James Murphy lived through a period of enormous change. Born in rural County Wexford Ireland in the early nineteenth century, he witnessed the final years of the Penal Era, emigrated halfway around the world before the Great Famine and spent almost fifty years helping build a new life in colonial New South Wales.
Although many details of his early life remain hidden by time, enough records survive to piece together the story of an Irish carpenter who travelled from the small community of Glenbrien in County Wexford to the growing settlements of Windsor and the Shoalhaven.
Growing Up in Glenbrien
James was born around 1810 in the Glenbrien district near Enniscorthy in County Wexford. The evidence points strongly to him being the son of Maurice Murphy and Margaret (Peggy) Sinnott, a family associated with Ballydonfin in Glenbrien.
James’ baptism was recorded at Oylegate in January 1810 and later records consistently place him in the same area. Sponsors to the baptism were Peter WHITTY and Bridget DORAN, likely relations of some kind.
According to the baptism records, he had at least two brothers Lawrence and Maurice and a sister Mary Ann. He may have had older siblings but baptism records in Olyegate only start around 1805, so this remains unknown.
Image: Church of St Peter, Glenbrien, Oylegate Parish (built 1803, renovated 1977). Veronica Williams, 2011.
At the time James was growing up, County Wexford was still recovering from the upheaval of the 1798 Rebellion. Most families in the area relied on agriculture for their livelihood and opportunities for young men were limited. Unlike many of his neighbours however, James learned a skilled trade and became a carpenter. According to Griffith’s Valuation taken in about 1854 James’ family still occupied two pieces of land in Glenbrien listed under the name of Maurice Murphy (likely his father). The first was in the village, the townland of Ballydonfin, now known as ‘The Old Post Office’,. The second a small plot of grazing land just out of the village centre at Ballynastraw townland.
Descendants of the family continued to live in the old home in Glenbrien until about 1923. Refer: Murphy’s of Glenbrien.
The O’Connor Family, Old Post Office Glenbrien c1955.
Image provided by F. O’Connor 2017.
The Voyage to Australia
In October 1841 James boarded the immigrant ship Hope at Liverpool. The vessel carried 240 bounty immigrants under the command of Captain McLaughlan.
After a voyage of more than three months, the Hope arrived in Sydney on 28 January 1842.
The immigration records describe him as a twenty-seven-year-old carpenter from Enniscorthy, County Wexford. He could read and write, was Roman Catholic and named his parents as Maurice and Margaret Murphy.
Image: Typical 1840’s Immigrant Ship
Unlike many immigrants who travelled without employment prospects, James already had work waiting for him. He (along with 12 other passengers on the ship) had been recruited to work for Robert Fitzgerald at Windsor in the Colony New South Wales. His wage said to be eighteen pounds per year plus rations.
Australia was still a relatively young colony. Convict transportation to New South Wales had ended only a few years earlier and large areas of the country were still being opened for settlement. Skilled tradesmen were in demand and men like James were actively encouraged to immigrate.
Marriage and Family
Just over two years after arriving in Australia, James married Elizabeth Jane Kennedy at Windsor on 21 April 1844. One small detail from the marriage certificate stands out. Both James and Elizabeth signed their names. While this might seem unremarkable these days, literacy was far from universal during the 1840s and the ability to sign rather than make a mark hints at the value both families placed on education.
The couple would go on to raise six children together.
- Margaret Mary Murphy m Foley (1846–1928) – Had descendants
- James Murphy (1848–1867) – Never married, no known children
- Male Murphy (<1851–<1856) – Died young
- John Bede Murphy m Cassidy (1851–1909) – Had descendants
- Elizabeth Murphy m Davis (1853–1938) – Had descendants
- Charles Murphy (1856–1919) – Never married, no known children
By 1846 the family had moved south to the Shoalhaven district. The region was developing rapidly and offered opportunities for skilled workers. They lived at Terara and later at Back Forest where they became part of the growing rural community. James continued to work as a carpenter and later records also describe him as a farmer.
Life in the Shoalhaven
The Shoalhaven of the mid-nineteenth century was very different from the district we know today. Roads were poor, travel was difficult and communities were often isolated. Families depended heavily on neighbours and local networks. Churches, schools, agricultural shows and local hotels formed the centre of community life.
James spent decades living and working in this environment. Newspaper reports and official records suggest he was regarded as a hardworking and generally respectable member of the district.
