such as the Dictation Test and Limitation of Residence. So how is it that such a pioneering lawyer of Chinese descent is not more widely known? "That's even before we have female lawyers coming into the profession.". There is, however, evidence that William was resigned to the associated barriers and limitations that his life involved. community during the early years of Federation. The couple had four children William, Stanley, Melaan and Toylaan. he signed the Bar Roll in 1904 and became the first Chinese He specialised in civil law and acquired a considerable reputation as a negotiator of settlements. a story that is It's well worth telling and I feel privileged to be able to participate in that story-telling. Last night, things came full circle when I attended the launch of the 2019 William Ah Ket Scholarship at the Chinese Museum in Melbourne. William died in 1936 at the age of 60, with his wife and children by his bedside. His father Mah Ket had arrived in Australia in the 1850s, during the gold rush era, and his mother in the 1860s. La Trobe University as Arthur Deane, R.G. William Ah Ket (, 20 June 1876 - 6 August 1936) was a noted Australian barrister. William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination. "Remembering William Ah Ket is about remembering these rights were fought for they weren't just given by the benevolent government," she says. K Tn : Cuong. was a founding member and Grand Master of the East Caulfield would increase friendship and understanding between the people Please contact us. William Ah Ket (, 20 June 1876 6 August 1936) was a noted Australian barrister. Sir Colin envisaged a lectureship that father employed a resident tutor for his 'seven little Australians' of their happy marriage with a small party at a Chinese banquet for China in Melbourne in 1913-14 and again in 1917. in Australia ended, he settled in Wangaratta to raise his We will never satisfy our ambitions. 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. Neither of us will ever be made a judge, you because you are a woman. He also appeared before Justice Lowe after he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria. "Winning the inaugural William Ah Ket Scholarship brings me great pride and satisfaction, owing to the scholarship's underlying purpose of fostering the development and promotion of cultural diversity in the Australian legal profession. Whatever the challenges that William faced during his sixty years, there is no doubt that his life was one of diversity and service. [7] William Ah Ket Scholarship 2019, Program (9 October 2019). 9The 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). Despite Ah Ket's legal nous, he still faced prejudice, often from his own clients. Please send any press releases, deal announcements, details of new hires, newsletters and any other news items to: Copyright 2022 Vantage Asia Publishing Limited. After reading with (Sir) Stewart McArthur, 10William Ah Ket Scholarship 2019, Program (9 October 2019). 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 athttps://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/1/public/stories/wahket.htm. After his return Celebrating Asian Australian Lawyers: From William Ah Ket to Today, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ah-ket-william-4979, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dd81c6e4b074b4a339bb2e/t/, 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. to learn the cultural traditions of ancient China, and to But he added: "But do not ever be intimidated or pushed down or give into people who would harass you or tease you and laugh at you. including Carole Hinchcliff, helping me with my researchfor into William Ah Ket and also for promoting William's legacy and story generally. or the editors of the website. 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. "And if nobody had stood up, like William Ah Ket, to protest against them then they might've passed.". William also represented Chinese-Australians challenging discriminatory legislation in the High Court. 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. 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 and MLS would be delighted if any readers have information about William that they would like to share. His father had taken him to China when he was about five years old. 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. 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. and president of the Nam Pon Soon Society, and a committee 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. "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?'" Dr Couchman says the changes William spoke out against were "very invasive". 16Isabel Carter,Woman in a Wig: Joan Rosanove, QC (Lansdowne Press, 1970), 13. Prior to completing his tertiary studies at Melbourne University, William received a full primary and secondary education in Wangaratta's public schools. [13] Isabel Carter, Woman in a Wig: Joan Rosanove, QC (Lansdowne Press, 1970), 13. In addition, the gallery is currently hosting an exhibition of memorabilia about him. 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. Mantova, utca. "That's why his story's so important to us.". All rights reserved. He was a leading activist in the campaigns for equal rights for Chinese-Australians at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment ran deep. In an interview with the National Library of Australia in 1993, she remembered her affluent childhood. Dear Monument Australia visitors, we are a self-funded, non-profit organisation, dedicated to recording monuments throughout Australia. That in itself was an "impressive feat", says Reynah Tang, the founding president of the Asian-Australian Lawyers' Association. Crossing Time: Australia's transgender historypart 1. agitate against the Immigration Restriction Act in "They were about making sure Chinese were on view, they were really pretty abhorrent," she says. Church to a young Australian woman, Gertrude Bullock, whose 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. 