ROMEO Ha az lom hzelked emnek Hinnem lehet, mindjrt rm knt rm. After the formalities conclude, enthusiastic discussion ensues among the guests about William and his legacy and includes a combination of questions and observations: How is it that William Ah Ket is not more widely known?; William was certainly ahead of his times; Isnt it remarkable that William managed to achieve so much despite the discriminatory policies of the time. Victoria, and the increasing protests of influential clergymen
So how is it that such a pioneering lawyer of Chinese descent is not more widely known? Chinese under the umbrella of the White Australia Policy,
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. or the editors of the website. Their youngest
William Ah Ket became a leading figure in the Chinese Australian community during the early years of Federation. Andrews new book is a compilation of China Business Law Journals popular Lexicon series, entitled China Lexicon: Defining and translating legal terms. to an end the legal career of a truly remarkable Chinese gentleman
The couple had four children William, Stanley, Melaan and Toylaan. of 'building bridges between the East and West.'. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. 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. Captain Stanley Ket (LLB) served with the Intelligence Unit
In addition, he had the advantage
"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. William was educated in Wangaratta, and on gaining his matriculation
the Consul-General for China, Dr. W.P. invited scholars from interstate and overseas to deliver the
William Ah Ket also wrote articles and gave lectures in support
I because I am Chinese. 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! Ah Ket appeared in another High Court case called Potter v Minahan,[9] where he represented a man born in Australia of a Chinese father and a white Australian mother. such a reputation for his canny tactics as a cross-examiner. Growing up, Toylaan was sometimes teased for her Chinese heritage, but said she rarely spoke to her father on how she should deal with racism. He was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, the only son and fifth child of Mah Ket and Hing Ung. Prior to completing
choice would be a controversial play at The Little Theatre,
as Arthur Deane, R.G. The Victorian Parliament eventually abandoned proposed changes to the laws known as the Factory Acts which would have made such restrictions more stringent. all born in Australia to his Chinese parents. of their happy marriage with a small party at a Chinese banquet
joint Trusteeship with Sir Colin MacKenzie in the founding
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. Even though the laws he fought against no longer exist, she says Australia continues to treat new migrant groups with suspicion. of his time who could mix with ease, and enjoy widespread
Maddocks CEO named judge for 2021 William Ah Ket Scholarship. and friendship between the West and the East led him to accept
Neither of us will ever be made a judge, you because you are a woman. "It's about a person's right to identity and the place they were born, so it was pretty important," he says. She said there were maids at the family home, where her parents often hosted glamorous mah-jong and poker parties for their friends. the efforts of William Ah Ket in Melbourne and William J.
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. He was a phenomenon at the Victorian Bar, a full-blooded Chinese born in the north-east of Victoria. Masonic Lodge No.123 and held life-membership of the MCG so
"And if nobody had stood up, like William Ah Ket, to protest against them then they might've passed.". of the massive petitions raised by the Anti-Opium League of
for China in Melbourne in 1913-14 and again in 1917. "He famously won the case that day and then went over afterwards and put on a stereotype Chinese accent and said: 'How you likey my cross-examination?'" 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. 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! 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! She was sent to the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum and diagnosed with mania when William was five, and she lived there until she died in 1896. 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. AUSTRALIA
The views and
My father, William Ah Ket rose to prominence in the 1900s-1930s
government's repeated attempts in 1904, 1905 and 1907 to make
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. in Chisholm Street. William's client, James Minahan, was born in Australia to an Anglo-Australian mother and Chinese father. After his return
This article contains content that is not available. He acquired a considerable reputation as a negotiator of settlements. He went on to live in China for several years. '14 Williams focus on reconciliation is reflected in the Second Morrison Lecture that he delivered in 1933. place in The Stand during the season of The Oaks, the Caulfield
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 was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity, born in Victoria in 1876. First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we [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). and educators against racial discrimination in Australia. which he moved. William was born in 1876, in the north-east Victorian town of Wangaratta one of eight children. "Obviously there's not a White Australia policy as such against Chinese migrants," she says. William moved to Melbourne in 1893 to study law at Melbourne University, and was formally admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1904. Menzies, Owen Dixon, James Tait, and
He fought against the requirements of the 1907 Factories (Employment of Chinese) Act, which discriminated against . Ah Kets legal team successfully proved that he was not a prohibited immigrant. William Ah Ket (1876-1936), lawyer and campaigner for Chinese rights, was born in Wangaratta, Victoria. at Saturday's race-meetings in Melbourne, never missing his
