Martin Howy Irving (21 February 1831 – 23 January 1912) was an English

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

and educationist who spent nearly all his career in Australia .

Background and early career

Irving was born in St Pancras, London, the son of

Edward Irving Edward Irving (4 August 17927 December 1834) was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Early life Edward Irving was born at Annan, Annandale the second son of Ga ...

, a major figure of the

Catholic Apostolic Church The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.Carlyle called the "freest, brotherliest, bravest human soul mine ever came in contact with", and his wife Isabella Martin. Irving was educated at

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London and ...

, and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1853 and M.A. in 1856, with first class honours in classics and second class honours in mathematics. At Oxford he was an active rower and won the college and university sculls in 1852.Balliol College Register In the same year, he was runner up in the

Silver Goblets The Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless pairs at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing club A rowing club ...

paired with Walter Francis Short and losing to

Philip Nind Philip Henry Nind (7 April 1831 – 9 March 1896) was an English rowing (sport), rower and gold commissioner in colonial British Columbia. He was also a politician in Queensland, Australia, where he was a Member of the Queensland Legislative As ...

and Henry Raine Barker in the final. He was also runner-up in the

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. First run in 1844, it is open to male scullers from all eligible rowing clubs.

to Stephen Rippingall in 1853.

Academic career

Irving taught classics as second master at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

from 1854 to 1856. He was then was appointed professor of

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and English at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, where he arrived in July 1856 and held this position for nearly 15 years. Irving took much interest in the development of the young university, but in January 1871 he resigned to become headmaster of

Wesley College, Melbourne , motto_translation = Dare To Be Wise , slogan = A ''True'' Education (2010 – Present) , established = 18 January 1866 , type = Independent, day & boarding , gender ...

. He had been offered a salary much larger than he had been receiving as a professor, and this no doubt influenced his decision as he had a growing family. But there was another factor. In the early years of the university students were few, many of them had not been properly prepared for university work, and probably Irving felt he would be doing a real service by helping to raise the standard of secondary school education. At Wesley he was a great success, and by the end of 1874 the number of pupils had risen to 271, a record not exceeded until about 30 years later. He appealed to what was best in the boys' natures, and his relations with his masters were as happy as those with the boys.

Samuel Alexander Samuel Alexander (6 January 1859 – 13 September 1938) was an Australian-born British philosopher. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxbridge college. Early life Alexander was born at 436 George Street, in what is now the comm ...

who was a pupil in his period has testified to the excellence and breadth of the education he received at this school. At the end of five years at Wesley, Irving decided that he would prefer the control of a school untrammelled by any committee or council. He bought the Hawthorn Grammar School and made it one of the most successful private schools in Melbourne, with a roll of 200 boys, 50 of whom were boarders. In 1884 Irving handed over the school to his son, Edward H. Irving, and became a member of the public service board of Victoria for a period of 10 years. Irving had retained his interest in the University of Melbourne after giving up his professorship, was a member of the council for some years, and at the election for

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

in 1886 was defeated by one vote, Sir Anthony Colling Brownless receiving six votes to his five. In 1887 became

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the

and held the position until 1889. In earlier years he had been much interested in the volunteer movement and the militia, in which he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He retired from the public service board in 1894 with a pension, and in 1900 returned to England and devoted himself to the affairs of the Catholic Apostolic Church, of which he had always been an adherent. He received the honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

(LL.D) from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in June 1901.

Personal

Irving, who was well over six feet high, and an excellent oarsman and rifle shot, was the founder of amateur

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

in Victoria. He was a man of fine character with a good sense of business, and was a strong influence in the development of both secondary and university education in Victoria. Irving was twice married. His first marriage in 1855 was to Caroline Mary Bruyeres, daughter of Captain Bruyeres and they had four sons and two daughters. His second wife was Mary Mowat, daughter of John Mowat of Dublin, and they had one son and seven daughters. Two of his daughters carried on the tradition for many years as principals of

Lauriston Girls' School (Holiness, Wisdom, Strength) , established = 1901 , type = Independent, single-sex, day school , denomination = Non-denominational , slogan = A school for life , principal ...

, Melbourne. One of his sons, Godfrey George Howy Irving (1867–11 December 1937), joined the Australian permanent military forces and led the

Australian Commonwealth Horse The Australian Commonwealth Horse (ACH) was a mounted infantry unit of the Australian Army formed for service during the Second Boer War in South Africa in 1902 and was the first expeditionary military unit established by the newly formed Common ...

in the

South African War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. He was chief of the Australian general staff in 1913, and in command of the 14th infantry brigade in Egypt in 1916. After his return to Australia he was promoted major-general and was deputy quartermaster-general until his retirement in 1922. Irving visited Victoria for a few weeks in 1906, and returning to England died at

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

near

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

in 1912, at the age of 80.

References

* *G. C. Fendley,
Irving, Martin Howy (1831–1912)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 462–464. Retrieved 2013-11-17 *'' The Argus'', Melbourne, 25 January 1912; *''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 24 January 1912; *''The History of Wesley College, 1865–1919''; *Sir Ernest Scott, ''A History of the University of Melbourne''; *''The Argus'', 13 December 1937; *C. E. W. Bean, ''Official History of the War of 1914–1918''; *John Lang, ''The Victorian Oarsman''.

Background and early career

Academic career

Personal

References

Further reading