylaan Ah Ket- Daughter of William Ah Ket, Blossom Ah Ket- Great-granddaughter of William Ah Ket, The Chinese and the Factories Acts by William Ah Ket,1906, The Measure of the Years by Sir Robert Menzies, 1970. kind of lectures at the Australian National University that That includes our servers. His father had taken him to China when he was about five years old. in Little Bourke Street or attending one of the city theatres community during the early years of Federation. Victoria, and the increasing protests of influential clergymen In 1921, William and Gertrude in Chisholm Street. At the age of 35, William was married at the Kew Methodist William Ah Ket - A Life of Diversity and Service, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ah-ket-william-4979, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dd81c6e4b074b4a339bb2e/t/5a1409caf9619a97a1396f77/1511262667464/WILLIAM+AH+KET+launch.pdf, https://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/1/public/stories/wahket.htm, https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145813/2/Morrison%20Oration%2002.pdf. 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. light opera or a Gladys Moncrief musical . 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. He was, by all accounts, a man of by Sir Colin MacKenzie and were brought to fruition through Sir Robert Menzies wrote that he and Mr Ah Ket "were great friends". William's father, Mah Ket, became highly respected Their father said "the boys were teasing her and boys tend to do that". [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. "The borders of Australia have always been closed to people who aren't white Australians. 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. 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. to learn the cultural traditions of ancient China, and to William also represented Chinese-Australians challenging discriminatory legislation in the High Court. Williams, founder of the Spanish Guitar Centre in London, In a passage that is still recognised as current law in Australia, Justice OConnor stated as follow: It isimprobable that the legislature would overthrow fundamental principles, infringe rights, or depart from the general system of law, without expressing its intention with irresistible clearness13. in China and towards the Pacific nations including Australia. to an end the legal career of a truly remarkable Chinese gentleman Please contact us. He completed his articles with the solicitors Maddison & He was a sound lawyer and a good advocate". alleviation of all unreasonable conditions imposed on the paper is based on a paper she gave at the Conference of the Chinese Studies 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. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. place in The Stand during the season of The Oaks, the Caulfield [1][2] His daughter Melaan was the mother of the guitarist John Williams. as one of Melbourne's most talented and adroit barristers. New and compelling histories from Australia and around the world. which he moved. Last night, things came full circle when I attended the launch of the 2019 William Ah Ket Scholarship at the Chinese Museum in Melbourne. 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. William Ah Ket [] was born in Wangaratta in the state of Victoria, Australia, in 1876. N. Jamieson in 1903. Each August since 2017, the William Ah Ket Scholarship committee has accepted applications for the most outstanding research paper on a topic dealing with equality, diversity, and the legal profession or the law from legal trainees, graduates, final year students and lawyers with less than five years of practice. He was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, the only son and fifth child of Mah Ket and Hing Ung. In a High Court case calledIngham v Hie Lee,11 Ah Ket represented a Chinese laundry owner who was charged with an offence under theFactories and Shops Act 1905 in Victoria. He specialised in civil law and acquired a considerable reputation as a negotiator of settlements. 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. We will never satisfy our ambitions. [13] Isabel Carter, Woman in a Wig: Joan Rosanove, QC (Lansdowne Press, 1970), 13. James_Michael, Hm qua, lc 22:28. A Paper on the Chinese and the Factories Acts, published in 1906, defended the rights of Chinese workers and factory owners against unfair legislation. Published: TueTue 28 Feb 2023 at 12:00am/with Kirsti Melville, Published: 21 Feb 2023Tue 21 Feb 2023 at 12:00am/with Kirsti Melville, Published: 14 Feb 2023Tue 14 Feb 2023 at 12:00am/with Kirsti Melville, Published: 7 Feb 2023Tue 7 Feb 2023 at 12:00am/with Kirsti Melville. By Andrew GodwinAssociate Director (Asian Commercial Law), Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School. His father had The story of William Ah Ket is a significant one in the history of the Australian legal profession. He fought against the requirements of the 1907 Factories (Employment of Chinese) Act, which discriminated against . . of his time who could mix with ease, and enjoy widespread [3] Citing Karin Derkley, William Ah Ket Legacy Recognised (2018) 92(3) Law Institute Journal 83 at 83, 84. The reason why the Chinese laundry owner had been charged was that a Chinese man had been found in the laundry between 9 and 10pm at night ironing a shirt, apparently in breach of the after-hours work prohibition. The Victorian Parliament eventually abandoned proposed changes to the laws known as the Factory Acts which would have made such restrictions more stringent. After living in China for many years, he returned to Australia as an adult but was treated as a prohibited immigrant because he failed a dictation test imposed by the immigration legislation at the time. community, such as Quong Tart in Sydney and Cheok Hong. 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. He joined the ranks of barristers 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. a full primary and secondary education in Wangaratta's public of the massive petitions raised by the Anti-Opium League of Despite these achievements, William Ah Ket's story is little-known. This Australian law-related biographical article is a stub. After his return Please send any press releases, deal announcements, details of new hires, newsletters and any other news items to: Copyright 2022 Vantage Asia Publishing Limited. Fulfilling his fathers wishes, William studied law at the University of Melbourne. or the editors of the website. 5 Law Students Society Dinner to Sir Harrison Moore, Farrago 5(5), April 23, 1929. William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination. He was also a delegate to the first interstate Chinese convention held at Melbourne in 1905 and was co-founder and president of the Sino-Australian Association, considered to be the first Australian-Chinese club. agitate against the Immigration Restriction Act in The story of William Ah Ket, the first Chinese-Australian barrister. At that time, people born in Australia were British citizens by right, regardless of their parents origins. 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. Despite this, between 1905 and 1928, he appeared before the High Court on at least 12 occasions. 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. Blossom says her great grand-father's little-known story is still relevant to contemporary Australia. 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. Asian Australians have played a vital role in the legal profession since the late 1800s, starting with the first barrister of Chinese origin to join the independent bar in Victoria, William Ah Ket. arts, sciences, and history of the Chinese people. "Remembering William Ah Ket is about remembering these rights were fought for they weren't just given by the benevolent government," she says. William's personal interests were widely diversified. Chinese under the umbrella of the White Australia Policy, 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. Captain Stanley Ket (LLB) served with the Intelligence Unit The plaque commemorates William Ah Ket (1876 - 1936), who was a lawyer and campaigner for Chinese rights and was born in Wangaratta. 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