[4] After the war, Trathen resumed his responsibilities as a Methodist minister, moving with his wife to Wingham, New South Wales in 1946.
In January 1950, Trathen accepted his first school leadership position, when he was approached to become the Principal of Wolaroi College in Orange.
He will bring to his new position a keen interest in Christian education, and qualifications that should make him a worthy successor to ... the retiring Principal.
His obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald states that: "At Newington, he quickly clashed with the establishment ... he sought to broaden the macho sports-oriented base of the school.
In June 1970, at the height of the political crisis about Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, Trathen wrote a letter to the Herald speaking out against conscription and calling on young men to defy the National Service Act.
He wrote: "I am loth indeed to be forced publicly to advocate (non-violent) civil disobedience ... As an ex-serviceman, a private citizen and a man of law and Law, I publicly encourage 20-year-olds, in good conscience and in loyalty to God rather than Caesar, to defy the National Service Act.
Trathen was prosecuted for inducing citizens to break the law and although no conviction was recorded he was placed on a good behaviour bond.
Her father was a pioneer of physical education in Australia who had initially trained as a plumber and studied architecture on the side in Adelaide.
On moving to Castlecrag the Herbert family initially lived in a Griffin-designed house built for King O’Malley.