The Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA) have been entrusted with a couple of very generous donations over the last few months.
These are the Chinese robes that belonged to Forests Commission fireguard and builder of Moscow Villa – Bill ah Chow.
Every organisation has a handful of colourful characters, and the Commission had its share, but Bill remains one of its enduring legends.
After Bill’s death in 1967, the robes were safely kept by Bill’s daughter, Rose, until she died in 1993. The robes then passed to Bill’s granddaughter, Janice, and were also highly prized. Janice wrote a book about Bill and Moscow Villa in 2019.
I have written several times about Bill on Facebook, Wikipedia and my forest history blog. I’m also often asked to give evening talks about Bill (there are a couple coming up).
I became friendly with the ah Chow family when I started to write forest history stories. Much of my information came from Janice and from retired foresters that were personal friends with Bill, including Athol Hodgson.
After much deliberation, the family felt the retired foresters were better positioned to keep Bill’s story alive and we are deeply honoured by the gesture.
Bill loved to tell embellished campfire stories and often claimed to be a descendant of Chinese Royalty, but his family believes the robes were more likely picked up from a second-hand shop in Little Bourke Street in the 1940s.
In 2018 I wrote to the Chinese Museum in Melbourne and they gave this advice.
Mr. Ah Chow is dressed in a way that imitates a Mandarin or official of the Qing Dynasty. His hat looks like a mandarin style hat, a Qing dynasty official’s headwear, although it’s quite unlikely that he was actually a Mandarin. The button atop the hat usually indicated the wearer’s rank. His robe fastens up to the neck with buttons, which is typical of Manchurian style men’s clothing of the Qing dynasty also. He is not wearing a rank badge, which denoted official status. This kind of garment was also normally worn with a separate collar, which Mr. Ah Chow is not wearing in any of these pictures.
The foresters association aim to get the items professionally photographed and added into the Victorian Collections database.
We will also seek some professional advice about how to properly store and protect these amazing and priceless items of clothing. DEECA’s Altona museum is not an ideal spot to keep them because its not air-conditioned.
Victoria’s Forests & Bushfire Heritage 