From Australia’s Jewish Past
Trevor George Rapke – a Queen’s Counsel – colourful, strong, fair, and fearless
Trevor Rapke
Trevor was the second son of Julia and Abraham Rapke – you may have read Julie’s story last week. He was born on 2 September 1909 in Melbourne and raised at St Kilda, known at the time as the home of the city’s Anglo-Jewry. Trevor attended Wesley College and then the University of Melbourne, where he graduated with a degree in Law in 1933.
He also attended St Kilda Hebrew School, Shabbat afternoon services, and high Hebrew classes, which formed the basis of his continuing interest in orthodox learning and culture. He was a member of the Judean League, and his friend, a lawyer and communal leader Maurice Ashkanasy, extended ‘its tentacles of dissent into the knitted world of St Kilda and Toorak Road’. He did remain committed to traditional Judaism and occasionally gave sermons to his orthodox congregation. In 1924, he established children’s services, passing on his Jewish faith with his teachings. He also established the 3rd St Kilda Scout Group to enable Jewish boys to engage in scouting in an appropriate religious context.
He was opposed to atheism that would submerge Jewish identity. Trevor became a leader in replacing the Victorian Jewish Advisory Board with the lay Board of Deputies, of which he became president between 1956 and 1958. He disagreed with many of the beliefs of the liberal congregation. He did keep in touch with its members and sometimes acted as a mediator in the interest of common harmony. In 1957, he was appointed Australia’s representative on the Jewish Congress’s world executive and elected president of the World Israel Movement. He was also a long-term executive member of the Zionist Federation of Australia and New Zealand. He was a great admirer and friend of Rabbi Jacob Danglow, the minister of the St Kilda Hebrew Congregation, and took his advice against joining the rabbinate. On 1 March 1935, Trevor was admitted to the Bar.
On 19 January 1941, he was appointed paymaster sub-lieutenant of the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve and subsequently promoted to lieutenant in April that year. In late March 1942, Trevor, while still serving on HMAS Melville, was flown at short notice, to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), to join the cruiser HMAS Australia to represent two stokers charged with the murder of Stoker John Joseph Riley on 12 March 1942. In choosing Trevor to represent the two accused men, the Secretary to the First Naval Member stated, “I think Paymaster Lieutenant Rapke, now at Darwin, is the best available. In civil life is a criminal lawyer of good standing, who conducted the defence in an important case not long ago…I would be quite satisfied to have him as my legal advisor if I found myself in trouble”. While serving on HMAS Australia between 1942 and 1943, he saw action in the battle of the Coral Sea and the Solomon Islands campaign later in 1943. Trevor’s naval appointment was terminated on 22 April 1944, due to ill-health and he returned to his law practice. In June 1947, Trevor married Betty Elinson at St Kilda Hebrew Congregation.
On 22 April 1958, Trevor became a Queen’s Counsel. It was claimed that he was the first Jew to become a judge in Victoria when he was elevated to the bench of the County Court on 3 November. As a judge, he was outspoken and earthy, showing the same concern as his mother for community welfare, civil liberties, and just sentencing. The sharp distinction he drew between offences against property and those involving violence brought him into conflict with government ministers. He publicly condemned illegal discipline at Pentridge prison, procedures in rape trials, and the practice of keeping juveniles in custody for long periods while awaiting trial. Trevor antagonised some members of the judiciary by criticising their isolation from society. He was even prepared to make his views known to the press he antagonised some judiciary members by criticising their remoteness from society. He was often described as “colourful, strong, fair, and fearless”.
On 7 May 1964, Trevor was appointed as the Judge Advocate-General, Australian Naval Forces with the honorary rank of Rear Admiral, holding this position until his death. In 1971 the Federal Government chose him to investigate allegations of ‘bastardisation’ at the junior recruit training establishment, HMAS Leeuwin, at Fremantle in Western Australia. Some believed that his close links with the RAN would compromise his impartiality. Still, his report was characteristically prudent and his recommendations were consistent with the humane principles he employed on the bench.
Trevor was a Freemason and associated with the Melbourne Athenaeum Club. He became its president for twelve months between 1956 and 1957. In 1965 he was invited to the United States Naval Justice School, Rhode Island as an honorary law professor. Late in 1977, he was notified of the honour of being appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in the 1978 Australia Day Honours List. He died of complications arising from a heart attack on 21 January 1978 at Templestowe. The award was posthumously granted. He was survived by his wife, four sons, and two daughters. Judge D. P. Whelan, then chief judge of the County Court, eulogised him as ‘colourful, strong, fair and fearless’.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:
Australian Dictionary of Biography – Judith Smart; Royal Australian Navy; Victorian Association of Jewish Ex & Servicemen & Women Australia (VAJEX)
