The answer is to use the standard Firefox default home page obtainable by keying into the location bar where web addresses are typed about:home

• I imagine the post you have found is this one /questions/817848
• There was a long discussion on a similar subject (despite the title) in
  "How do I get my home page in a new tab in firefox 13"
  /questions/929915

You may also be interested in using the search bar,it is possible to choose your own search engine, or one of the default selection. The focus on the search bar can be achieved with a keyboard shortcut usually Ctrl + K

I tried entering "about:home" but I fail to see how that will help. However, I think I have solved it! Originally, my tabs were Google followed by the BBc home page. I've reversed these and all seems ok now.

about:home displays the default homepage, you could then have chosen to set that as one of your homepages. The default home page opens with the cursor on the search bar, that does not always happen with the other pages.

I'm modifying about:config browser.newtab.url to: https://www.google.com/webhp?tbs=qdr:y

Is there a parameter to switch focus from address bar to google texbox? Example: https://www.google.com/webhp?tbs=qdr:y, (move cursor to textbox).

Goal:

    Use Firefox 17.0.1
    Use www.google.com
    Use 'past year' search default
    Use crtl-T

Doesn't Work:

    Disable Firefox extensions/ return to default browser
    Use "My Homepage" plugin
    Use https://www.google.com/webhp?complete=0
    Change google setttings to "instant never"
    Use iGoogle
    Use about:home
    Search from address bar

Need detailed tutorial:

    about:config
    new string 
    capability.policy.default.HTMLInputElement.focus