Editing John Latham (judge) (section)

==Early life==
Latham was born on 26 August 1877 in [[Ascot Vale, Victoria]], in the western suburbs of [[Melbourne]]. He was the first of five children born to Janet (née Scott) and Thomas Edwin Latham.{{sfn|Macintyre|1986}} His mother was born in the [[Orkney Islands]] of Scotland,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-323428403/findingaid|title=Guide to the Papers of Sir John Latham|publisher=National Library of Australia|access-date=11 October 2023}}</ref> while his father was Australian-born.{{sfn|Macintyre|1986}} His paternal grandfather, Thomas Latham, was an attorney's clerk who was [[Penal transportation|transported]] to Australia as a [[Convicts in Australia|convict]] in 1848 for obtaining money under false pretences, and later worked as an accountant.<ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstreams/73b1bedc-48d4-5052-9b5d-d4c5e55ef8dc/download|title=Great Britain's Exiles sent to Port Phillip, Australia, 1844-1849: Lord Stanley's Experiment|first=Colleen|last=Wood|type=Ph.D. thesis|publisher=University of Melbourne|year=2014|pages=233–234}}</ref>

Latham's father was a tinsmith by profession, but "preferred benevolent work over a comfortable salary" and became a long-serving secretary of the [[RSPCA Australia|Victorian Society for the Protection of Animals]].{{sfn|Widdows|2014|p=9}} The family moved to [[Ivanhoe, Victoria|Ivanhoe]] in Melbourne's eastern suburbs shortly after Latham's birth.{{sfn|Macintyre|1986}} His father was also a [[justice of the peace]] and served on the [[City of Heidelberg|Heidelberg Town Council]] in later life.{{sfn|Widdows|2014|p=9}} Latham began his education at the George Street State School in [[Fitzroy, Victoria|Fitzroy]]. He subsequently won a scholarship to attend [[Scotch College, Melbourne]], and went on to graduate Bachelor of Arts from the [[University of Melbourne]] in 1896.{{sfn|Macintyre|1986}}

After completing his undergraduate degree, Latham spent two years as a schoolteacher at a private academy in [[Hamilton, Victoria]]. He returned to the University of Melbourne to study law in 1899, where he also tutored in philosophy and logic at [[Ormond College]]. He was admitted to the [[Victorian Bar]] in 1904 but struggled for briefs in his first years as a barrister and primarily worked in the [[Magistrates' Court of Victoria|Court of Petty Sessions]] and [[County Court of Victoria|County Court]].{{sfn|Macintyre|1986}}

In 1907, Latham played a key role in establishing the Education Act Defence League, a rationalist organisation aimed at upholding the secular provisions of the ''[[Education Act 1872 (Victoria)|Education Act 1872]]''. In 1909 he became the inaugural president of the [[Rationalist Society of Australia|Victorian Rationalist Association]] (VRA). He campaigned against the University of Melbourne's plans to open a divinity school.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Rationalism and its opposition to a degree in divinity at the University of Melbourne, 1905-1910|first=Ralph|last=Biddington|year=2004|journal=History of Education Review|doi=10.1108/08198691200400003|pages=28–43|volume=33|number=1}}</reF>