Obituaries Australia

The announcement of the death of Lady Murphy, relict of Sir Francis Murphy, first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Victoria, which took place in her 89th year yesterday at her residence, St Kilda road, South Yarra, will be received with sincere regret by a large circle of attached friends, among whom are many old colonists. In recent years Lady Murphy, who was attended by Mr H. A. Embling, M.B., had suffered from frequent illnesses and a few days ago became so seriously ill that, in view of her advanced years and the weakening of her physical strength, all hope of her recovery was given up. Born in England in 1816, she arrived in Sydney with her parents by the ship Mariner from Portsmouth in October in 1823, her father, Dr. David Reid, a naval medical officer, who had previously made several voyages to Sydney. He had decided to begin pastoral pursuits in Bungonia, New South Wales, on property given to him by Sir Thomas Brisbane, then Governor of the colony, and which he named Inverary-park, after the Scottish town in Argyleshire. Lady Murphy resided with her parents at the homestead until her marriage in 1838 and in 1846 she and her husband took up their residence in Melbourne. Of gentle and amiable disposition, given to hospitality, abounding in practical sympathy with the poor and distressed, she was highly esteemed by all with whom she came in contact. Lady Murphy survived her husband fifteen years. Of their children two sons and two daughters have died, namely Messrs F. R and E. E. Murphy, and Mesdames Herbert J. Henty and Hubert Miller. The surviving members are Mr. A. D. Murphy, of Queensland; Mrs W. M. Burn, of Cumloden, East St Kilda; Mrs W. G. Neill of Cape Town; Mrs. W. N. Waller, of Suffolk, England; and Mrs Waller, wife of the chief officer of the Aberdeen line steamship Damascus.