Virginia Barton in 1937, from University of Washington’s J.Willis Sayre Collection.^[1] J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, JWS17981, University of Washington Special Collections<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_17466_20_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_17466_20_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script>

<figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Finis in Vancouver in 1931.^[2]The Vancouver Sun, 15 Oct 1931, P15 via newspapers.com<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_17466_20_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_17466_20_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script></figcaption></figure>

The Five second version
Born in Western Australia in 1911, part of Finis Barton’s story was not unusual. She was one of a string of young Australian women from middle class backgrounds, who made their way to the new world of international theatre and film production, armed with serious training in elocution and the dramatic arts. She arrived in the US in late 1928, and performed on stage in Canada and in the US, before appearing in her first credited film role in 1932. Following more stage and radio performances in the US and wartime service as an entertainer, she returned to Australia in the late 1940s to perform on tour and to see her father and sister.

Finis notably avoided the publicity usually associated with actors of the era, despite her long career on the US stage and having appeared in (at least) a dozen Hollywood films. She disappeared completely from public life soon after her return to the US from Australia. She died in New York in February 1979, aged 68.

Born in Western Australia in January 1911, Finis Ernestine Barton was the second daughter of Ernest William Barton, a ship’s officer working for the Melbourne Steamship Company, and Minnie Mary Barton nee Leitch.^[3]Western Australia, Department of Justice, Birth Certificate Finis Ernestine Barton 1911/21. The actual place of her birth was the wheat belt town of Beverley<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_17466_20_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_17466_20_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script> Some time during the First World War, the family moved across the Australian continent to Sydney.^[4]The Sydney Morning Herald 16 Oct, 1946, P6 via National Library of Australia’s Trove<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_17466_20_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_17466_20_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script> At least some of Finis’ activities as a teenager are recorded by contemporary documents, including that the family lived in McMahon’s Point on Sydney’s north shore, and that she attended North Sydney Girls’ High School.^[5]Years later, alumnus Catherine Martin would win four Academy Awards for work in film production and costume design. Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts also attended this school<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_17466_20_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_17466_20_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script> By late 1923, she was also featuring as a star student at Grace Stafford’s school of elocution and dramatic arts in Sydney.^[6]The Daily Telegraph (Syd) 14 Nov 1923,P7, The Daily Telegraph (Syd) 19 May 1924, P3 via National Library of Australia’s Trove<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_17466_20_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_17466_20_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script> Reportedly, she was also a capable horse rider.

As Desley Deacon has written, in the early part of the twentieth century, elocution in Australia was not “just a private accomplishment for girls and young women. Instead it legitimized public performance and encouraged ambition…it inculcated discipline and taught colonial girls marketable skills.”^[7]Desley Deacon (2013) <script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_17466_20_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_