John Arthur Campbell Firth
1871-1945

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• John Arthur Campbell Firth
• Arrangement of material
• About the Geelong Lawyers' Collection
• Lawyers and law associations in the collection

John Arthur Campbell Firth by Vivian Hill
Text copyright held by Vivian Hill.  For more information see the Copyright page

In his introduction to the Geelong Historical Society's publication "At the old Parsonage at Moolap", P.L. Brown wrote that Firth was remembered in Geelong as a humorous practising solicitor and an able church organist.  The booklet was an account by Firth of his childhood and part of a draft autobiography he had written in his later years while practising in Geelong.  Earlier he had practised at Heathcote and Colac.  The balance of the autobiography is now lodged in this archive box, as JF1, a gift of his son Arthur.  Firth's father was an Anglican clergyman who educated his sons at home.  John Firth learned German, French, Latin, Ancient Greek and History from his father and music from his mother and did not attend school until he was 16.  He needed instruction to catch up on mathematics so that he could pass the matriculation exam to enter Melbourne University.  He was placed first in the First Class Honours Bachelor of Arts and graduated Master of Arts winning prizes on the way.  Who else would seek some comfort from reports of the horrors of the First World War by reading, in the original Ancient Greek, Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War in 5th century B.C.?

Arrangement of material

The list below describes material held in the John Arthur Campbell Firth archive box, which is located at 340.099452 Firth Hil/Jac on the shelves in the Geelong Lawyers' Collection within the Special Collection at the Waterfront campus.  The material has been arranged in date order. 

Date	Title	Item no.
1890	Prize "Ancient Law" by H.S. Maine, awarded for being first in First Class Honours, University of Melbourne	JF2
1890	Extract from Melbourne University Calendar re. Wyselaski Scholarship, won in 1890.	JF3
13/11/1894	Photocopy of extract from the Geelong Advertiser being the obituary of his father, the Rev. John Firth	JF11
1901	Photograph as Master of Arts, Colac [Click on image to enlarge it.]	JF4
1916	Photograph with wife and son Gilbert [Click on image to enlarge it.]	JF5
10/3/1930	Welcome back after illness, by H.I. Crawcour, President of Geelong Law Association	JF6
1985	Photocopied extract from "McIvor" by J. Randell	JF10
1970	"At the old parsonage Moolap" by J. A. C. Firth (published first chapter of his autobiography)	JF12
27/10/1995	Biographical statement of Arthur Firth from interview with Vivian Hill [Click on image to enlarge it.]	JF8
10/1995	Summary of J.A.C. Firth's life by Arthur Firth.	JF9
	Copy of will and probate notices	JF7
	Typewritten autobiography with photographs of J.A.C. Firth, his father and his Heathcote office, and newspaper cuttings. Digitized image of first page of the autobiography [First page of autobiography. Click on image to enlarge it.] J.A.C. Firth at Trinity College Melbourne [Click on image to enlarge it.] J.A.C. Firth's office at Heathcote [Click on image to enlarge it.]	JF1

Additional note:

• John Firth is also mentioned in the following archive boxes:

Arthur Bowman
H.I. Crawcour
William M. Goddard
Frank J. Higgins
Edward A. McDonald
Eustace E. Wilson

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