John Firth

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John Firth arrived in Victoria to join his brothers James and William in the early 1850’s.

The Firth Brothers had been born in The Orkney Isles, off the coast of Scotland.
John had gone to sea at an early age and he was serving as First mate on a sailing ship when he left for Australia.

Like his brothers, John also purchased land in Moorooduc to farm, and became a longtime resident of the area.

He married Catherine Heffernan, from Tipperary, in 1859 and they had seven children.

John was a Councillor with the Mornington Shire, and he was also on the committee of the Agricultural Society and secretary of the Ploughing Committee. This involved arranging the ploughing competitions that were regularly held on farms in the area.

John and Catherine are both buried in the Mornington cemetery with their son James who was drowned in the Football disaster when he was only 17 years of age. At the time, he was employed as a wheelwright with his uncle, John Jenkins.