Probably better known as a doctor and scientist than as a literary figure, James Vincent Duhig was born in Brisbane, the child of Irish immigrants. His father, born Thaddeus (but always called Edward or 'Tade') Duhig, was a carpenter. After winning the Queensland Exhibition, Duhig entered the University of Sydney to study languages in 1908. In 1909 he enrolled in medicine, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.) and Master of Surgery (Ch.M.) in 1914.
In 1917, Duhig married Kathleen Taylor in Sydney, their address 'Woonona', McMahon's Point. He joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 17 April that year. On 14 June, he left Sydney for Europe, sailing with the AIF on the
HMAT Hororata as a Medical Officer with the rank of Captain. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. After being demobilised in 1919 with the rank of Major, he undertook postgraduate work in pathology at King's College Hospital, London.
On returning to Australia, he established pathology laboratories at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital and the Brisbane General Hospital. When he set up pathology services at the Brisbane Children's Hospital, he bought the first equipment there with twenty pounds of his own money.
In 1920 he established Brisbane's first private pathology practice in Ballow Chambers on Wickham Terrace.
Duhig campaigned for the establishment of a medical school at The University of Queensland, and was the University's Foundation Professor of Pathology, a role he held from 1938-1947. One legacy from that role was the James Vincent Duhig Pathology Museum, now part of the Integrated Pathology Learning Centre at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. He also founded the Red Cross Blood Bank in Queensland.
Duhig was very interested in the arts.
President of the Royal Queensland Art Society for ten years, Duhig left much of his personal art collection to The University of Queensland. During his lifetime, he was painted by Sylvia Harris, Roy Delgarno (whose portrait of Dr Duhig, now in The University of Queensland's collection, was a finalist in the 1939 Archibald Prize),
Vida Lahey,
Dorothy Coleman and
Betty Churcher (whose portrait of him is in the Queensland Art Gallery's collection). A bronze sculpture of him was created by
Daphne Mayo.
According to
Vance Palmer, who paid
tribute to him at a
Rationalist Society of Australia dinner, 'there are at least twenty Dr. Duhigs ...There is Duhig, the President of the Queensland Art Society, a man who not only knows about painting, but buys pictures ... There are many other Duhigs, but I won't speak of them now, for I'm anxious to bring out of that one that isn't very well known - Duhig, the dramatist. A few years ago there was published in one of Harrap's anthologies,
Best One-Act Plays of the Year, a short play and a very good one,
The Ruling Passion, written by J. V. Duhig.'
Duhig won the
Laura Bogue Luffman prize for
The Ruling Passion, which was published in 1935.
Co-founder of the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society, Duhig acted as stage manager for Vance Palmer's play
The Happy Family when the Society staged the play.
In 1942-43 Duhig had some association with
C. B. Christesen and
Meanjin Papers.
A nephew of Brisbane's Archbishop Sir James Duhig, Duhig was raised as a Catholic but became the president and patron of the Queensland Rationalist Society. He was president of the Book Censorship Abolition League of Queensland in 1935. He favoured sex education in schools and advocated the prohibition of alcohol.
Duhig agreed to subsidise the magazine,
Barjai, helping to take it from a publication with small print runs to something more substantial. Twenty-three issues were published between 1943 and 1947. When Duhig withdrew his financial support in 1947, citing 'tax-trouble', the magazine languished for want of support.
During his career, Duhig lived with his family in 'Hunstanton', in L'Estrange Terrace, Kelvin Grove, a short tram ride to Wickham Terrace in those days. After the house was sold to the AMA (it is now AMA House), Duhig moved to a house in Hawken Drive, St Lucia where he lived until his death.
Duhig died in Brisbane on 14 April 1963, aged seventy-three.
