William Ah Ket

Who was William Ah Ket?

William Ah Ket was a noted Australian barrister.

Ah Ket was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, the only son and fifth child of Mah Ket and Hing Ung. On 16 November 1912 he had married Gertrude Victoria Bullock at the Kew Methodist Church. They had two sons and two daughters. He died on 6 August 1936 of arteriosclerosis and renal failure at Malvern, Victoria. His daughter Melaan was the mother of the guitarist John Williams.

Ah Ket fought against the requirements of the 1907 Factories Act, which discriminated against Chinese residents, and successfully opposed legislative amendments in 1904, 1905 and 1907 which would have specifically discriminated against Chinese residents in the furniture industry. 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. In 1913-14 and 1917, he acted as Consul-General for China in Melbourne.