Thomas Firbank
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Thomas Firbank (13 January 1910 – 1 December 2000) was a Canadian/Welsh author, farmer, soldier and engineer.
His first book, an autobiographical novel entitled I Bought a Mountain (ISBN 978-1871083057) was published in 1940 and soon became a best-seller. It describes how aged only 21, he bought a 2400 acre sheep farm in Dyffryn Mymbyr in 1931 and painstakingly learnt his trade, while portraying the beauty of Snowdonia. Firbank was a keen mountain walker, and the book includes a hair-raising tale of how he was possibly the first to ascend all of the Welsh 3000s in under 9 hours (see also History of the Welsh 3000s). Firbank's first wife, Esme, whom he met locally, features prominently in the book, and it ends on a joyful, inspiring tone.
It is very surprising then to read I Bought a Star, (ISBN 978-1871083965, pub. 1951) which describes how he left the farm, went to war (winning the Military Star in Italy), and was divorced from Esme. She retained the farm, later remarried Peter Kirby, and in 1961 became an important founder member of the Snowdonia Society: see her obituary. After her death the farm at Dyffryn was donated to the National Trust (see BBC report) and is now used as a holiday cottage (see National Trust Cottages).
Log Hut (pub. George G. Harrap, 1954) details his experiences in a bungalow on the north east edge of Dartmoor.
A Country of Memorable Honour (ISBN 978-1871083217, pub. 1953) describes a walking tour through Wales with fascinating characters at every turn. This tour was a farewell to the old country before moving to Japan to open up the Far East for a British engineering firm. The foreword to its reissue in 1998 has the author still placed in the city of Itō, Shizuoka.
A romantic novel entitled Bride to the Mountain (pub. Harrap 1940, reprinted C. Chivers Dec. 1965, then again by Portway Reprints under ISBN 0855941758) was written shortly after the success of I Bought A Mountain and draws heavily on the same experiences. It also appears to be largely based on an actual 1927 case when a strong but insane climber called Giveen caused the deaths of two others[1].
He died in December 2000 in Llanrwst, Conwy, North Wales [1]
- ^ Smythe, F. S. (1941). Over Welsh Hills. London, Adam and Charles Black, pp.86-90.
