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Record #5920
Name :
: John MURPHY (1942 - )


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 1942 (approx.)

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
:
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland
Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 10 Jun 1952
Country
: Australia

Ship
: Ormonde

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Fairbridge Homes
NotesIn 1952, J. Murphy, 10 (along with brothers, B. Murphy, 12; and R. Murphy, 8), arrived at Fremantle, Australia, in a group of children c/o Fr. Nichol, 16A St. Stephens House, Westminter, England and en route to Fremantle and Melbourne, Australia.

The West Australian reported on July 4, 1992:

"Paternal quest links brothers to new family

On May 1, 1952, three excited young boys gathered with their father at St Pancras Station in London.

It was a very special day for Bernard, John and Raymond Murphy (12, 10 and 8 respectively) who had spent most of the preceding six or seven years in child-care institutions, with only occasional visits from their dad.

But, now, at his suggestions, they were off to Australia.

His last words 'see you in three years, sons' provided all the comfort and promise the boys needed as the train moved off toward Tilbury Dock and the waiting passenger ship, Ormonde.

Tragically, the boys would never see or hear from their father again.

They would disappear among the thousands of child migrants sent to Australia after World War II under government-sponsored programs now considered to be of very dubious legal or moral basis.

For 40 years they would not know why their father failed to keep that promise and left them feeling abandoned in a harsh and miserable new environment.

In fact, they would know very little about him, except for the uniform worn when visiting them in the institutions.

And they would know nothing about their mother and her three daughters (their half-sisters) while they were in the institutions and unaware of their parents' separation.

After reaching Fremantle, the boys went first to Clontarf and then Bindoon, the controversial boys' home founded by the Christian Brothers.

During the next four decades, they tried in vain to trace their father through organisations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

But now the mystery of their past appears to be [en] solved though, sadly, too late for Raymond, who died aged 16 in a collision between his bicycle and a milk truck in central Perth.

Last week, the found and director of the charity-based Child Migrants Trust (London), Margaret Humphreys, visited John, now 50, and Bernard, 52, in Perth to tell them her organisation had pieced together the puzzle.

Ms. Humphreys had been asked by both men, about five years ago, to help trace their roots.

The trust found:

Their RAF drill instructor father, James, separated from their mother, Eileen, in the early 1940's.

When their mother was apparently unable to cope with them after the separation, the boys were place (by their father) [in the institutions].

When their father remarried in 1949, with the boys in institutions, he concealed his sonns' existence from his new wife.

In 1954, two years after the boys left for Australia, their father died of cancer.

Their mother died just five years ago of a heart condition. On her death bed, she told her grandson's girlfriend that she had three sons but did not know where they were.

By that time, one of her three daughters had died.

The other two, the youngest of whom is 42, were left to wonder about their half-brothers until Margaret Humphreys also gave them some answers.

Bernard, a self-employed painter, is married and has adult twins, aged 24. He said yesterday: 'I have no ill-will against either of my parents. I think I misjudged my father, who might have known he had cancer when he sent us out here and thought it was for the best.'

John, an invalid pensioner, has three children aged 25, 23, and 20. Two of them are adopted for very good reason.

'After the years I spent in homes I didn't want any other kids to go through the same thing, if possible. I have no bitterness about the past. What's done is done.

'Our next step is to get to the UK...'" 
ContributorsCreated : 2009-03-28 17:21:21 / From original database

Last Updated :

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Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  30 Entries        
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IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
27034 ABBOTT, Franz Arnold1918ENG, DEV Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27033 ABBOTT, Harry Franz1917ENG, MDX, Hendon Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5493 ACOL, John1920ENG, LND, Hampstead Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
21189 ADAMS, William1916ENG, WAR, Aston Jan 1927 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27035 ALDER, John Harkis1914ENG, OXF Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
20888 ALDERSON, Arthur1912ENG, DUR Jan 1924 : Baradine AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26974 ALEXANDER, Reginald Gordon1917ENG, LAN, West Derby Jan 1928 : Barrabool AUS Fairbridge Homes  
12114 ALLEN, Clifford John1914GBG,     Dec 1928 : Bendigo AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26426 ALLEN, Walter Bevis1901ENG, SRY, Kingston Jul 1913 : Belgic AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5210 ALSOP, Benjamin H.1929ENG, DUR, Darlington Sep 1935 : Duchess of Atholl CAN Fairbridge Homes  
5212 ALSOP, James 1927ENG, DUR, Darlington Sep 1935 : Duchess of Atholl CAN Fairbridge Homes  
5211 ALSOP, Norman Frederick1923ENG, DUR, Dunsdale Sep 1935 : Duchess of Atholl CAN Fairbridge Homes  
25270 AMOTT, James1913ENG, LND, Lambeth Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25136 ANDERSON, Muriel Helen1921ENG, ESS, West Ham Oct 1930 : Barrabool AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5494 ANDERSON, Robert1918ENG, LND, Lambeth Oct 1930 : Barrabool AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25616 ANDREWS, Gwendoline1914 Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25137 ANDREWS, Herbert George1912ENG, SSX Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25138 ANKCORN, Dennis George1925ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jan 1937 : Oronsay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25139 ANKCORN, Emma Dorothy1922ENG, WAR, Birmingham Feb 1934 : Jervis Bay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
8780 ANNETTS, Raymond Douglas1917ENG, LND, Lambeth Mar 1928 : Benalla AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5413 ANSELL, Maurice George1926ENG, OXF, Banbury Nov 1938 : Themistocles AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5404 ANSELL, Peter Albert John1928ENG, OXF, Banbury Nov 1938 : Themistocles AUS Fairbridge Homes  
23615 APPLEFORD, Harry 1921ENG, BRK, Reading May 1933 : Otranto AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27036 APPLEGATE, Sidney Thomas1916ENG, LND, Hackney Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25954 ARMSTRONG, Benjamin John Emmerson1918ENG, HAM, Hartley Wintney Nov 1929 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes splmum , Pinjarra1929  
21149 ARMSTRONG, John Kenneth1915ENG,     Aug 1921 : Themistocles AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5496 ARNOTT, Anthony Robert1923ENG, DUR, Darlington May 1934 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5497 ARNOTT, Michael1925ENG, DUR, Darlington May 1934 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25271 ARTHUR, Frederick1913ENG, SRY, Kingston Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27391 ARTHUR, James Lafferty1940ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 1291 Entries        
Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  30 Entries