Louis Ah Mouy (182628 April 1918; also known as Louey Amoy and Louey Ah Mouy) was a Chinese–Australian community leader and businessman.

Early life

Louis Ah Mouy was born circa 1826, in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and grew up in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Career

Ah Mouy emigrated to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

before the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...

period, and served as a community leader of Melbourne's Chinese community. Considered as one of Melbourne's earliest Chinese immigrants, he also worked as a house constructor and a carpenter. It is claimed that the very first houses in

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

and Williamstown were built by Ah Mouy, who at that time was working under contract for Captain Glendining. When gold was discovered in Yea, Ah Mouy decided to take up gold mining, at the same time urging his family back in China to join him; it was through gold mining that his wealth increased significantly, making him one of Melbourne's richest merchants of that time. He went on to open several gold mines across Australia. A letter addressed to his brother on the issue of gold in Victoria is claimed to have attracted some 37,000 Chinese compatriots to Victoria. As such, he is also called the "Father of the Chinese of Victoria". Ah Mouy was also the co-founder and a major shareholder of the

Commercial Bank of Australia The Commercial Bank of Australia Limited (CBA) was an Australian and New Zealand retail bank which operated from 1866 until being amalgamated with the Bank of New South Wales, that was established in 1817, to form the Westpac Banking Corporat ...

. Ah Mouy was an active campaigner against racism in Australia, when, it is said, that "racism had too strong a foothold".

Personal life and death

Ah Mouy married Mary Rogers, a teenage Irish orphan, in Melbourne on 13 November 1855, with whom he had a daughter and a son. She died in Melbourne on 22 July 1862 at the age of 23 years. Ah Mouy also married Ang Chuck in 1861. At the time of this marriage, Ang was only sixteen. They had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. Ah Mouy died on 28 April 1918 at his home in Middle Park, aged 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ah Mouy, Louis 1826 births 1918 deaths 19th-century Australian businesspeople 20th-century Australian businesspeople Businesspeople from Guangzhou Australian carpenters Chinese emigrants to Singapore Chinese emigrants to Australia Naturalised citizens of Australia People who lost Chinese citizenship Australian gold prospectors Singaporean people of Cantonese descent Chinese-Australian history Businesspeople from Melbourne Activists from Melbourne Asian-Australian culture in Melbourne