When John Figgis enlisted, he put his religion as Methodist, despite having played soccer for Vulture Street Baptists in 1914. By contrast his brother Edward Charles Figgis, who also played for Vulture Street’s cricket team, wrote Baptist on his own enlistment form. Figgis and Edward (misspelt as G C Figgis) were both listed in the only full Vulture Street Baptist soccer line-up which is known. They also shared a love of sailing.
Figgis was a 22-year-old builder when he enlisted in September 1914. His war record was very short. He joined the 9th Infantry and was sent to Gallipoli. Shot in the thigh in July 1915, the severity of the injury was such that he was sent back to Australia in September.
His obituary, published in the Courier Mail on 21 August 1939, stated Figgis continued to support the war effort on his return, becoming a recruiting officer in Townsville and Charters Towers. After the war he married Carrie Magnus in January 1919 and continued his building career until 1923, when he owned a plantation in Fiji.
Figgis returned to Brisbane in 1926 and resumed building, also joining the Royal Brisbane Yacht Club. He sailed in rounds of the Foster Cup up and down the east coast of Australia and later became club commodore in the 1930s.
He died in 1939 after six weeks of illness. The Courier Mail stated the illness had its origins with a chill Figgis caught in 1930 after rescuing a man from the Brisbane River. Edward, on hearing of his brother’s decline, rushed to Brisbane from New South Wales but arrived hours too late.