Firth locally the change is held to be at the Tail of the Bank where the river crosses a sandbar off Greenock at the junction to the Gare Loch, or even further west at Gourock point. However, some firths are exceptions. The Cromarty Firth on the east coast of Scotland, for example, resembles a large loch with only a relatively small outlet to the sea and the Solway Firth and the Moray Firth are more like extremely large bays. The Pentland Firth is a strait rather than a bay or an inlet. These are connected to, or form part of, the
Mark Firth opened Firth College to teach arts and science subjects, which later became part of the University of Sheffield. Firth lends his name to the Firth Wing of the Northern General Hospital, and Firth Court of the University. He was a Methodist and a Liberal. On 16 November 1880 Firth was at his Norfolk Works when he suffered a stroke, and died 12 days later. He is buried in Sheffield General Cemetery on Cemetery Road, where his monument is Grade II listed. Firth was twice married and had twelve children. He first married Sarah Bingham Taylor (1818–1855) in Sheffield on 15