The passing of a giant: Sir James Gobbo

On Sunday 7 November, Sir James Gobbo AC, CVO, QC, died at age 90. Sir James was the Governor of Victoria from 1997 to 2000, and prior to that he served as a Supreme Court Judge for sixteen years, contributing in lasting ways to issues of law and Australia’s multicultural policies. He was himself the son of Italian immigrants and cared deeply for the immigrant experience.

In his memoir, Something to Declare (2010), he wrote:

The emigration and settlement process carries with it vividly retained experiences of hardship, of achievement, of a fight for standards and dignity, of compassion, insult and kindness … The emigrant’s experiences have all of the humanity of that familiar situation with an added, almost heroic, dimension.’

As well as being knighted for his service, Sir James was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, and was also granted one of the Vatican’s highest honours in the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory.

The Hon. Kevin Andrews MP, who served as Sir James’ associate for years when he was a Justice, stated in a tweet that Sir James ‘brought to his life a deep sense of community founded in his family and his Catholic faith. His contribution to the law, public life and civil society, especially health care and our ethnic communities, was unsurpassed.’

Archbishop Peter A Comensoli likewise tweeted: ‘Sir James was a man of faith, family and heritage, and a true servant of civil society in very many ways.’

Celebrating his Catholic and Italian heritage

Sir James was the first Australian from a non-English speaking background to become Governor of Victoria, as well as the very first Catholic.

One of the qualities noted about Sir James was his public Catholicism. Growing up he was given a stellar Catholic education, attending St Mary’s Primary School in West Melbourne, St Joseph’s in North Melbourne and later Xavier College. It was at St Joseph’s, he wrote in his memoir, that he was taught ‘the habit of prayer … Prayer became a natural thing, which I do not think is any longer true for the young.’

Sir James was also the first Catholic in Victoria to be awarded the Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University in England. At first, he was hesitant about his chances, both because of his Italian heritage and his Roman Catholicism. He was eventually awarded the scholarship much to the delight of his friends in the rowing crew who, upon finding out, promptly threw him in the Yarra River in celebration. It was in England that Sir James would meet his wife, Shirley, who he eventually married in 1957.

Sir James was also a man with a deep love for art. For several years he organised the San Marco and Venice exhibitions of rare ancient and medieval art, illuminated manuscripts and church treasures from cathedrals and museums throughout the Veneto region. During Melbourne’s William Wardell Exhibition in 1997, showing the Archdiocese’s art collection, Sir James and his wife Shirley attended as honoured guests.

On 14 March 1999, the statue of Archbishop Daniel Mannix was unveiled in the forecourt of St Patrick’s Cathedral by none other than Sir James himself. Mannix was one of the twentieth century’s most influential Catholics in Australia and a powerful voice in public life.

Of Mannix, Sir James said that his ‘leadership was not founded on what we would now term public relations or the pursuit of popularity,’ but was instead a courageous voice against things that were not popular in his day, including capital punishment, the Allies’ carpet bombing of Dresden and the bombing of Hiroshima, and the rise of Stalin and global Communism.

‘As invariably occurs in truly great men,’ Sir James also said, ‘he was a man of spirituality who spent much time in reflection and prayer.’

Then-Archbishop of Melbourne George Pell introduced Sir James by saying that he was ‘one fine example of what Archbishop Daniel Mannix wanted for Australia and the Catholic Church in Australia,’ because he ‘is a strong family man, has remained publicly a Catholic, continues to practice his faith … [and] is a man of wisdom and integrity.’

In December 2000, Sir James was present for the unveiling and dedication of the statues of St Francis of Assisi and St Catherine of Siena in the gardens of the cathedral, where he spoke about the importance of saints to Italian culture. He said it was a joy for the Italians to be able to help unveil these statues of the patron saints of Italy in their new homeland of Melbourne. This event would be Sir James’ last with the Italian community in his capacity as Governor of Victoria.

Following his death on Sunday, the Hon. Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, described Sir James’s life as ‘an example to all Australians of service to the community, love of family, devotion to faith and the rewards of hard work.’

Sir James is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Shirley, and their five children.

Feature image of Sir James Gobbo taken by Fiona Basile. Archival images courtesy of the Melbourne Diocesan Historical Commission (MDHC).