The surviving records even provide a physical description. In 1875, at around sixty five years of age, he was recorded as being just over five feet ten inches tall with grey eyes, white hair and a lean build. His hands showed the wear and injuries expected from many years working as a carpenter.
Tragedy and Trial
The most dramatic event in James’s life occurred in 1875. Following the deaths of his wife Elizabeth Murphy and neighbour Mary Boland, James was arrested and charged with their murders.
The case attracted considerable newspaper attention across New South Wales. The reports provide a rare glimpse into the daily lives of ordinary people. Witnesses described James as a quiet, decent and industrious man. Evidence was given that he and Elizabeth sometimes quarrelled, particularly when alcohol was involved, but he was also described as kind to his family and not known for violence. After a lengthy legal process he was acquitted of all charges.
Today the newspaper reports remain one of the most detailed sources describing James as a person rather than simply recording the events of his life. Without the incident we would not have such a wonderful photo of him, with many family members mistaking the photo as being of his great grandson Barry.
Final Years
James outlived Elizabeth by sixteen years. By 1891 he was living with his son Charles at Macdonaldtown in Sydney.
On 10 October 1891 James died of what was described as senile decay. He was buried the following day at Rookwood Catholic Cemetery, no memorial was erected.
A ‘In Memoriam’ notice was published three years later in the Evening News on 10 Oct 1894:
MURPHY – In fond and loving memory of our dear father, James Murphy, who departed this life October 10 1891 aged 84. Inserted by his loving daughter and son in law, Margaret and John Foley.
Image: Cemetery Visit, 2008.
Whilst no headstone marks his grave, his life can still be traced through the records he left behind: a baptism in County Wexford, an immigration record, a marriage certificate, newspaper reports and the descendants like me who continue to research his story today.
James Murphy’s journey from Glenbrien to New South Wales was one made by thousands of Irish immigrants during the nineteenth century. What makes his story unusual is not that he came to Australia, but that enough evidence survives to allow us to follow him across the world and reconstruct his life.
Wexford Visits
My husband and I visited Glenbrien in 2011 and 2017. Our first visit was a whistle stop tour, the weather was inclement and we had little time to explore. 2017 was very different, I was much more prepared with Griffith Valuation maps in hand. I did some door knocking trying to identify the old house, I had the wrong one but the Doyles very kindly invited us in for tea and gave us a great tour of the village, including the Murphy home in Ballydonfin, now known as the old Post Office..
Images: Glenbrien and Ballynastraw land, Veronica Williams 2017. Last postmark, on the last day of the Glenbrien Post Office, provided by F. O’Connor 2019.
DNA Confirmation
As a male, James passed down both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA to his descendants. James would have inherited mtDNA from his mother Peggy Sinnott, however males do not pass mtDNA on to their children. Only his sister Mary Ann would have passed Peggy’s mtDNA to her descendants.
Sadly, there are no known male descendants still carrying James’ Y-DNA signature. Sons James and Charles had no children and whilst the remaining son John (my great grandfather) had one son Charlie, he had no descendants. Our only option for a Murphy Y-DNA tester is to recruit a male descendant of one of James’ brothers.
Autosomal DNA is therefore the only remaining method to confirm our connections to James and his wife through DNA. To date, we have confirmed our relationships back to the ancestral couple of James Murphy and Elizabeth Bateman, but have not yet been able to push back into Ireland for either one of the couple. Given James was born in 1810, and the commonality of the Murphy surname (particularly in County Wexford) our best chance of success will be through chromosome analysis.
As at June 2026, we have 30 DNA tested descendants (22 if you exclude the children of testers). Unfortunately 14 of these testers only have their results on AncestryDNA which does not provide chromosome data and could further assist our research if uploaded to GEDmatch. To date, from the 11 tests with segment information, we have identified 40 segments of interest relating to the ancestral couple (either James or Elizabeth). More research needs to to be undertaken to determine if others sharing these segment locations can provide further clues, but few Murphy or Sinnott matches have been identified so far.
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Do you know more about the families mentioned in this post? If you are connected to any of them (particularly if you have DNA tested or are interested in doing so) I would love to hear from you. It’s the power of DNA that can help us breakthrough our brick walls!
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me by sending a message via the sidebar of this blog or through Ancestry, Wikitree or Facebook.
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Featured Image: From Enniscorthy to Old Sydney Town: James Murphy 1810-1891