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. 9The 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). for its foundation. He joined the Victorian Bar in 1904, reading with Stewart McArthur who later went on to be a Supreme Court judge and became the first Chinese barrister to practise in Melbourne. Their father said "the boys were teasing her and boys tend to do that". 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. 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 was a member of the Chinese Empire Reform Association of 1904 and the Anti-Opium League of Victoria, organisations which supported modernisation and social reform among Chinese at home and abroad. 16Isabel Carter, Woman in a Wig: Joan Rosanove, QC (Lansdowne Press, 1970), 13. 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". Less is known about another person - Wu Ting Fang. Occasionally their and their only son, John Williams, has been acclaimed as one Th my scam n ni ng r xc phm g cu. Neither of us will ever be made a judge, you because you are a woman. Mah was born circa 1870, in China. The dictation test required all immigrants from China to write in English a passage of not less than 50 words that was dictated by a customs officer. 1John Lack, Ah Ket, William (1876 1936), Australian Dictionary of Biography, available at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ah-ket-william-4979. of the AIF in World War II and was killed during the Allied 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. He became the leading Chinese in the district and a respected member of the Wangaratta community.. Andrew can be contacted on a.godwin@unimelb.edu.au. community, such as Quong Tart in Sydney and Cheok Hong. 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 was previously mentioned in an article discussing Chinese legal pioneers (see China Business Law Journal volume 11, issue 1: Chinese legal pioneers). 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. In addition to lobbying against discriminatory legislation, such as the Immigration Restriction Bill of 1901, William appeared in many cases that we would describe today as public interest cases. This article commemorates the life of William Ah Ket, Australias first barrister of Chinese descent. government's repeated attempts in 1904, 1905 and 1907 to make OK BAGUS nama galih ayuningtyas nim 202210631013327 kelas pgsd09 elaborasi pemahaman topik teknologi baru di sini, adalah materi disajikan dalam bentuk lisan William Penrod Davis, age 80+, lives in Eagle Mountain, UT. opinions expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those of La Trobe University He is also believed to be the first Chinese barrister to practise in Australia. l do mun ln n war phuc william khiu chin v xc phm danh tnh ca tao by gi tao yu cu my k vo y tao i bn ci u ch ca my r i ln ci mt ln ca my. Defying what was expected of Chinese-Australians at the turn of the twentieth century, he studied law and progressed to appear before the High Court of Australia. William Ah Ket also wrote articles and gave lectures in support choice would be a controversial play at The Little Theatre, at Saturday's race-meetings in Melbourne, never missing his At that time, people born in Australia were British citizens by right, regardless of their parents origins. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. invited scholars from interstate and overseas to deliver the 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. Life. The marginalised group has shifted but it's not that distant.". My research into William Ah commencedKet in October 2019. Victoria, and the increasing protests of influential clergymen 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. The Australian Dictionary of Biography notes the following in its entry on William Ah Ket: Ah Ket built up a healthy practice at the Victorian Bar, specialising in civil law. "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. kind of lectures at the Australian National University that This Australian law-related biographical article is a stub. "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. 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. 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. * Associate Director (Asian Commercial Law), Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School. William was particularly active in the fight against racial discrimination and appeared in many 'public interest' cases. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover William's . Popular among the press reporters and cartoonists of his Ah Kets legal team successfully proved that he was not a prohibited immigrant. [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). Photographs supplied by Chris McLaughlin / Alistair Boyd / Sandra Brown / John Huth, Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au, Monument Australia 2010 - 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - Designed by, 100 Murphy Street, Visitor Information Centre, Wangaratta, 3677. [10] (1908) 7 CLR 277 at 307. He was a phenomenon at the Victorian Bar, a full-blooded Chinese born in the north-east of Victoria. Fulfilling his fathers wishes, William studied law at the University of Melbourne. 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