Joseph Firth
Joseph "Pentland" Firth was a New Zealand educationalist and teacher. He was the headmaster of Wellington College from 1892 to 1920. He was born and died in Wellington, and played first-class cricket for Wellington and Nelson in the 1880s. He was New Zealand's representative on the International Olympic Committee from 1923 to 1927.
Early life and family
Born in Wellington on 25 March 1859, Firth was the son of Aaron Firth, a stonemason, and Ann Firth. The family moved to Cobden on the South Island's West Coast during the West Coast gold rush of 1864 to 1867.On 8 May 1889, Firth married Janet McRae at the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch. The couple did not have any children.
Education and teaching career
Firth won a scholarship to Nelson College, and was a pupil there from 1873 to 1875. He taught there as a pupil-teacher until 1881, when he went to Wellington College as a junior master. In 1886, he took up a post at Christ's College, Christchurch, and began studying for his BA at Canterbury College, graduating in 1889. He was asked to become headmaster of Wellington College in 1892.Among the boys at Wellington College he gained the nickname "Pentland" from his teaching about the troubles the Spanish Armada encountered around Pentland Firth in the north of Scotland. Thereafter he signed his name "J.P. Firth".