his tertiary studies at Melbourne University, William received
He said that "William Ah Ket did not ever sit on the Bench, though he would have been a very competent judge. 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. 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]. . 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 because I am Chinese. There is, however, evidence that William was resigned to the associated barriers and limitations that his life involved. I because I am Chinese. Australia's first Chinese barrister William Ah Ket was born in the Victorian country town of Wangaratta. He was an alumnus of the University of Melbourne. "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. 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 at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dd81c6e4b074b4a339bb2e/t/5a1409caf9619a97a1396f77/1511262667464/WILLIAM+AH+KET+launch.pdf. He is also believed to be the first Chinese barrister to practise in Australia. William Ah Ket (, 20 June 1876 - 6 August 1936) was a noted Australian barrister. So commences the biography of William Ah Ket [] in theAustralian 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. It is named after William Ah Ket who became the first Australian barrister of Chinese origin in 1904. He specialised in civil law and acquired a considerable reputation as a negotiator of settlements. 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 sold opium, among other supplies. 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. Felvons 1. specifically exclude the Chinese from gaining a livelihood
On top of that work, William also had to deal with racism. Morrison Lecture was given in 1932 by
"Given the Commonwealth only formed in 1901, you wouldn't expect someone [of Chinese descent] within a few years of that to have been admitted," Mr Tang says. migrated from Canton in the 1850s, and when the Gold Rush
William has 1 job listed on their profile. Special thanks to Jennifer Wood, Kate Bagnall, Pauline Rule and the National Library of Australia for helping with research. [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. in Wangaratta, William Ah Ket continued his regular attendance
Life. Popular among the press reporters and cartoonists of his
William Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity, born in Victoria in 1876. My research into William Ah commencedKet in October 2019. West enabled him to become one of the few Chinese Australians
would provide all Australians with a better knowledge of the
in Australia ended, he settled in Wangaratta to raise his
That in itself was an "impressive feat", says Reynah Tang, the founding president of the Asian-Australian Lawyers' Association. His mother, Hing Ung, had bound feet and spoke no English. With paternal ancestry from Taishan, southern China, Ah Ket was Australia's first barrister of Asian heritage or ethnicity. He
2Helen Penrose,To Build a Firm: The Maddocks Story (Maddocks, 2010), 11. kind of lectures at the Australian National University that
Sir Robert Menzies practised with William in Selbourne Chambers. 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. In his more-than 30-year career, William was never promoted to the rank of senior barrister or appointed judge. 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. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. 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 Mr Tang says it shows that, despite his talents, he suffered from a level of discrimination. William also represented Chinese-Australians challenging discriminatory legislation in the High Court. Dear Monument Australia visitors, we are a self-funded, non-profit organisation, dedicated to recording monuments throughout Australia. 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. 4The Melbourne University Magazine, Volume 1, Number 1, 1907, 20. Despite his high profile and achievements, it would seem that others were advanced while he was not. His father Mah Ket had arrived in Australia in the 1850s, during the gold rush era, and his mother in the 1860s. 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. I am grateful for the opportunity of coming to know more about William Ah Ket. "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.". 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. Andrew can be contacted [email protected]. At that time, people born in Australia were British citizens by right, regardless of their parents origins. was a founding member and Grand Master of the East Caulfield
of Germany's fascism and Japan's expanding military aggression
[2] William stayed involved with the University and was elected the President of the Law Students Society on 19 April 1907. 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. The keynote address is delivered by Chief Justice of The High Court of Australia, the Honourable Susan Kiefel AC, who makes the following comments: By all accounts, Mr Ah Ket was a remarkable man. 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. 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. in Little Bourke Street or attending one of the city theatres
[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. Three years later, the untimely death of William Ah Ket brought
William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination and appeared in many 'public interest' cases. 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. 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. alleviation of all unreasonable conditions imposed on the
The story of William Ah Ket, the first Chinese-Australian barrister. "Remembering William Ah Ket is about remembering these rights were fought for they weren't just given by the benevolent government," she says. [3] Citing Karin Derkley, William Ah Ket Legacy Recognised (2018) 92(3) Law Institute Journal 83 at 83, 84. times, William Ah Ket was affectionately regarded as the Chinese
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