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John Henry Furneaux (1857-1943) |
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J.H. (Harry) Furneaux was born in South Yarra, and left school aged fourteen to work at his father’s timber business. He was later a partner in another timber yard (Furneaux and Goodbody, Malvern Road), but the business fell on hard times during the 1890s depression, and Furneaux changed direction. His appointment as Secretary of the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute could not have come at a better time for the Institute, which had also suffered the effects of the depression. Money was raised to rebuild the Chapel Street building, the |
library was re-established and a proposal by the Council to absorb the Mechanics’ Institute library into the public library was overwhelmingly defeated in a vote of members in 1910. Classes were resumed in 1908 and within a few years a larger building was needed to house them. Furneaux was the driving force behind the Prahran Technical School. The Chapel Street property was mortgaged in order to buy land in High Street, Prahran to continue the school. (Source: Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Archives.) |
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