28/04/2026
Here lies "Ah Teock", in the Melbourne General Cemetery, in Compartment B, in the area for "Other Denominations" near the Chinese Communal Memorial. For most people passing by, all they will be informed with is the name "Ah Teock", the rest is in Chinese.
If you are curious, with a little bit of effort and ingenuity, the Find a Grave website will give you a bit more information, but only if you knew the plot location, and played around with the name as their records have this person as "Ah Tock". Find a Grave will tell you that Ah Tock died on 12 June 1882, aged 51–52.
However, if you knew a bit about the format of a Chinese gravestone, and can read Chinese or have an app that could help you, this stone will tell you more about "Ah Teock".
Ah Teock's actual name in Chinese is 黄爵 – Wong Zoek. This is written down the centre. So his family name is Wong. You can guess how he got the "Teock". Ah Teock was what he was known as to the community. The Chinese use "Ah" like a prefix to a name, a more casual form of "Mr". So we learn this person is a man and he belonged to the Wong family or clan.
Other characters tell us he was from southern China. The writing also tells us the name of his ancestral village.
Also written is the date Ah Teock died. It references the Chinese lunar calendar, and converting the date, Ah Teock died in June 1852 in the Gregorian calendar. So Find a Grave was incorrect.
Now if this has been interesting to you, you might like to join us on a tour of the Melbourne General Cemetery. As part of the Australian Heritage Festival, “Unearthing Melbourne Chinese History” – Saturday, 9 May 2026 – will introduce you to some of our Chinese ancestors and their impact on the local community.
https://www.chinesemuseum.com.au/Event/unearthing-melbourne-chinese-history
