John Bede Murphy (1851 - 1909)

Born 17 May 1851 in Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Son of James Murphy and Elizabeth Jane (Bateman) Murphy

Husband of Rebecca Mary Gertrude (Cassidy) Murphy — married 23 Jun 1880 in Wellingrove, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 9 Jul 1909 at age 58 in Petersham, NSW, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Veronica Williams [send private message]

Biography

John Murphy was born in the Colony of New South Wales (1788-1900)

John MURPHY was born on 17th May 1851 to parents James MURPHY and Elizabeth KENNEDY at Shoalhaven, New South Wales. He was baptised by Rev E Luchie on 12th June 1851 at St Francis Xaviour Church in Wollongong. The sponsors at the baptism were James GREEN and Lucy BAILIE (possible relatives via FOLEY's).

John joined the NSW Police, Northern Districts on 5 Aug 1873, registration number 2294. The police records provided the following information recorded upon entry to the force:

• Description: 5 feet ’10 3/4 inches; grey eyes; brown hair; fair complexion
• Birth: 1851, NSW, single
• Occupation: Farmer
• District: Northern
• Religion: RC
• General appearance: Good

He was appointed as a Probationary constable on 5 Mar 1873, and became a Constable on 5 Aug 1873. Later, appointed a constable 1st class on 1 Mar 1879.

John married Rebecca CASSIDY on 23 JUN 1880 at Wellingrove, New South Wales. Witnesses to the marriage were John Cassidy and Maggie Cassidy (brother and sister of Rebecca), before James Kelly officiating minister. John and Rebecca had seven children together:-

John and his family moved around northern NSW due to his job and probably resided in Grafton, Lismore and Bundarra. At the time of his marriage in 1880 he was described as a 'trooper' from Glen Innes. He also spent time at the Wardell Police Station where he was presented with a gold watch by the local residents. The watch was at one time in the possession of his grandson Laurie Roberts, who noted the transcription as follows:-

Presented to 1st Class C Constable John MURPHY, by the residents of Wardell, in recognition of his straightforward conduct, during the time he has had charge of this station.

Wardell, March 1883

John was promoted to Senior Constable on 1st Aug 1884. The records indicate that he was demoted to ordinary Constable on 31 May 1886 and dismissed on the same day. There are no details as to the cause of the dismissal listed in the Police Gazette records held at the State Records Office.

By April 1891 the family had moved to Sydney and were living at 198 Union Street, MacDonaldtown at the time his son John Bede MURPHY was born, who died soon after aged 5 months.

By 1897 the family had moved to Smithfield, New South Wales, recorded when John was the informant of his son Lionel's death, aged 16 years. By this time he is working as a labourer.

By 1909 the family had moved to Petersham and were living at 21 Manchester St at the time of his death on the 9th July. The death certificate indicated that he died from Injuries occurred through accidentally falling in the street.

A FENCER'S DEATH. SMH 10 Jul 1909

John Murphy, aged 58, a fencer, on arriving at his home In Manchester Street, Petersham, about half-past 10 on Thursday night, informed his wife that he had been struck from behind whilst at the Commercial Hotel by a person unknown to him. He complained of pain in one of his ears. He was put to bed, and yesterday morning his wife was unable to wake him. A doctor was called in, and found him bleeding from one ear. The doctor gave Instructions for him to be removed to a hospital, but he died before it could be done. As far back as March 12 Murphy was taken to Prince Alfred Hospital - with a fractured skull. He then stated that he had been assaulted, but it was subsequently ascertained that his injury was the result of a fall. Since then he had been complaining of soreness of his head.

John was buried at Rookwood Cemetery, Catholic Section on the 10th July 1909, in the same grave as his son Lionel. Unfortunately, there is no inscription on the headstone.

A coronial inquest was held at the City Coroners Court, conducted by Stephen Murphy on 14th July 1909. The verdict was effect of injuries accidentally recieved through falling down at the corner of Maddock and Gelding Streets Petersham. Locality of death, 21 Manchester Street. The coroner has noted in the remarks column intemperance.

All official documents during his life recorded his name as John MURPHY. However some family photographs are noted on the back as John B Murphy. Funeral notices placed by two of his sisters Elizabeth DAVIS and Margaret FOLEY state his name was John Bede MURPHY. There has been some suggestion that his middle name may have been 'Bateman' but I can find no reference to this.

You can view more images of John at Flickr. Other Murphy family photos can be accessed here.

DNA

Maternal and paternal lines are confirmed back to his parents the ancestral couple James Murphy and Elizabeth Bateman, by matches with four of his grandchildren and a descendant of his sister Eiizabeth.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Multiple Gedmatch one to one comparisons confirmation of relationships between Sandra Lehn GEDmatch T916231 and various second cousins once removed within expected cM ranges (average 123cMs) Joan Coates GEDmatch T485376, John Roberts GEDmatch T766864, Private Roberts GEDmatch T545719 and Michael Stevens GEDmatch T410351. Match date 4 Feb 2014.

• BDM - Certificates, MURPHY Mona - Birth NSW 26421/1892.

• New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Coroners' Inquests, 1796-1942 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), www.ancestry.com.au, Database online.

• Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Record for Rebecca Cassidy.

• BDM - NSW, www.bdm.nsw.gov.au, MURPHY John - Birth V18512319 68/1851.

• BDM - Certificates, MURPHY John Charles - Death NSW 10693/1909.

• BDM - NSW, www.bdm.nsw.gov.au, MURPHY John - Death 10693/1909.

• BDM - Certificates, MURPHY to Cassidy marriage - NSW 1880/005304.

• Newspaper - Sydney Morning Herald 1842-1954, www.trove.nla.gov.au, MURPHY Saturday 10 July 1909, page 26 - Funeral notice.

• BDM - Certificates, ROBERTS Mona Veronica (nee Murphy) - Death, NSW, Newtown - 813/1973.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Veronica Williams for creating WikiTree profile Murphy-4073 through the import of CASSIDY and SWEENEY 4_2013-08-13_2013-08-16.ged on Aug 16, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Veronica and others.