Elkan Rex Makin, (20 August 1925 – 26 June 2017) usually known as Rex Makin, was a solicitor and philanthropist who practised in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England, for over sixty years. He was most noted for his involvement with

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' early career and subsequently high-profile cases such as the Hillsborough and

Heysel Stadium The King Baudouin Stadium (french: Stade Roi Baudouin , nl, Koning Boudewijnstadion ) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. Located in the Heysel district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel Plateau in ...

disasters, the

Walton sextuplets The Walton sextuplets were born at Liverpool Maternity Hospital in Liverpool, England on 18 November 1983 and were the world's first all-female surviving sextuplets, and the world's fourth known set of surviving sextuplets. The children are Hanna ...

and the re-opening of the

Cameo Murder On the evening of 19 March 1949, the ''Cameo'' cinema in Liverpool, England, was the scene of a brutal double murder which led to a miscarriage of justice and the longest trial in British history at the time. Crime The cinema manager, Leonar ...

case. A

freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

of the City of Liverpool, he also supported the arts and held an honorary

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

ship at Liverpool John Moores University. He also wrote a weekly column in the ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

in 1925, Makin was the only child of Joe and May Makin. His family was Jewish and moved to Liverpool in the 1850s and his great-great grandfather set up shop as a seamens' outfitter in Old Hall Street. His father was brought up on Park Lane in the Chinatown area of Liverpool, where he made and supplied trunks to seamen. Makin studied law at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, gaining his

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1945 and

LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in 1947.

Career

Makin was the family solicitor to

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

, who in 1963 sought his advice on setting up a perpetually binding contract between himself and

; however, Makin advised Epstein that such an agreement would be legally indefensible. He has been credited with inventing the term "Beatlemania". Following Epstein's death in 1967, Makin arranged his funeral.

Honours

In 2003 he was appointed a Freeman of the City of Liverpool, the first solicitor to receive that honour. He said at the time

References

;Notes ;Sources
Outrage as city conspiracy hearing slaps ban on Makin (Larry Neild, Daily Post)Rex Makin obituary, The Guardian
11 July 2017.

External links

E Rex Makin & CoRex Makin GalleryAlder Hey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Makin, Rex 1925 births 2017 deaths English solicitors Lawyers from Liverpool Alumni of the University of Liverpool People from Birkenhead English Jews 20th-century English lawyers