Garnet Vere "Jerry" Portus MA., B.Litt. (Oxon) (7 June 1883 – 16 June 1954) was an Australian academic.

History

Portus was born in

Morpeth, New South Wales Morpeth is a suburb of the city of Maitland in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the southern banks of the Hunter River (New South Wales), Hunter River at the border between the City of Maitland and Port Stephens Council L ...

, a son of Henry Dumaresq Portus, local manager for the Newcastle and Hunter River Steamship Company. Canon Harold S. D. Portus (c. 1874 – 20 April 1941), rector of St. Peter's Church, East Maitland was a brother. Portus was a student at Maitland Public High School and after leaving joined the Mines Department, but three years later, at the urging of (Anglican) Bishop Stanton of Newcastle studied at St Paul's College, Sydney University, graduating with First-class Honours. He was a fine athlete and a star (

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

) footballer, and in 1907 won a Rhodes Scholarship, which took him to Oxford University, where he achieved his MA in 1909 and B.Litt. two years later. He represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the

1908 Home Nations Championship The 1908 Home Nations Championship was the 26th series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 18 January and 21 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Although not officially par ...

. He acted as Professor of History and Economy at Adelaide University 1913–1914 while Professor Henderson was on leave. He was ordained a priest and served the Church of England as rector of Cessnock. He served as a censor during the Great War, while studying for his MA, which he achieved in 1917. He was employed as lecturer in Economic History at Sydney University and director of tutorial classes. He was appointed Professor of Political Science and History at Adelaide University in 1934, retiring in 1948, but continued to lecture until shortly before his death. He died at his

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

home shortly after attending a function for a visiting team of Rugby Union footballers from

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Other interests

*He was keenly interested in cricket *He was a double rowing blue at Oxford *He played Rugby Union for Oxford and in 1908 captained the English Rugby Union side *He was an Australian Rugby selector in 1934 *He was a regular and popular broadcaster on a wide range of subjects *He was a member of the ABC talks advisory committee *He strongly supported the League of Nations Union *He was a member of the think tank

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon ...

that met during WWII to discuss post-war reconstruction *He was a member, Federal Council of the Australian Association of the United Nations.

Recognition

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

Maitland High School Maitland High School (abbreviated as MHS) is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located on High Street, East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1884 as the boys only single-sex Maitland B ...

was named after him. He was cited as mentor and inspiration for Helen Patricia Jones (1926–2018).

Family

He married Ethel M. Ireland, of Newcastle in 1912. A son, John Portus, was Conciliation Commissioner.

Bibliography

*Portus, G. V. ''Caritas Anglicana'' Mowbray & Co., Oxford. *Portus, G. V. (1921) ''Marx and Modern Thought'' *Portus, G. V. (1928) ''The American Background'' *Portus, G. V. (1931) ''Communism and Christianity'' *Portus, G. V. (1933) ''Australia — An Economic Interpretation'' *Portus, G. V. (1944) ''They Wanted to Rule the World'' *Portus, G. V. (1953) ''Happy Highway'', his autobiography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portus, Garnet 1883 births 1954 deaths Academic staff of the University of Adelaide Australian Rhodes Scholars Australian rugby union players England international rugby union players 20th-century Australian sportsmen