George Henry Firth Scott, ( – 3 January 1935) was a Scottish-born Australian journalist and writer, generally known as G. Firth Scott. He was the son of George Firth Scott, Land Commissioner and Emma Elizabeth (née Barnes). He was born about 1862 at Golspie, County Sutherland, Scotland.Details on Queensland Marriage certificate 1889/B13568.
He came to Australia and worked as a journalist for newspapers, including The Hobart MercuryThe Hobart Mercury 30 August 1899. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12752378 and the Sydney Daily TelegraphThe Brisbane Courier 24 August 1901. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19089140 and also contributed stories to magazines including Belgravia.The Sydney Morning Herald 8 May 1897. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14111224
On 4 October 1889 he married Ailleen Murphy at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane.The Brisbane Courier Monday 4 November 1889. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3503443 Ailleen was the eldest daughter of John and Hannah (née Smith) Murphy. John Murphy, who died in 1883, was police-magistrate at Roma, Queensland and had, on a number of occasions, been Mayor of Ipswich, Queensland."Mayors of Ipswich". http://blog.library.ipswich.qld.gov.au/lh/2010/07/12/mayors-of-ipswich/ accessed 8 October 2012
Ailleen Scott gave birth to two children in AustraliaQueensland Births Deaths Marriages Online ref 1890/B46065, New South Wales Births Deaths Marriages Online ref. 32635/1892. after which the Scotts went to Great Britain and settled there permanently,South Australian Register 2 March 1900. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56550473The Queenslander 21 September 1901 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21266495 where Ailleen gave birth to four more children. Following Aileen's death in 1919, in Surrey, England, George married Miss Gladys Tatham in London on 20 February 1920.The British Journal of Nursing, 13 March 1920. http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/data/VOLUME064-1920/page160-volume64-13thmarch1920.pdf accessed 8 October 2012"Tatham Family History". http://www.saxonlodge.net/getperson.php?personID=I1319&tree=Tatham accessed 8 October 2012
George Firth Scott died on 3 January 1935 at Surrey, England. He was survived by his second wife, Gladys.PROBATE NOTICE: SCOTT, George Henry Firth, of Gunyah Poultry Farm, Smallfield, Horley, Surrey died 3/1/1935. Probate London 22 February 1935 to Gladys Firth Scott widow. Effects £7.3.7.
Works Scott is best known for his novel The Last Lemurian: A Westralian Romance (1898), however he wrote many other novels and non-fiction works. His fiction titles include: The Track of Midnight (1897) At Friendly Point (1898) Colonial Born: A Tale of the Queensland Bush (1900) The Twillford Mystery (1903) Possessed (1911) The Rider of Waroona (1912).
His non-fiction titles include: The Romance of Australian Exploring (1899) From Franklin to Nansen: Tales of Arctic Adventure (1899) Britain's Austral Empire: Portraits of Statesmen (1901) The Romance of Polar Exploration (1906) Daring Deeds of Polar Explorers (1921) The Reeling World (1931).Australian Literature, extended to 1950 by E. Morris Miller, p. 422.
The Last Lemurian has been described as a "lost race romance" and has been compared with other works by Australian novelists including Ernest Favenc's The Secret of the Australian Desert (1896) and John David Hennessey's An Australian Bush Track (1896). The Last Lemurian includes pygmies, a bunyip-monster, a phosphorescent Yellow Queen (who has lived for thousands of years) and reincarnation. In the novel, the remains of the fabled Lemuria were discovered somewhere in the Australian desert.
References
External links
Read Chapter 1 of The Last Lemurian from the Lost Worlds Australia Anthology.