John Murphy (1820-1883)

John Murphy's obituary in the Queensland Times on 3 March 1883 provides a summary of his achievements:

Another of the early residents of Ipswich and a very old colonist has left us. Mr. John Murphy, Police Magistrate of Roma, who has been in Ipswich recently on sick leave, died at his residence in Waghorn-street on Thursday evening last. Most of the old settlers in this district will remember the deceased, who had, in his time, occupied more than one prominent public position. Mr. Murphy came here, if we remember rightly, about the year 1852, from Muswellbrook, in the Hunter River district of New South Wales, where he had occupied a position in a store. Prior to this he had been in a lawyer’s office in Sydney.

He came here to occupy the position of head man in the mercantile establishment of Walter Gray and Co., whose premises then occupied the site of the Central Girls’ School, where he remained for some time. He subsequently commenced business on his own account as forwarding and commission agent in Bell-street, and was also agent for Messrs. R. Towns and Co.; but he was not very successful, and, after the lapse of some years he joined Mr. C.L.D. Fattorini. The firm of Fattorini, Murphy, and Co., did not exist for a lengthy period, and after living in retirement from active business pursuits for a few years the now deceased gentleman was, nine or ten years ago, appointed as Police Magistrate at Goondiwindi. He was afterwards transferred to Roma, but as his family continued to reside here, he was occasionally seen among us.

During his residence in Ipswich, however, his energies were not altogether devoted to his business or private pursuits. When Ipswich was incorporated in 1860, and nine members were elected to form its first Municipal Council, Mr. Murphy headed the poll, and was thereupon chosen as mayor by his brother aldermen. This honourable position he also filled for the three succeeding years, and in fact came to be distinguished by the appellation of ‘Murphy, the Mayor’. His conduct as an occupant of the Mayoral chair was throughout honest and straightforward, and, as our readers will readily understand, there was some hard work before a Mayor in those early days of ‘Limestone,’ which, by-the-way, then received its third – its classical – name of ‘Modern Athens’ from Sir George Bowen, the first Governor of Queensland. While a partner with Mr. Fattorini, Mr. Murphy was elected as a member of the legislative Assembly for Ipswich’ but he was not a loquacious member, though he was ever most zealous in his advocacy of the interests of this town, and in his opposition to what he considered the encroachments of Brisbane, or its interference with the rights of ‘the head of navigation;’ and he always upheld ‘the river’ against ‘the road’ as tending to promote business here. The deceased was, in fact, a thorough Ipswich man.

In the last year of his mayoralty he married a daughter of the late John Smith, who carried on a boiling-down establishment in the pocket near Bundanba. Mr. Murphy was also a captain in the volunteer force in its early days in Queensland; and as Mayor he was chairman of the public meeting called to take steps for the establishment of the Ipswich Grammar School. As a Police Magistrate, we believe, he gave pretty general satisfaction, while from his social and friendly qualities he was held in estimation by a large circle of friends. He suffered for some time from inflammation of one of the internal organs, the disease having reached a chronic stage and undermined his constitution, carrying him off at the not extreme age of sixty-two years. Mr. Murphy leaves a widow and five children. His funeral is to take place at 10 o’clock this morning, and will, no doubt, be attended by a very large concourse of friends.