William Murphy (politician)

William Murphy
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Croydon
In office 21 May 1904 – 18 May 1907
Preceded by	Billy Browne
Succeeded by	Vince Creagh
In office 5 February 1908 – 27 April 1912
Preceded by	Vince Creagh
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Burke
In office 27 April 1912 – 16 March 1918
Preceded by	Charles Collins
Succeeded by	Darby Riordan
Personal details
Born	William Sidney Murphy 1868 Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia
Died	23 October 1930 (aged 61 or 62) Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia
Resting place	Rookwood Cemetery
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Ministerialist, Labour Party
Occupation	Editor, Newspaper proprietor
Religion	Church of England

William Sidney Murphy^[1] (1868 – 23 October 1930) was a newspaper proprietor and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.^[2]

Early days

Murphy was born at Mudgee, New South Wales, to Edward Murphy and his wife Eliza (née Drane) and was educated in Mudgee and Sydney. By 1890 he was working as an editor for the Croydon Mining News and from 1892 until 1929 he was the proprietor.

Political career

Following the death of Billy Browne in 1904,^[3] Murphy was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as the member for Croydon.^[4] He lost the seat at the 1907 state election to the Opposition Party's Vince Creagh^[5] but at the 1908 state election he defeated Creagh to regain the seat.^[6]

Murphy was the member for Croydon until 1912 when the seat was abolished. He subsequently won the seat of Burke^[7] and remained its member until he was defeated by Darby Riordan in 1918.^[8]

Although he started his political career representing the Labour Party, Murphy joined the Ministerialists in early 1908 for several months and then served the rest of his political career as an independent member of parliament.^[2] In 1910 he was a member of the Royal Commission into the health of miners.^[2]

Personal life

Murphy died in Strathfield in 1930.^[2] His funeral moved from Cross Street, Strathfield, to the Rookwood Cemetery.^[9]

References

1. CROYDON ELECTION — Hansard. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
2. "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
3. "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
4. "CROYDON.". Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - 1954) (Rockhampton, Qld.: National Library of Australia). 29 August 1904. p. 6. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
5. "CHARTERS TOWERS.". Warwick Examiner and Times (Qld. : 1867 - 1919) (Qld.: National Library of Australia). 22 May 1907. p. 8. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
6. "RESULTS AND COMPARISONS.". The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) (Qld.: National Library of Australia). 4 October 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
7. "SUMMARY OF THE VOTING.". The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) (Qld.: National Library of Australia). 24 May 1915. p. 6. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
8. "SUMMARY OF POLLING.". The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) (Qld.: National Library of Australia). 11 October 1920. p. 7. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
9. "Family Notices.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 24 October 1930. p. 9. Retrieved 4 January 2016.